Sacraments (SA-kruh,mehnts): The unique signs instituted by Christ that give us the grace they signify. They are Baptism, Penance, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Matrimony, and Anointing of the Sick.
Sacramentals (sa-kruh-MEHN-tuhlz): Sacred signs, whether objects (e.g., scapulars, holy water) or actions (e.g., blessings), possessing a likeness to the sacraments and whose effects are obtained by the prayer of the Church. The sacraments were instituted by Christ and effect [give] grace by virtue of themselves; the sacramentals are instituted by the Church and impart grace according to the disposition of the recipients and the intercession of the Church.* (CCC 1667-1676)
Chances are, you have a bunch of sacramentals in your home and this lesson opens by helping your family become more aware of them. Even if you don’t wear a scapular and have a relic of your patron saint on your prayer table, you may have wedding rings, holy cards, and a Bible or two. Being aware of the unique blessings these things carry is a great step in allowing them to be a blessing for your family, and I’ll be posting more about this throughout the week.
INDULGENCES are one of those topics that have been and still is misunderstood, but the simple explanation is that when Jesus founded the Church, he gave the Apostles (and their successors) the ability to bind and loose sin (Matthew 16:18 Matthew 18:18). This power given to the Church allows her to dispense graces in all sorts of ways and one of the ways she chooses to do it is through indulgences. It’s critical to remember that all indulgences have conditions – things you must do to receive the graces. To get a full (plenary) indulgence, you must perform the action (go on the pilgrimage, complete the novena, etc.), you must go to confession within a few days of the required action, you must receive the Eucharist, preferably on the same day as the action, and you must pray for the Pope’s intentions. When you look at any indulgence from that angle first, it’s plain to see that you are going to receive graces and grown in holiness simply by completing those virtuous actions. The indulgence can be looked at as a value-added boost from the Church’s “bank” of dispensable graces.
I found this analogy of a child who steals a candy bar to be helpful (Read the complete article here.):
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The Good parent and child |
Holy Mother Church and child |
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the parent forgives the child for stealing and allows the child back into his good graces |
the Church forgives the guilt through the Sacrament of Confession, thereby eliminating the eternal consequences by the grace of Christ, and restoring the penitent from being a “dead member” of the Church to a “living member” of the Church |
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the child desires to pay back the store (“make satisfaction” for his debt) |
the faithful desires to make satisfaction for his debt to God which he incurred through sin |
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the child turns to his parent for help in making satisfaction for his debt to the store. The child doesn’t have the money to pay back the store, but to the parent, the cost of the candy bar is nothing |
Holy Mother Church was given the power of the Keys and, therefore, the authority to make ways for the penitent to make satisfaction for his debts to God by tapping into the treasury of merits of Christ and the Saints |
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the good parent says that if the child is truly contrite and truly desires to make satisfaction for the debt, he can earn enough to pay for some of the candy bar if he does X, or enough to pay for all of the candy bar if he does Y |
Holy Mother Church sets out certain prayers and works to be offered under certain conditions which will either pay for some of the debt owed to God (partial indulgence) or all of the debt owed to God (plenary indulgence) |
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the child does X or Y |
the faithful performs the prescribed actions, under the prescribed conditions, to gain an indulgence |
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the good parent follows through on his promise, helping the child pay for his crime by opening his wallet and giving the child some or all of the money to pay back the store. |
the Church mitigates punishment incurred (temporal penalties) by opening the treasury of merit and applying those merits to the faithful. |
Now, suppose there are two children. One child steals the candy bar and then dies. The other child — his brother, say — wants to help pay his dead brother’s debt, so he pays back the store in the name of his dead brother. In this way, the Catholic can offer the benefits of the indulgence to the souls in Purgatory. Indulgences can only be applied to oneself or to a soul in Purgatory, not to another living person.
Family Formation 