SPIRITUAL HEALTH INSURANCE

We all know how important it is to have health insurance. We also know how costly the monthly premiums can be. How about having constant health coverage for any and all illnesses, diseases, injuries, or any health problem whatsoever completely free, just for the asking! Imagine THAT!

In our spiritual lives we have just such coverage for our spiritual health. All we need to do is ask for it. The policy is called “confession,” or “reconciliation”. It is administered through a spiritual physician,
a priest.

When we have something wrong with our bodies, it makes sense to go see a doctor. Yet and still, many of us ignore our spiritual ailments. We find excuse after excuse to NOT seek spiritual healing.
As with physical ailments, spiritual ailments don’t usually get better on their own.

Confession is a sacrament instituted by Christ to provide us with the assurance of forgiveness, the assurance of spiritual healing. Through our spiritual physician we re-gain the wholeness of our souls and the guaranty of going to heaven. Our spiritual lives are revitalized.

You have no doubt heard or witnessed the excitement of born-again Christians. We, too, are “born-again” every time we receive this sacrament.

The act of confessing our sins is not always easy and can be a humiliating experience. This humiliation is good for the soul, a kind of spiritual medication. Priests, like physicians, are not surprised or put off by what is presented to them. They’ve heard it all.

Sometimes, and especially in small parishes, a parishioner may feel too embarrassed to confess something to a local priest who may recognize him or her. If you view your priest as your primary spiritual physician, you ought not to feel this way. After all, would you NOT go to your primary physician because of embarrassment? If yes, then you would probably go to another doctor. Well,
the same is true about your confessor. Your spiritual health insurance policy allows you to go to ANY priest for confession. You don’t need a referral! You might choose to go to a neighboring parish.
Or, you could choose to go to St. Michael’s in downtown Buffalo where the Jesuit Fathers hear confessions every weekday from 11:30 a.m. to noon and from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. St. Michael’s is located at 651 Washington Street. There is plenty of off-street parking.

The point is that we have an all-inclusive spiritual health insurance policy and should not put our eternal happiness in jeopardy. “Eternal” means everlasting! It’s a no-brainer: eternal suffering in hell, or eternal happiness in heaven. We are all called to everlasting life in heaven. We are all called to be saints!

We are responsible for our own souls. Our priests are available to us not only to forgive our sins but also to give us spiritual advice. We don’t need to wait to have a list of sins in order to go to confession. Every time we go to confession we revitalize our spirituality, gain grace, and strengthen our moral fiber.

by: Brother Ed Boduch

SPIRITUAL LIFE INSURANCE POLICY

Many people buy life insurance policies to help their beneficiaries with finances. The policies are payable after one’s death. The policy holder is comforted by knowing that loved ones will have something to live on after he/she dies.

Jesus suffered and died on the cross in order to redeem us from our sins. He provided us with the opportunity for eternal life in heaven. When we sin, we turn away from God. Through mortal sin we deny ourselves eternal happiness in heaven. Through the sacrament of confession we are forgiven and return to the state of grace and, once again, have the assurance of going to heaven. Every time we commit a sin, we incur a “temporal punishment”. That means time spent in purgatory. The more we sin, even though we may be forgiven through confession, the more temporal punishment we chalk up!

What would you do erase the temporal punishment in your spiritual diary? Imagine that you could reset your spiritual life and have a completely clean slate. Imagine that upon your death you would not have to spend any time in purgatory, but go immediately to heaven for your eternal happiness. That’s what happens to us at baptism … and then, life happens: temptations occur, and we fall into sin. We confess our sins, regain grace, and are left with some time to serve in purgatory.

Have you ever heard of an “indulgence”? An indulgence erases some of the temporal punishment.
A “plenary indulgence” wipes the slate clean with no time in purgatory. Imagine THAT!

Pope John Paul II gave us such an opportunity when he established Divine Mercy Sunday. (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Decree Misericors
et miserator, 5 May 2000). We can gain a plenary indulgence by participating.

Here’s the deal which I like to think of as a Spiritual Life Insurance Policy:

Plenary Indulgence

I. The usual conditions for every plenary Indulgence:
sacramental confession [according to previously issued norms,
within about 20 days before or after]
Eucharistic communion [according to previously issued norms,
preferably on the day, or the days before or after]
prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff [certain prayers are not specified]

II. The specific conditions for this Indulgence:
On Divine Mercy Sunday
In any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin,
even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honor of Divine Mercy
Or, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle,
recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus
(e.g. “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!”)

Partial Indulgence

A partial indulgence, granted to the faithful who, at least with a contrite heart, pray to the merciful
Lord Jesus a legitimately approved invocation. [e.g. “Jesus I trust in You.” “My Jesus mercy.”
Or, any other approved invocation]

Those who cannot go to church or the seriously ill
Conditions for a Plenary Indulgence:
totally detesting any sin,
the intention of fulfilling as soon as possible the three usual conditions
of confession, communion and prayers for the Holy Father
recite the Our Father and the Creed before a devout image of Our Merciful Lord Jesus
pray a devout invocation to the Merciful Lord Jesus
(e.g. “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you”).

If it is impossible to do even this:
with a spiritual intention unite with those carrying out the prescribed practice
for obtaining the Indulgence in the usual way and
offer to the Merciful Lord a prayer and the sufferings of their illness and the difficulties of their lives, with the resolution to accomplish as soon as possible the three conditions prescribed to obtain the plenary indulgence.

Now, why would you not want to participate in Divine Mercy Sunday devotions? Here’s a golden opportunity to renew and re-focus your spiritual life and assure your place in the express line to heaven. Of course, we have to stay on the straight and narrow path to do that. But it is a chance to start over.
It is an opportunity to avail ourselves of God’s mercy and for us to become merciful unto others. DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY is the Sunday after Easter.

by: Brother Ed Boduch