The Indulgent Father He waits and watches with merciful eyes to restore you to holiness.

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Oswald Barton
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1 The Indulgent Father He waits and watches with merciful eyes to restore you to holiness. Indulgence Discover how an indulgence is associated with the holiness of the Church. Sections 1. Family and Youth Activities 2. Adult Activities - Digging Deeper, Questions for Reflection and Discussion 3. Resources for Youth, Adults, and Families 4. Misericordiae Vultus ( The Face of Mercy ), paragraph Family and Youth Activities Consider how the Communion of Saints helps us all: Imagine a forest that had only bears, but no other animals. Talk about reasons that the forest would not be as good and the bears would not be as well off. Discuss other animals that benefit a forest and benefit the bears, and benefit each other. Talk about how it takes the variety of animals for each of the animals and for the forest to be the best they can be. Talk about the different gifts of different people you know. Share ways we all benefit from those different gifts. Talk about how it takes the variety of people for each of us and for our world to be the best we can be. Explain that the Communion of Saints is like that, too. We all benefit from the different gifts of holiness given to different people. Our holiness helps others, and the holiness of others helps make us more holy, too. Talk about the different ways the saints in heaven help us: o St. Therese promised that when she was in heaven, she would continue to intercede for us in order to accomplish good on earth and help souls reach heaven. She said she would send a shower of roses upon the earth as a sign of her intercession. o St. Anthony shows us the way to our lost articles. o St. Raphael the Archangel is invoked for healings. The saints are our friends who intercede to obtain help for us in many ways, including obtaining mercy/forgiveness (indulgence) for us by their own holiness. o Talk about your favorite saint. How has this saint interceded to obtain something good for you? o Take time to thank God for the gift of the saints. o Pray a litany to the saints: Some patron saint resources: * = Paragraph references from Misericordiae Vultus relating to The Indulgent Father: Indulgence Page 1

2 Read about St. Therese and how her prayers resulted in the conversion of a prisoner sentenced to death: Or watch the video that tells the story: We can assume from the accounts given that Therese obtained forgiveness/mercy (indulgence) for this prisoner. As a family, adopt a prisoner and pray for his/her conversion. You do not need to know the prisoner s name or crime. Ask St. Therese to pick someone and present that person to the Father for you. Offer prayers and sacrifices for that prisoner s conversion. Ask for St. Therese s intercession for him/her. Pray for the prisoner s family his/her parents, siblings, spouse, children. Also pray for healing for those who have been harmed by the injustices committed by the prisoner. Plan a pilgrimage to St. Raphael Cathedral in Dubuque to pass through the Holy Doors and receive Sacramental Reconciliation. Plan it as a time of prayer, family togetherness, and drawing closer to the Merciful Father. Plan to meet the requirements for receiving the indulgence attached to this practice, as outlined below. In addition to being in the state of grace: have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin; have sacramentally confessed your sins; receive Holy Communion; pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff (Pope Francis). For more information: Cathedral Pilgrimage Site: * = Paragraph references from Misericordiae Vultus relating to The Indulgent Father: Indulgence Page 2

3 2. Adult Activities - Digging Deeper: Questions for Reflection and Discussion Indulgence has a negative connotation for many individuals because of past Church abuses, yet Pope Francis tells us that to gain an indulgence is to experience the holiness of the Church. He reminds us that, because of the indulgence offered through this Extraordinary Jubilee, we can approach the Father s mercy with the certitude that his forgiveness extends to the entire life of the believer. In other words, the forgiveness not only forgives our sins, but also the temporal punishment due to those sins thus, COMPLETE forgiveness in every aspect of our life and being. We are reminded that God gave to the Church, through the keys entrusted to Peter, the gift of pardoning sinners and even freeing them from the consequences of sin so that the forgiven sinner may now grow in holiness and in union with Christ. This is the justification for the granting of indulgences. Consider and share your honest reaction to the idea of indulgence. Pray for faith and for trust in Jesus and in the Church given to us by Jesus so that you can approach the Father s Mercy with the CERTITUDE of gaining an indulgence this year. St. Anthony shows us the way to our lost articles. St. Raphael the Archangel is invoked for healings. The saints are our friends who intercede to obtain help for us in many ways, including obtaining mercy/forgiveness (indulgence) for us by their own holiness. Who is your favorite saint? How has this saint interceded to obtain something good for you. Which saint s intercession might you be most likely invoke to assist you in obtaining mercy for yourself or someone you love? Why? Some patron saint resources: Read about St. Therese and how her prayers resulted in the conversion of a prisoner sentenced to death: Or watch the animated video that tells the story: We can assume from the accounts given that Therese obtained forgiveness/mercy (indulgence) for this prisoner. St. Therese promised that when she was in heaven, she would continue to intercede for us in order to accomplish good on earth and help souls reach heaven, sending a shower of roses upon the earth as a sign of her intercession. As a family, adopt a prisoner and pray for his/her conversion. You do not need to know the prisoner s name or crime. Ask St. Therese to pick someone and present that person to the Father for you. Offer prayers and sacrifices for that prisoner s conversion. Ask for St. Therese s intercession for him/her. Pray for the prisoner s family his/her parents, siblings, spouse, children. Also pray for healing for those who have been harmed by the injustices committed by the prisoner. * = Paragraph references from Misericordiae Vultus relating to The Indulgent Father: Indulgence Page 3

4 Not only can the saints in heaven assist us, but we can assist others, too, through our prayers and offerings. We pray for others so that they might find peace, be kept safe, regain health, etc. St. Faustina s Diary (Diary of St. Faustina, #367) tells us that we can obtain mercy for others through our own prayer and our own acceptance of God s mercy. This is true because we, too, are members of the Communion of Saints. Our greatest opportunity for this is in the Holy Mass where we celebrate our union with the entire Communion of Saints. We often offer a Mass for someone because we know the power of the Mass to obtain God s Mercy. Share a time when you feel your prayer for another was answered by God. When we receive an indulgence, we may receive it for ourselves, or we may receive it for another. Think about individuals who may need the gift of indulgence offered, and consider if you might obtain an indulgence for them. Plan a pilgrimage to St. Raphael Cathedral in Dubuque to pass through the Holy Doors and receive Sacramental Reconciliation. Plan to meet the requirements for receiving the indulgence attached to this practice, as outlined below. In addition to being in the state of grace: have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin; have sacramentally confessed your sins; receive Holy Communion; pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff (Pope Francis). For more information: Cathedral Pilgrimage Site: * = Paragraph references from Misericordiae Vultus relating to The Indulgent Father: Indulgence Page 4

5 3. Resources for Youth, Adults, and Families Contact the Education Resource Center at the Archdiocese of Dubuque for additional resources ( or Table Codes Age/Grade Level: EC=Early Childhood, P=Primary, I=Intermediate, J=Junior High/Middle School, S=Senior High School, YA=Young Adult, A=Adult Media Type: AD=Audio Disc, BK=Book, BR=Reference Book, CD=CD, CR=CD-Rom, DV=DVD, GM=Game, KA=Kit, OA=Online Activity (for participant), OC=Online Catechetical Presentation, OL=Online Link, OR=Online Resources and Reference, OT=Online Tool, OV=Online Video, PO=Poster Media ERC Age/Grade Title Description Type OV click here Media # Level S, YA, A Indulgences This video explains what an indulgence is. The difference between a partial and a plenary indulgence is explained, and the video gives several examples of how both plenary and partial indulgences can be obtained from God through the Church. Learning more online articles: * = Paragraph references from Misericordiae Vultus relating to The Indulgent Father: Indulgence Page 5

6 4. Misericordiae Vultus ( The Face of Mercy ). A Jubilee also entails the granting of indulgences. This practice will acquire an even more important meaning in the Holy Year of Mercy. God s forgiveness knows no bounds. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God makes even more evident his love and its power to destroy all human sin. Reconciliation with God is made possible through the paschal mystery and the mediation of the Church. Thus God is always ready to forgive, and he never tires of forgiving in ways that are continually new and surprising. Nevertheless, all of us know well the experience of sin. We know that we are called to perfection (cf. Mt 5:48), yet we feel the heavy burden of sin. Though we feel the transforming power of grace, we also feel the effects of sin typical of our fallen state. Despite being forgiven, the conflicting consequences of our sins remain. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God forgives our sins, which he truly blots out; and yet sin leaves a negative effect on the way we think and act. But the mercy of God is stronger even than this. It becomes indulgence on the part of the Father who, through the Bride of Christ, his Church, reaches the pardoned sinner and frees him from every residue left by the consequences of sin, enabling him to act with charity, to grow in love rather than to fall back into sin. The Church lives within the communion of the saints. In the Eucharist, this communion, which is a gift from God, becomes a spiritual union binding us to the saints and blessed ones whose number is beyond counting (cf. Rev 7:4). Their holiness comes to the aid of our weakness in a way that enables the Church, with her maternal prayers and her way of life, to fortify the weakness of some with the strength of others. Hence, to live the indulgence of the Holy Year means to approach the Father s mercy with the certainty that his forgiveness extends to the entire life of the believer. To gain an indulgence is to experience the holiness of the Church, who bestows upon all the fruits of Christ s redemption, so that God s love and forgiveness may extend everywhere. Let us live this Jubilee intensely, begging the Father to forgive our sins and to bathe us in his merciful indulgence. * = Paragraph references from Misericordiae Vultus relating to The Indulgent Father: Indulgence Page 6

Bulletin Columns for the Jubilee of Mercy in the Diocese of Grand Rapids

Bulletin Columns for the Jubilee of Mercy in the Diocese of Grand Rapids On the following pages you will find several bulletin articles written by Father Chuck Cunniff, CSP. Father Cunniff is a Paulist