If you’ve ever been confused about indulgences, this episode of Father Simon Says will help clear up some of the confusion.
🛟Salvation vs. Redemption
Fr. Simon kicks off with a brilliant distinction:
Salvation = Being snatched from spiritual death. Think: Jesus saving you from falling off a cliff (dramatic, yes, but also kind of the point).
Redemption = Being bought back and restored to your original place in God’s family (like being rescued and then thrown a welcome-home party).
So, when we talk indulgences… we’re talking redemption, not salvation.
Wait, So What IS an Indulgence?
Fr. Simon defines it like this:
“A remission of temporal punishment due to sin.”
Here’s the scoop:
Back in the old Church days… if you committed mortal sin (like adultery or murder), you did public penance.
Over time, the Church allowed substitutions: pilgrimages, acts of charity, and eventually indulgences… all as ways to make up for the damage sin does, not to get out of jail free.
The indulgence system was later abused, but it was reformed… not tossed out.
So, when the Church offers indulgences, like in this Jubilee Year… she’s inviting us to step into that spiritual treasury of the saints. We should tap into the graces Christ won for us and rebuild what sin tore down. 🧱✨
🧼Indulgences ≠ Magic Sin Erasers
Let’s clear this up:
Indulgences don’t forgive sins; that’s what confession is for.
They don’t give you a free pass to go sin again.
They’re about undoing the harm sin causes in your soul and helping you become more like Christ.
But… You can’t get a plenary indulgence (the full kind) if you’re still attached to sin, even venial ones.
🔥Do They Help with Purgatory Time?
Father says that we shouldn’t think of purgatory in human clocks… like, “Say this prayer and you get 50 days off!”
The old “days off” language meant “equivalent to 50 days of public penance,” not literal heavenly calendar math.
Indulgences help because they purify and heal, and anything that makes you more like Jesus now means less spiritual scrubbing later. 🧽💕
🛐 Quote from Fr. Simon:
“I know that I will stand before God, who is light and love, and everything in me that isn’t light and love will be burned away by the fire of God’s love.”
🔥🔥
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