Spiritual Closure in our Lives through Indulgences
Penance and Reconciliation. In the Catechism, Confession is called the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Both aspects are necessary for the healing grace found in this sacrament of our salvation. After going to Confession, we should not only do our penance, but also strive for reconciliation. Both are necessary parts of our ongoing conversion of life in the pursuit of perfection.
Penance is for the forgiveness of all our sins. Sacramental absolution resolves the eternal consequences of our sins as we are restored to grace and strengthened by grace as well. Reconciliation is for the healing of our sins. Out of both charity and justice, the temporal consequences of our sins are addressed, either directly or through obtaining an indulgence.
When we die, we will not rest in peace until our venial sins are forgiven and the temporal damage of our sins are resolved, through the prayers of the church in heaven and on earth. As we respond to the universal call to holiness of life in the pursuit of spiritual perfection, we should not be lukewarm in our faith but stir up in our hearts a holy zeal for righteousness.
We should always aim high. If our goal is heaven, we might still go to purgatory instead for a while. But if we just aim just for purgatory, we might consign ourselves to hell forever. So, after each Confession, we should not only perform our assigned penance, but also seek to complete our penance by conscientiously obtaining a plenary indulgence as well.
The following message will show you how to obtain an indulgence, which might help you to bypass purgatory altogether. Let us all devoutly work out our salvation in fear and trembling as conscientious Catholic Christian believers. For more information about the Divine Mercy shared with us not only through Confession, but also through Indulgences, please click here.
Confession and Spiritual Closure. The eternal consequences of sin are resolved by the sanctifying grace that Christ gives us to in the sacraments, so that we may inherit eternal life with him forever by living in his grace through a faith that is active in love here and now. The temporal consequences of sin are resolved by the actual grace that Christ gives us through the intercession of the church to repair the collateral damage of our sins that remains even after we have been forgiven for those very same sins. Indulgences thus help us to find peace of mind, by obtaining forgiveness for the temporal punishments for our sins that still need to be resolved, even after the eternal consequences for our sins have been sacramentally absolved in Confession. Here are the three conditions for obtaining an Indulgence as a path to spiritual closure in your personal life of faith:
- Go to Confession, with a commitment to be free from any and all attachments to sin, even venial sin.
- Conscientiously perform one of the following activities, with the intention of obtaining the Indulgence: Recite the Rosary in church with a group of people or at home with your family, prayerfully meditating on five mysteries; spend a half-hour in reflective prayerful adoration before the Tabernacle in church; spend a half-hour in reflective prayerful reading of the Bible at home or in church; or meditate on the Stations of the Cross in church. Other examples of ways to obtain indulgences are contained in the book, Enchiridion of Indulgences.
- Finally, go to Holy Communion, and pray the Our Father and Hail Mary for the special intentions of the Pope. Then, rejoice in the peace of Christ you have received, especially through the offering up of both active and passive mortifications throughout your life.