Sinners, get your indulgences here!

I'm sort of in shock. I heard a paper at the North American Academy of Liturgy about the rise of use of the Latin Mass in England among some Catholics, and how Pope Benedict has made the way clear to do so. Many other small moves have followed, making space for conservatives to recover elements of the tradition set aside with the reforms of Vatican II.  Now I read in the NYT that indulgences are again entering the mainstream of Catholic life.

In recent months, dioceses around the world have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit that fell out of favor decades ago — the indulgence, a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife — and reminding them of the church’s clout in mitigating the wages of sin. The fact that many Catholics under 50 have never sought one, and never heard of indulgences except in high school European history (Martin Luther denounced the selling of them in 1517 while igniting the Protestant Reformation), simply makes their reintroduction more urgent among church leaders bent on restoring fading traditions of penance in what they see as a self-satisfied world. “Why are we bringing it back?” asked Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn, who has embraced the move. “Because there is sin in the world.” Read the rest here.

I like believing that the words "for you" and "for the forgiveness of your sins" in Holy Communion are for me and for all.  If that is Jesus' promise to us when we share in the sacrament of the Altar, why are more means of forgiveness necessary?  I need to ask some of my Catholic friends about this.  I predict they're not fans of the move.

Anon, and peace,
Chris

Comments

[Sarah]

Hi Chris - thanks for the sweet comment on my blog. Made me sigh! I've been on a forgiveness kick lately - not exactly doling it out, but seeing the need for it to go first in our interactions. One of my mentors lived forgiven and he was able to forgive others because it was so clear that he recieved forgiveness every day. I lvoe that our liturgy and our communal meal is preceded by confession AND forgiveness. I think it's a preaching topic. Thanks for raising it, and thanks for the great blog! - Sarah

[Rachel]

I am in shock and awe as well. My partners mom is devout and I asked her and a friend, a Jesuit Priest who lives in Vatican City. I found his comment heartwarming. Shared for you and your readers. For what its "worth."

"I find the idea of a merciful God who forgives us a compelling thing. I find the whole thing about indulgences that somehow are a system of bartering, etc. odious. So,

I fear that the bartering is what many pick up rather than God’s mercy. So, you are right about a good confession and God’s forgiveness. I find that works for me and I exit that sacrament with a very tangible sense of God’s mercy."

[Peter Hanson]

two things come to mind, especially concerning what Sarah says above about our forgiveness "going first:"

1) our worship prof, Michael Aune, telling us that perhaps we Lutherans do the Confession and Absolution backwards. Maybe we should begin with the announcement that in Christ our sins are forgiven, which then frees us to confess our sins before God and one another, confident that they have already been forgiven.

2) For nearly every Muslim holiday here in Senegal, the typical greeting is Baal Maax--forgive me. The typical reply is "May God find us in peace at the next (fill in the holiday)." Forgiveness, freely given, precedes other aspects of the celebrations.

for what it's worth...
Peter