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Though it may seem obvious, we should mention that no one can merit the initial grace
of conversion for themselves. The unplugged lamp can’t plug itself in, though once
plugged it really is the lamp that shines. A misunderstanding of this point helped fuel the
fire of dissension that sparked so many painful divisions among Christians at the time of
the Protestant Reformation. We cannot save or redeem ourselves; we need a Savior, a
Redeemer: Christ. But on the other hand, once we have accepted Christ’s gift of grace,
that very gift enables us to merit other graces for ourselves and for the Church. This is a
marvelous, wonderful, and underemphasized part of the Good News!

This leads us to The Treasury of Grace/Merit

This treasury includes all of the grace Jesus won for us by his death and resurrection.

It also includes the prayers, acts of charity, joy and patient suffering of all the faithful
who have ever lived in fidelity to his grace.

In the communion of saints, we all share in each other’s merits: “In this wonderful
exchange, the holiness of one profits others” (CCC, 1475).

By receiving this grace and practicing virtue we may be purified of the temporal
punishment of sin.

The Church dispenses this saving grace through the sacraments. But also through
indulgences.

What the Church does, then, in administering an indulgence is apply the treasury of
merits (that of Jesus and all the saints) to one of her children, under certain prescribed
conditions (e.g., reading the Bible for thirty minutes).

The Treasury of Merit - Asking a Favor from the Church

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heav-
en” (Matthew 16:19)

Again, this application does not affect the eternal consequences of sin—i.e., it will not
save one who is unrepentant and not in communion with our Lord.

Rather, the application concerns the temporal consequences of sin, an application that
flows from the unity of the family of God and the way in which the merits of one sibling
(e.g., a saint) can be applied to others (e.g., the pilgrim Church on earth).

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