Can Almsgiving Save You? Jesus, Indulgences, and the Saints

Episode 145: 22^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

In today’s episode, we look at three details that come from each of the readings for this upcoming 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. The detail from the first reading, which is taken from Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29, relates to the topic of indulgences. The detail from the second reading, which is Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a, relates to the apologetical topic of the invocation of the saints, and in particular the Protestant objection from necromancy. The detail in the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 14:7-14, relates to the causal role that our works play for final salvation.

Hey everyone,

Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.

I’m Dr. Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.

In today’s episode, we’re going to look at three details that come from each of the readings for this upcoming 22^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. The detail from the first reading, which is taken from Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29, relates to the topic of indulgences. The detail from the second reading, which is Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a, relates to the apologetical topic of the invocation of the saints, and in particular the Protestant objection from necromancy. The detail in the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 14:7-14, relates to the causal role that our works play for final salvation.

Let’s start with the first reading, again, taken from Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29. The key theme in the first reading that relates to the Gospel is humility. But rather than read the whole passage, I’m only going to draw your attention to the detail that I want to focus on. Sirach states in verse 30: “alms atone for sins.”

As you may have guessed, this relates to the Catholic doctrine of indulgences. An indulgence a charitable act that the Church specifies when performed by a person in a state of grace some or all of the debt of temporal punishment due for past forgiven sins is remitted. In other words, it’s an act that Church specifies atones for sins.

Well, almsgiving is simply one charitable act among many. And Sirach says it atones for sins. Therefore, Sirach reveals that almsgiving is an indulgence.

This is a biblical ground for the Church throughout history identifying almsgiving as an indulgence. However, due to corruption that developed surrounding this practice in Church history, the Magisterium ruled to no longer specify almsgiving as an official indulgence. Nevertheless, the act itself can still be directed to remitting debt of temporal punishment due for sins.

Now, this text will not be all that persuasive for our Protestant friends because they don’t accept Sirach as inspired by God. In fact, some have suggested that this verse is considered a contributing factor to why Luther and subsequent Protestants question its canonicity, since it conflicts with Luther’s theology on justification. For Luther, and those who follow him, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness for the justified takes away all debt of punishment for sin, not just the debt of punishment for the person before initial justification but preemptively all potential future debt incurred.

That Protestants won’t accept this as inspired is unfortunate. However, it can still serve a purpose. It at least provides an insight to the Jewish theological milieu of Jesus’ time, which in turn sheds light on a particular teaching of Jesus in Luke 11:41.

Luke recounts Jesus saying, “give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you.” Jesus is clearly speaking of a spiritual or interior almsgiving, as evidenced by “give . . . things which are within.” But I submit that this teaching presupposes the Jewish belief concerning alms atoning for sins and Jesus’ affirmation of it insofar as he is building on it.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus expanded on things that were restrictive in the Old Testament. For example, he broadened the scope of the act of adultery beyond the physical act to include the interior act of the will (“everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”—Matt. 5:27).

By doing this, Jesus didn’t exclude the Jewish belief that the exterior act of adultery was sinful. Rather, he builds on and expands the belief, which entails an affirmation of the belief.

Similarly, when Jesus says that spiritual almsgiving makes us spiritually clean, he doesn’t say exterior alms don’t make you spiritually clean. Rather, he seems to be building on and expanding the belief concerning the exterior act of giving alms, which entails an affirmation of the belief.

So, even though a Protestant may reject Sirach’s teaching of alms atoning for sins, he can’t reject Jesus’ teaching in Luke 11:41, which entails Sirach’s teaching in our first reading. Therefore, we have biblical grounds for the belief in indulgences and for the belief that even almsgiving can be a specific type of an indulgence.

Now, that we have Jesus affirming a charitable act can atone for sins, which implicitly have evidence that we can incur a debt of temporal punishment due to past forgiven sins even after we’re initially saved. Jesus can’t be speaking of atoning for the eternal debt of punishment. Only he can do that. Nor can he be speaking of atoning for any debt of punishment before initial salvation, since we know that what we do cannot merit in any way the initial grace of salvation. Therefore, Jesus must be referring to a debt of temporal punishment incurred after initial salvation.

And if this is true, which I argue it is, then the Reformed notion of all debt of punishment for even future sins being remitted with our initial justification is false.

Okay, I recognize that’s some deep theological waters. But it’s important to swim a bit in it since that’s what God’s Word reveals to us.

Let’s now turn to the second reading, which is taken from Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a. The author writes,

You have not approached that which could be touched
and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness
and storm and a trumpet blast
and a voice speaking words such that those who heard
begged that no message be further addressed to them.
No, you have approached Mount Zion
and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering,
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,
and God the judge of all,
and the spirits of the just made perfect,
and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.

The detail that I want to focus on is the statement that when we approach “the heavenly Jerusalem,” the implication being that we’re approaching in prayer, we approach “the spirits of the just made perfect.”

Why is this apologetically significant?

Whenever we have discussions concerning the Catholic practice of invoking the saints to intercede for us, we’re charged with necromancy, which many Protestants think means simply communicating with the dead. But, of course, we explain that our invocation of the saints is not necromancy because we’re not conjuring up their spirits to elicit secret knowledge about the future.

Now, when we make this argument, a Protestant most likely will counter and say, “You’re misrepresenting the objection. Protestants don’t exclude communicating with the dead in any context. We only argue against communication with the dead when the contact originates with us.”

This seems to be Protestant apologist James White’s argument when he deals with this topic in his book Answers to Catholic Claims: A Discussion of Biblical Authority. He writes, “The only communication with spirit beings that originates with man that is allowed in Scripture is that of prayer to God and he alone.”

Here is where the detail from our second reading comes into play. This passage reveals that we Christians do in fact initiate some sort of contact with the blessed in heaven.

The author is contrasting the Old and New Covenants here. In the New Covenant, when we approach Jesus “the mediator of a new covenant,” we approach the “spirits of the just made perfect.” To approach Jesus suggests the author is envisioning a Christian praying. And when we do so, we also approach the saints. Regardless, it’s clear that we initiate some sort of contact with the blessed in heaven in something similar to the way we initiate contact with Jesus.

So, initiating contact with the saints in heaven is not forbidden. Therefore, Catholics can be at peace in invoking the saints to pray for them.

Let’s now turn to the Gospel reading, which is taken from Luke 14:1, 7-14. Jesus says,

“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.

For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The key theme here that connects with the first reading is humility. And that provides material for some good preaching, for sure. But for our purposes I want to focus on the last statement, “For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

What is the work that this person will be repaid for? The act of inviting the poor who cannot repay you. In other words, an act of love, and more specifically the loving act of almsgiving. Here we have yet another connection with the first reading.

But here Jesus is teaching that the loving act of almsgiving not only atones for sins, but it also contributes to our final salvation.

Notice he speaks of repaying the person at the “resurrection of the righteous” for loving acts toward the poor. The “resurrection of the righteous” is a reference to the final judgment, which happens at the end of time. So, Jesus is speaking of repaying for loving acts to the poor at the final judgment.

Well, repayment for loving acts to the poor at the final judgment evokes Jesus’ teaching on the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46. The sheep are repaid for their loving acts of feeding the poor, giving them drink, and clothing them. The goats, on the other hand, are repaid for not doing having such love.

Now, what’s the nature of the repayment? The sheep are repaid with eternal life. The goats are repaid with damnation.

So, with this teaching as the backdrop, when Jesus speaks of repaying the person who performed loving acts to the poor he’s speaking of repaying them with eternal life.

What’s the apologetical significance? Jesus is revealing that our loving acts play a causal role for our final salvation—that’s to say, receiving eternal life at the end of our lives. And more specifically, the loving act of almsgiving can play a causal role in meriting eternal life.

Conclusion

Well, my friends, that’s all I have for this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. All three readings for this upcoming 22^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C provide us with material for apologetical discussions:

• We have material that biblically roots our belief in indulgences,
• We have material that helps us dodge the charge of necromancy in our invocation of the saints, and
• We have Jesus affirming for us that our works of love toward neighbor can be meritorious of our final salvation, which is the reception of eternal life in heaven at death.

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I hope you have a blessed 22^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. Until next time, God Bless.