Jesus, who is Divine Mercy, offers forgiveness and reparation!
Homily originally presented on April 11, 2021
by Monsignor Deering
During my years as Pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church up in Gardendale, AL, I became friends with the Owner of the Hamburger Heaven restaurant.
We talked about our Faith often & he had many questions about Catholic teaching.
2 months ago, I got a text from him where he asked if I could recommend
a book that properly explains each of the 10 Commandments.
so I purchased and sent to him a copy of The Adult Catechism.
Why this one? Because it has a marvelous Introduction and provides
an easy to understand explanation of the Ten Commandments.
Please know that there are several different compilations of Catholic Teaching ...
that you can turn to based on your age and depth of knowledge. Here are a few:
1992 The Catechism of the Catholic Church
2012 The Seekers Catechism
2002 The Compendium of the Catechism (600 Questions & Answers)
2011 Youcat (the Youth Catechism)
1995 Teen Catechism
2006 Catechism for Adults
2003 Catholicism for Dummies
Today, I’d like to let the Adult Catechism describe “something” that will help us to appreciate the great Grace God offers us on this Divine Mercy Sunday.
‘The something’ that we need to understand is ... “Indulgence”
What is an indulgence?
Listen now to the definition given in The Adult Catechism:
“An indulgence is a remission before God
of the temporal punishment due to sins
whose guilt has already been forgiven ...
which the Christian gains through the action of the Church ...
which dispenses with authority
the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the Saints.”
Wow! That’s quite a definition ... it sounds pretty involved ... and it is.
So, let’s break it down to 4 main parts:
Remission ... Punishment ... Church ... Treasury
The first key word is “remission” ...
remission means: removal of ... or ... relief from ...
from what? ... from “temporal punishment”
which is the punishment for sin that we are due to experience ...
in this life and in the life to come ...
for all the mortal and venial sins that we’ve committed.
Yes, recovery from sin is two-fold process ...
it involves forgiveness and reparation.
You see, Jesus’ Mercy imparts forgiveness ... Jesus’ Justice requires reparation.
It’s like accidently backing into another Parishioner’s car in the Parking Lot.
The Parishioner may well forgive you for crushing his fender ...
but you’ve created damage and the expectation is that you will fix the damage.
In the same way reparation is required for the damage we create by our sins.
But, Jesus, in His goodness, has given Authority to His Church ... to offer supernatural relief ... to repair the damage we’ve created by our sins.
Recall what Jesus said to His Lead Apostle, Peter, in Matthew 16:
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Here, Jesus gave authority to Peter to dispense supernatural repair of sins ...
to cover the reparation that we would normally be accountable for.
This supernatural relief from having to make reparation for our sins ...
is referred to as indulgence ...
and it comes from the Church, who has the authority to dispense help
... from the great Treasury of Graces
made available by the Lord in His work of Redemption.
This relief from making reparation for sin can be either partial or complete ...
and is commonly referred to as either ... a partial or plenary indulgence.
So, what is an indulgence?
Think of: Remission ... Punishment ... Church ... Treasury
It’s remission of the punishment due to sin ...
that is afforded by the Church ... from the Treasury of God’s graces.
And the reason that this is especially important today is because:
The Church has attached a Plenary Indulgence ...
to worthily worshipping Jesus ... under the title of “Divine Mercy” ...
on this the Sunday after Easter ... Divine Mercy Sunday!
21 years ago, in the Jubilee Year of 2000, Pope Saint John Paul The Great ...
declared that the 2nd Sunday of Easter would henceforth be celebrated as
Divine Mercy Sunday throughout the Universal Church.
And as the Vicar of Christ’s Church, the Pope declared that all Catholics,
who worthily prepare themselves and participate in this devotion ...
will receive a plenary indulgence ...
which is the removal of all punishment for their sins!
Think about that! The full remission of punishment means that a soul would be spared any time making reparation in Purgatory and go straight to Heaven!
Can you even begin to comprehend how incredible this offer is?
While we know that we always receive Jesus’ forgiveness for sins in Confession.
Jesus goes beyond that here by offering the complete remission of all the penance
we would have had to offer to repair the wounds of those sins.
He offers us a plenary or full indulgence ...
which means that all damage we’ve done throughout our life would be repaired!
We’re used to receiving a Penance each time we go to Confession ...
That’s the action we make to demonstrate our desire to repair the wounds of sin.
But it brings only a partial indulgence or a partial remission from punishment.
A plenary Indulgence brings a complete remission from punishment!
So how do we partake of this great gift from Jesus through His Church?
We complete the following steps: (and no serious sin since then!)
- Have gone to Confession any day since Tues of Holy Week (w/i 14 days),
- Attend Mass and receive Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday
- Pray for the intentions of Pope Francis (included in our Prayer of the Faithful)
- Spend time in veneration of the Divine Mercy image (venerate after Mass)
- Have complete detachment from sin ... and ask for the Plenary Indulgence.
What a magnificent demonstration of Jesus’ infinite love for us ...
that after granting us mercy with His forgiveness ... He absorbs our penance!
How much mercy does Jesus have to bestow? A limitless ocean of Mercy!
That’s what we celebrate on Divine Mercy Sunday ... God’s endless Mercy!
We reverenced this in the 1st verse of our Responsorial Psalm as our Cantor sang:
“Let the house of Israel say, His mercy endures forever.”
“Let the house of Aaron say, His mercy endures forever.”
“Let those who fear the Lord say, His mercy endures forever.”
How blessed we are to have access to God’s limitless mercy.
And God knows we need it!
He knows that given our human weakness and the many temptations of the devil,
we fall into sin ... which weakens or breaks our relationship with Him.
He doesn’t want that!
Which is why Jesus bestowed on His Apostles ...
who were the first Bishops of His Church ... with the power to forgive sins!
In our Gospel today, Jesus comes to His Apostles gathered in the Upper Room right after His Resurrection and He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Yes, Jesus left us access to His Mercy through the Ministers of His Church, the Priests.
What a Great God we have … He gives us everything:
- Before His Passion, Jesus gave us Himself in the Gift of the Holy Eucharist
- Through His Passion, Jesus gave us Divine Mercy in the gift of Redemption.
- In His great Compassion, Jesus gives us complete reparation for our sins.
What a remarkable Season of Joy this is!
Let’s carry the joy of The Resurrection and the joy of Divine Mercy ...
to the whole world!
Do you remember the definition of indulgence?
Purgatory because of our sins is wiped away!
Consider what Purgatory is ... in the words of Jesus to St. Faustina:
“Today bring to me the souls who are detained in Purgatory and immerse them in the abyss of My Mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice.
Purgatory is real.
And to be freed from the time of purification there is a huge blessing.
On this day ... Divine Mercy Sunday ... we have access, though the Church, to a Plenary Indulgence, which removes our time in Purgatory!
Let’s not miss the chance to draw deeply from Our Lord’s fountain of Mercy.
If you’ve been to confession within the past 2 weeks and have not committed any mortal sins ... and you receive Holy Communion today
and venerate the image of Jesus, the Divine Mercy ... having complete detachment from sin and placing your complete trust in Jesus
and pray for the intentions of the Pope ...
you will receive the Plenary Indulgence.
What a Great God we have:
- Through His suffering and Passion, Jesus gave us our Redemption.
But that wasn’t enough. Jesus wants us to have more than enough.
- In His great love, Jesus gives us Himself in the Holy Eucharist
But that wasn’t enough. Jesus wants us to have more than enough.
- In His great compassion, Jesus gives us access to His Divine Mercy.
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