• How can the Church, composed of human beings, decide matters that have eternal consequences?
• How can a pilgrimage to a special place produce far-reaching results like a plenary indulgence, that is, the remission and forgiveness of all our sins?

Our church has been designated to be a pilgrimage church during the Jubilee Year 2025. This means that everyone who makes a pilgrimage to our church and fulfills the conditions for a plenary indulgence can receive the indulgence for oneself or for someone who died. We could summarize these conditions in this way: a person must be moved by a spirit of charity, be purified through the Sacrament of penance, refreshed by Holy Communion and must pray for the pope’s intentions. Through this pilgrimage, as well as a work of mercy or an act of penance, we will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all our sins, which can be applied to the souls in Purgatory. [Details about Plenary Indulgences.]

This is truly an amazing gift – remission and forgiveness of all our sins! And our parish is blessed to participate in this in a special way, being the place where people can obtain such a gift. What a privilege … but what an obligation for us at the same time. Every day we can receive even two plenary indulgences for ourselves or someone who died. We cannot offer it for the living.

I would like to answer two questions that may be raised in regard to a plenary indulgence. The first is: how can the Church, composed of human beings, decide matters that not only touch our current life but that have eternal consequences? Let’s remind ourselves of two classical texts from the Gospel in answering this question. In the Gospel of John, we read that Jesus said to the Apostles, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you… Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” (John 20:21-23) On another occasion Jesus said to Simon Peter, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16,18-19) Jesus left the world, but before leaving, He established His Church and destined that this Church would lead people to be a means of their sanctification until His return at the end of time. He did not stay physically on earth to lead the Church. Instead, He intended that with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the Church herself would pilgrimize in the right direction, making right decisions regarding the salvation of people: “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”

The second question is: can a seemingly trivial thing, such as a physical visit, a pilgrimage to a special place – Rome, a cathedral or a designated place – produce such far-reaching results like the remission and forgiveness of all our sins, in other words, a plenary indulgence? The Old Testament story in 2 Kings 5 about   Naaman, commander of the Syrian army and who had leprosy could be helpful in answering this question. Naaman came to the prophet Elisha in the Holy Land with the hope of being healed.  The prophet did not even appear in person, but instead, sent word through a messenger that the general should submerge himself seven times in the River Jordan. Initially, Naaman rebuked such an idea as senseless, and he wanted to go home but fortunately he has listened to his servant who advised him, “if the prophet told you to do something extraordinary, would you not do it? All the more since he told you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” Naaman did as Elisha had asked him, became clean and professed faith in God. The crucial point of this story is that it was not the submergence in a specific river as such that gave Naaman access to God’s grace, but that it was his trust in God expressed in the act of washing himself in the river that obtained God’s grace for him.

In the same way, while visiting pilgrimage churches during the Jubilee Year could seem to be a relatively easy thing, we must remember that this visit has to be an expression of our trust in God, a sign of our willingness to repent, to amend our life and follow the way of the Gospel. We also need to remember that the other standard condition for obtaining a plenary indulgence requires a serious revision of our life. Sacramental Confession that removes our mortal sins, and other sins as well, may be neglected by some people for years. However, the Church requires us to go to Confession at least once a year. If we skip Sunday Mass without a serious reason, we are not in the state of grace and we cannot receive Communion, nor are we able to receive a plenary indulgence. In addition, the person seeking a plenary indulgence not only has to be free of mortal sin, but must be detached from any sin, including any venial sin. We see clearly that obtaining a plenary indulgence requires a full determination to live an authentically holy life, as God calls us.

For some people, this could be too much. They may state and think: We are Catholics, and we try to fulfill some of the religious obligations. We practice our faith occasionally or more frequently, and we are generally not bad people. What’s wrong with that? Do we have to be holy on earth? Won’t we be holy in heaven? So don’t exaggerate with all this Christianity! Too much is too much! Purgatory? Come on! Are you serious? God is good, and no doubt we will go straight to heaven, as our parents did.

What can we say to that? Of course we can try to comfort ourselves with such a mediocre Christian life. But in this way, we are missing out on a lot now and missing much more in the future life. Rather, we should see the Jubilee Year and our church designated to be a pilgrimage church as a gift, an opportunity and a chance. The Jubilee Year indulgences can reach each one of us as a genuine experience of God’s mercy, which comes to meet each person in the Face of the Father who welcomes and forgives, forgetting completely the sin committed. A pilgrimage to the Holy Doors in Rome, to a Cathedral, or to churches designated by the Diocesan Bishop is a sign of a deep desire for our true conversion when it is linked to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, a reflection on God’s mercy, and Christian hope. 

May God help us to grow in wisdom and faith every day of the Jubilee Year!

Fr. Mark Jurzyk