St. Joseph Basilica

Dear St. Joseph Family,
Happy 4th of July weekend!
As I write this on Wednesday, June 29th, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. This is not only a special day for the universal Church as she remembers her Apostolic foundations, but also for our parish in particular. As a minor basilica, there are several days throughout the year when the faithful – you and I – can visit the basilica and receive a plenary indulgence: this solemnity, the feast day of the title of the parish (St. Joseph, March 19), August 2 (the “Portiuncula” indulgence), and one other day of the year chosen by yourself.

So, what is an indulgence? An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment for sins. What this means is that, when we sin, an injustice occurs, and in order to repair that injustice, two things must take place. First, the sin must be confessed, or, to put it simply, we must say we are sorry. Then, the injustice must be repaired; we must make up for the wrong. If we steal $5 from our mom’s purse, we can’t just say sorry, we have to return the money. When we come to the Sacrament of Confession, we do both; we confess the sin, and we perform a penance given by the priest. However, it may happen that the penances we perform do not make up for the entirety of the injustice. Maybe we take $5 but can only return $4.75. With a plenary indulgence, however, the full balance is paid. If it is not paid in this life, then we have Purgatory, a place of final purification before entering into heaven.

Click here for the full message.