God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of His grace.
Dear Missionary Disciples of Jesus Christ,
A young boy becomes angry at his friend, so angry that he throws a rock at his friend's house. He breaks the beautiful $20,000 stained-glass window in the house where his friend lives. He becomes sorry, and His father takes him over to the neighbor's house to apologize to the owners and his friend. The owners and the friend tell the boy they forgive him. This would be analogous to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Sin hurts us and others. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God forgives us our sins, but what of the damage done by our sins? In the Sacrament, we are reconciled to God and the Church.
The owner of the house forgave the boy, but he still has no stained glass window. The father of the boy tells his son he wants him to do the dishes for a month and say an Our Father and a Hail Mary each day for his friend. After the month, the father pays for a new stained glass window. This is analogous to indulgences. It is not a perfect analogy. God freely associates…*The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace. The fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man's free acting through his collaboration, so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man's merit, moreover, itself is due to God, for his good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions and assistance given by the Holy Spirit. (*Catechism of the Catholic Church 2008 )
Please know that any communication that comes to me anonymously carries little merit and will be addressed accordingly.
Peace, Father Maassen
