Page 31 - Nurturing the Nurturer 2018 Flip Page Program

This transformation is necessary for us to enter fully into communion with God and the
joy that it entails.

Importantly, indulgences have nothing to do with the eternal consequences of sin. That
is, the Church has never taught anything like “you can buy your way to heaven.”

Rather, indulgences are a lessening of the temporal punishment due to sin. Analogously,
it’s as if I assigned one of my children a thirty-minute timeout and later reduced it to
fifteen minutes.

So where does this reduction in the temporal punishment come from?

It comes from the Treasury of Grace (also called Treasury of Merit). Let me explain.

All the faithful who possess the Holy Spirit form one Body in Christ - the Church
(Romans 12:5). In this Body or family all the members can help one another. Jesus, the
one mediator - enables us to share in His work by uniting our prayers, works, joys,
sorrows and suffering to His great work of Redemption. In this way he uses our
cooperation to bring grace and good to others in the Body (the Church).

This is called The Communion of Saints.

This communion of saints has two closely linked meanings:
 It is a communion among holy persons (persons in the state of grace)
 And a communion in holy things (prayers, works, joys, sorrows & suffering united
with Christ and offered out of love)

What each one does or suffers in and for Christ bears fruit for all.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear
fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name,
he may give it to you” (John 15:16).

All Christians are united by the Holy Spirit even though we live in three
different states of being:
 Some of us are pilgrims on earth journeying to heaven
 Others have died and are being purified in Purgatory
 While still others are in the glory of heaven.

The saints in heaven can help us with their prayers. We can help the souls in Purgatory.
The souls in Purgatory cannot help themselves but by offering our prayers, works, joys,
sorrow and suffering for them we can speed them on to full union with God They in
turn, pray for us and as they come closer to the glory of heaven, their prayers for us
become more & more effective.

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