Take Back the Seasons

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Nailing Christ to the Cross
By Steve Kellmeyer
It wasn't a coincidence. When Martin Luther decided to nail his Ninety-FiveTheses to the door of Wittenburg Castle Church, he chose Halloween to do it.Selling the SeasonThis Augustinian monk held fiercely to many grievous doctrinal errors, buthe did understand one thing: the liturgical year of the Catholic Church. The liturgical year is meant to do two things at once: through it, we castour eyes back towards Christ's life on earth and through it wesimultaneously cast our eyes forward through the long history of mankind, ahistory which will be crowned in the Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ.Luther understood this. That's why he really had no choice. His attack onindulgences had to take place on All Hallow's Eve. We moderns don't realizethe significance of the day because our seasons are confused.For instance, we all know that America celebrates New Year's Day on thewrong day. The new year doesn't begin January 1st, it begins on the firstSunday of Advent. Advent, of course, is the season during which we meditateon man's sinfulness and prepare for Christmas. At least, we used to.Up until World War II, every Christian treated Advent in that way.Stockings, ornaments, even Christmas trees were not erected in any houseuntil Christmas Eve. Advent was a time of preparation and repentance. DuringAdvent, everyone meditated on the world's wickedness prior to God come inthe flesh (past), and prepared themselves for the Last Day, when God comesas Judge (future). For centuries, Christmas was at once both a reminder ofthe Incarnation, the First Coming, and a reminder of Dooms-Day, JudgementDay, the Second Coming.That's why Christmas gifts were exchanged only during Christmas season(which doesn't start until Christmas Eve). The exchange of gifts not onlyrecalled the gifts of the magi to the Christ child (past), they alsoreminded us of the wonderful exchange of Persons we enter into in Heavenafter Judgement Day (future).World War II changed all that. Because it took six weeks to transportanything by ship over the ocean, Americans were told to buy their Christmasgifts for their sons overseas by Thanksgiving, or their sons would notreceive those gifts during Christmas season. American businesses liked theextra income generated by the much longer selling season six weeks beatstwelve days hands down. section39954Getting Things in OrderSixty years of advertising broke two millenia of Christian practice.Halloween has now become the closest thing we have to an Advent season.Advent is now a four-week long Christmas season, and Christmas season is nowPurgatory. The season during which we are supposed to celebrate our life inheaven with the Christ child is now the time we pay all the bills.In Luther's time, everything was still in its proper order: Death,Purgatory, Judgement Day. Death and Purgatory were recalled first throughthe commemoration of All Saints' Day, emphasizing those who died and wentstraight to heaven, and All Souls' Day, emphasizing those who died and stillhad more purification ahead of them. Purgatory, of course, is not someplace any of us are supposed to end up. Godcalls each of us to purify our lives of every sin while we are still alivehere on earth. Indeed, we are called not only to purify our lives of everysin, but to purify the universe of every consequence of every sin we mayhave committed. Make no mistake about it: every sin carries a consequence, not just aspiritual consequence, but a material consequence. When you or I sin, weremove grace from our lives. Grace is power. It is the ability to live lifein peace and joy. When we remove this power, we are unable to live lifepeacefully or with joy. So, no matter how secret my sin may be, because itremoves from me the power to be peaceful and joyful, I will be renderedunhappy by my sin. Because I lack the grace of joy, I will inevitably lashout at you, with unhappy word or fist as a direct consequence of myoh-so-secret sin. Because I am not at peace, you are tempted to relinquishyour peace. If you do, you will pass the pain along to the people you meet.The effects of my secret, solitary stone-hearted sin ripple inexorably outinto the world, tearing apart more and more lives.There is good news. When I go to Confession, my sins are forgiven and thegrace, the power, to be joyful and at peace is restored to me, if I chooseto accept it. There is bad news. Even though I am restored to peace, the effects of myearlier sins are still rippling through the world. There is astonishing news. God expects me to purify the world of theserippling consequences. He gives me the grace to do it through the works ofindulgences. section39955The Season of GraceAn indulgence is the flood of grace brought into the world through myobedience to Christ and His Bride. It is a somewhat arbitrary obedience thatanswers for my earlier arbitrary disobedience. God does not owe me thisgrace, He gives it to me freely, for He knows I cannot clean up the mess Imade unless I receive this assistance. The flood of grace from my repeatedobediences slows or removes the negative consequences of my pastdisobediences. Paul tells us that we are God's co-workers (1 Cor 3:9). God's work is thetotal eradication of sin and all its consequence. Thus, our work is likewisethe total eradication of sin and all its consequences. He expects each of usto do our part. Every living man must clean up his own mess. I can only win the flood ofgrace, the indulgence, if I am first in a state of grace: my sins must firstbe forgiven in confession. I can only win the flood of grace for myself, orfor those who can no longer obey in the flesh because they no longer havetheir flesh with them. That is, I can assist those who cannot easily helpthemselves - the dead. Some people die in a state of grace, but have not finished cleaning up theirmess. There is only one way to cleanse the world: join in Christ'ssuffering. But Christ suffered in His own body. When I am dead, I do nothave a body until the Last Day. Because of this crippling lack, my spiritualsuffering must do double-duty, for the part of me which is supposed to dothe work of suffering, that is, my flesh, is not present to help out. Thisdouble-duty suffering is Purgatory. When I, as a living man, offer indulgences for the dead, I acknowledge that1 Corinthians 12 is correct: when one suffers, all share the pain. But, whenmy assistance has helped a soul complete the necessary purification, 1Corinthians 12 still applies: when one is honored, all share the glory. In Luther's time, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day were the pre-eminentdays for Catholics to remember and apply 1 Corinthians 12. On those days,Catholics flocked to perform indulgences, for they wanted to purify theworld of the consequences of sin, they wanted to purify themselves, theywanted to help those who had died finish their purifications. The weeks between All Hallow's Eve and the First Sunday of Adventcorresponded to the end of the ages. In a few short weeks, the new age wouldbe upon them! In this new age, Christmas-Parousia would be celebrated.Everyone had to prepare, all had to sweep their house clean of leaven, thatis, the consequences of sin, and ready themselves for the heavenly banquet,to feast on the pure flesh of God.Luther's badly-formed theology had no place for meaningful human sufferingor men as divine co-workers. Thus, he rejected both indulgences andpurgatory. So, he attacked indulgences at the crucial moment - the momentduring the year when men began to prepare themselves to consciously live asdivine co-workers.His attack on Catholic theology may have begun with indulgences, but itended by destroying the common understanding that God empowers man tosanctify even time itself. Today, what Luther began on Halloween has reachedfull crescendo. He did attack it at the crucial moment, for the word"crucial" comes from the Latin "crux", which means Cross. By nailing hisattack on indulgences on that door, he crucified the idea that men shouldshare Christ's sufferings. Now, especially in America, Christ suffers alone.Do you want to change that?Take back the seasons.Here's one way to do it. The Calendar of Indulgences, created by<http://www.bridegroompress.com> Bridegroom Press, is a simple wall calendarthat lists every indulgence Christ offers us through His Bride, the Churchon a week-by-week basis. It explains what an indulgence is, how to do eachone, and gives you an opportunity to consider each in turn over the courseof the year, so that you can choose the ones which best suits your spiritualneeds in each liturgical season. Historical notes are arrangedchronologically throughout the months, showing how the doctrine ofindulgences developed from apostolic times onward, while weekly and biweeklyreminders to fast and receive Confession help you order your spiritual life.Each month also shows how to Scripturally defend a different doctrine of theChurch. Use the wall calendar to note regular activities, use it as youwould any other calendar, and slowly allow yourself to be caught up in theprayerful rhythms of the liturgical year.God gave us the liturgy so that we could learn to change our lives. We haveto find some way to allow the liturgical year into our lives. Thisliturgical year, make a resolution to let Him change you.Copyright 2003, all rights reserved, Steve KellmeyerSteve Kellmeyer is a nationally known author and lecturer, specializing inapologetics and catechetics. He has written several Scripture studies, anart study, a study of John Paul II's Theology of the Body, and designed theCalendar of Indulgences and the Neophyte Calendar. His books, talks andteaching tools are available through <http://www.bridegroompress.com>Bridegroom Press