In calling this Holy Year, Pope Francis expressed his desire that “the jubilee be a living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost tangible, so that the faith of every believer may be strengthened and thus testimony to it be ever more effective.” During this year he has also instructed that special indulgences be available to the faithful. Because ‘indulgence’ can be a loaded and often misunderstood word, it would be good to review the Church’s teaching on what an indulgence is and how they can benefit us on our pilgrimage through this life to our heavenly homeland. “An indulgence is a remission, before God, of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1471). So, what does all that means practically? To understand what an indulgence is for, we must first understand the damage that sin causes. Essentially, sin has two effects – an eternal effect (if it’s a mortal sin) and a temporal effect. The eternal effect concerns whether or not we are in relationship with God, and a mortal sin destroys that relationship. If we die in this state, unrepentant, it leads to hell. The eternal consequence of mortal sin is repaired in the Sacrament of Penance. Sin also has a temporal effect. Think of it like the damage that sin causes in us that must be healed before we can enter into heaven (because heaven is for the perfect). An analogy might help. If you are playing baseball and you hit the ball and it breaks your neighbors window two things need to follow. First you need to confess and apologize to your neighbor (this is the reparation of the relationship – the eternal punishment), but the matter of the effect of your action remains (the broken window) and that still needs to be repaired (the temporal punishment). The temporal punishment is atoned for through penance in this life or purgatory in the next. There is also a third way, and this is where indulgences come in. Because we are all in this together, and we can assist one another through acts of prayer, penance, and charity, there is something called the ‘Treasury of Merits.’ Essentially this is the treasury of satisfactions of Jesus, Mary, and the Saints. The Church, that Christ has established to be His visible presence in the world and dispenser of the mysteries of redemption, can apply this treasury to the living (but only to the person obtaining it) and to the dead (souls in purgatory). Receiving from this treasury remits either all of the temporal punishment (plenary indulgence) or some of the temporal punishment (partial indulgence). To obtain an indulgence one must meet the following conditions: (1) Make a pilgrimage to the Holy Door (the center door at the front of the Cathedral). Crossing through a Holy Door is a spiritual journey that signals, as the Holy Father said, “the deep desire for true conversion.” (2) Go to confession. (3) Have a complete detachment from sin, even venial sin. (4) Receive Holy Communion. (5) Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father (Creed, One Our Father, One Hail Mary, One Glory Be).