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I wanted to pass along a little nugget from this morning's Vatican news briefing. Pope Benedict XVI will be extending a plenary indulgence for all who are attending WYD in Sydney and a partial indulgence for all who pray for the spiritual goals and happy outcome of WYD.

To receive the partial indulgence, all you need to do is pray for the success of WYD and the three "normal" things needed for an indulgence -- confession, communion and praying for the Pope's intentions.

As the Catechism reminds us, an indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. In other words, even though our sin is forgiven, there remain temporal punishment (i.e. purgatory). An indulgence pardons us from the remaining temporal punishment. An indulgence can be "partial"--removing some of the time--or "plenary"--removing all of our temporal punishment.

This is one of those aspects of our faith that not everyone will get excited about and admittedly, it isn't the easiest concept to grasp, but one of the various options the Church gives to us to help us to become closer to God.

You can read more about the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican office whose only job is to handle matters of indulgences and issues of the "internal forum" (i.e. stuff to be talked about under the seal of confession) at their website.

Below is the news brief from the Vatican Information Service:

PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR 23RD WORLD YOUTH DAY

 

VATICAN CITY, 5 JUL 2008 (VIS) - According to a decree made public today and signed by Cardinal James Francis Stafford and Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M. Conv., respectively penitentiary major and regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Benedict XVI will grant the faithful Plenary Indulgence to faithful who "gather at Sydney, Australia, in the spirit of pilgrimage" to participate in celebrations for 23rd World Youth Day, and Partial Indulgence to "all those who, wherever they are, will pray for the spiritual goals of this meeting and for its happy outcome".

 

  The English-language decree reads: "The youth meeting held in the year 2005 in Cologne, offered the Apostolic Penitentiary an opportune occasion, with the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, to open wide to youth the spiritual treasures of the Church, with the aim of gathering singular fruits of sanctification.

 

  "Hence, this year, from 15 to 20 July, in Sydney, 'in the great southern land of the Holy Spirit' (according to the expression of John Paul II), will celebrate the 23rd World Youth Day, with the theme: 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses'.

 

  "Indeed", the decree adds, "young people gathered around the Vicar of Christ will participate in the sacred functions and above all have recourse to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. In the Sacraments received with a sincere and humble heart, they will earnestly desire to strengthen themselves in the Spirit, and, confirmed by the Chrism of salvation, will openly witness the faith before others even to the ends of the earth. May God grant that the very presence of the Supreme Pontiff among the young people gathered in Sydney express and render it such".

 

  The indulgences may be gained in the following ways:

 

  "The Plenary Indulgence is granted to the faithful who will devotedly participate at some sacred function or pious exercise taking place during the 23rd World Youth Day, including its solemn conclusion, so that, having received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and being truly repentant, they receive Holy Communion and devoutly pray according to the intentions of His Holiness.

 

  "The Partial Indulgence is granted to the faithful, wherever they are during the above-mentioned meeting, if, at least with a contrite spirit, they will raise their prayer to God the Holy Spirit, so that young people are drawn to charity and given the strength to proclaim the Gospel with their life.

 

  "So that all the faithful may more easily obtain these heavenly gifts, priests who have received legitimate approval to hear sacramental confessions, should welcome them with a ready and generous spirit and suggest public prayers to the faithful, for the success of the same World Youth Day".

PENT/DECREE INDULGENCES/WYD                                    VIS 080707 (460)

I've been asked this question much more recently as June 1st rolled closer. When I began my latest role at the University Catholic Center as a Campus Ministry Intern, it was for a year term (the Diocese is an at-will employer, so the year wasn't legally binding, but you get the drift).

I've re-upped for another year! We're still looking at funding for 2008-2009 to see if I will have a comrade in office and, then if grants come through, who will fill that role.

I picked up my ticket today from the Chancery for the Mass in Yankee Stadium. I'll be sitting in the bleachers, section 39. I'll be flying out of Austin on Thursday and heading back on Monday.

There's some new stuff online at YouTube, including new "tabs" for sharing, favorites, etc as well as for "Commentary" and for "Stats".

The Triduum starts. Tonight, we celebrate the life of Jesus Christ, the priesthood and Eucharist He established and the command He gives us to serve all.

Lent ends before Evening Prayer, which is only said by those who do not participate in the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper tonight. While Lent is over, it doesn't mean go and do whatever you gave up for Lent. Wait until after the Vigil :-).

ZENIT is reporting that Knights of Columbus founder Fr. Michael McGivney has been deemed "Venerable" by the Catholic Church. The decree, authorized by Pope Benedict XVI and published on Saturday, recognizes the heroic virtue of Fr. McGivney and moves up one step closer to the highest honor of the Church—sainthood.

Fr. McGivney, in the 1800's, seeing the plight of widows and children after the death of the husband, founded the Knights of Columbus as a fraternal order for Catholic men so that they can join together, enhance their spirituality and their faith, and very importantly, assist in the financial security of their families. The Knights of Columbus' insurance is one of the highest-rated products in the country and the Knights give billions of dollars to charity for everything from scholarships (one of them helped to finance my freshman year at UT) to the technical equipment and uplink to transmit papal events from the Vatican to the world.

As a card-carrying member, it gives me great pleasure to know that such a group of men exist.

I'll put a value judgment on people in town for SXSW. They appear to have no idea how to drive in a city that is unfamiliar to them. SXSW takes over part of downtown Austin for a week with music, movies and conference events at all times of the day and night, except a few hours in the wee of night.

Last night, I was driving home from work along Guadalupe Street at 10 pm. Usually people are starting to go out around that time, traffic would decent, but most importantly, it is a rather thoughtless drive. Stay in the middle lane, pay attention to the lights and nothing weird will come your way.

Not during SXSW. I almost hit a crowd of people after they walked into the intersection against the light with traffic heading toward them at 40 MPH. The next block, a car had stopped in the second lane from the left waiting for the two lanes to the right could clear so he could make a right hand turn, cutting off two lanes of traffic.

This continued most of my way home. I love SXSW, but don't try to drive. Just walk or take a pedicab.

Just check out this front page (pdf).

Look at it, you should notice something interesting.

If you need help, check out the story about a man stealing a wallet with the color security photo next to it. Does the man look like someone you've seen before, perhaps in another picture on this same front page?

What are the odds?

Prayers to our Jesuit friends who will begin their 35th General Congregation on Monday. Rocco has some more on it.