{"id":3850,"date":"2016-02-08T10:42:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T16:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3850"},"modified":"2016-02-10T08:53:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T14:53:43","slug":"three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html","title":{"rendered":"Three reasons I’m skeptical about the Year of Mercy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m going to be honest here: \u00a0I know there are many people who find the Year of Mercy to be truly meaningful to them. \u00a0And that\u2019s great. \u00a0But I\u2019m simply skeptical of the whole enterprise. \u00a0I hadn\u2019t wanted to voice my complaints in the past but I\u2019m getting increasingly irritated with the whole endeavor \u2014 though I invite readers to tell me why I\u2019m wrong.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Why?<\/p>\n

To begin with, try as I might, I can\u2019t find a specific reason for this Jubilee. \u00a0The closest that there seems to be is that its opening day coincided with the 50th anniversary of the closing of Vatican II<\/a>. \u00a0But was that the reason? \u00a0It strikes me as much more the case that Pope Francis wanted to preside over a Jubilee year, and didn\u2019t want to wait until the next \u201cnaturally occuring\u201d year, so jumped the gun in his impatience. \u00a0Perhaps it speaks to the limited number of tools in his toolkit \u2014 sure, he can travel and give speeches or make off-the-cuff remarks that leave people feeling inspired, but there\u2019s a limit to his effectiveness here. \u00a0So he pulls the Year of Mercy out. \u00a0But it also feels to me as if his declaration indicates that he thinks of his papacy as special and more deserving of Big Events than the other guy, which feels wrong. \u00a0(My initial reaction also had a bit of skepticism that this was all a matter of getting more of a cash infusion into the struggling Italian economy, but he\u2019s declared Holy Doors all over the world.)<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Indulgences? \u00a0Really?<\/p>\n

Look, the whole concept of indulgences feels so archaic, that it just seems out of place in the year 2015. \u00a0I admit that, as a non-cradle Catholic, the whole notion of purgatory is something about which I\u2019m really reluctant to sign on to more than a minimalistic belief, that there\u2019s something there, though we don\u2019t know the details \u2014 both because of scriptural references and longstanding practice of prayers for the dead, and similar notions that heaven requires a purification of some kind. \u00a0It makes intuitive sense too, not as a sort of punishment, but as a way in which our hearts and minds are changed. \u00a0After all, consider how many times you\u2019ve heard someone say, \u201cI\u2019d much rather go to Hell than Heaven \u2014 it sounds soooo boring!\u201d?<\/p>\n

I also understand that in the old terminology, the \u201c20 days\u2019 indulgence\u201d didn\u2019t refer to 20 days off of purgatory, but to an indulgence deemed to be the equivalent of 20 days of bread-and-water fasting.<\/p>\n

But that all doesn\u2019t get me to the point of signing on to indulgences. \u00a0Go to confession, pray for the Pope\u2019s intentions (is this a \u201ctrick\u201d? \u00a0what if his \u201cintention\u201d is for the U.S. to open its border to Mexico and Central America?), go to mass and receive communion, have a firm resolve to avoid sin, and walk through a Holy Door, and receive a plenary indulgence \u2014 I\u2019m willing to assent, to say \u201cI don\u2019t get it\u201d rather than \u201cI reject it\u201d but it doesn\u2019t motivate me, it doesn\u2019t inspire me.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m going to take a wild guess and say that those fallen-away Catholics, or non-Catholics of whatever stripe who the Pope wishes to draw (back) to the faith ar going to react as I do, and only those who are already faithful, and traditional, Catholics, are going to be inspired and motivated by the promise of an indulgence.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Mercy?<\/p>\n

The Year of Mercy is, in the end, about God\u2019s mercy. \u00a0The very idea is to bring to everyone the knowledge that God forgives their sins.<\/p>\n

After all, I as the ex-Lutheran, heard countless times growing up the story of Martin Luther, who, try as he might, always felt that he was so sinful that he could never do enough good works or penitential acts to earn forgiveness of his sins, until, in a flash of insight, he realized that he did not need to do good works, but was forgiven by God\u2019s grace alone. \u00a0Only much later did I learn that the story was not as simple as my religion teachers told it.<\/p>\n

But how many people do you know who are burdened by the weight of their sins, who feel unworthy of forgiveness, who are trapped in destructive patterns because of this?<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that a problem of another day and age? \u00a0Isn\u2019t the issue now, in 2015, that the ever-growing secularism produces a generation who simply don\u2019t believe in sin in any conventional sense? \u00a0Sinfulness becomes either a problem of the larger society (the sinfulness of institutions which perpetuate racism, or of large corporations), or, at any rate, of other people, and even then, we explain sinful actions away as justifiable or the sinner as not culpable due to his\/her upbringing or present circumstances, or perhaps because of mental illness. \u00a0And anyone who doesn\u2019t perceive him\/herself as sinful is certainly not going to be particulary interested in receiving mercy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying that people in secular societies are doing great, or that their self-perception that they \u201cdon\u2019t need God\u201d is correct. \u00a0But I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to hear the message that the Pope is offering them.<\/p>\n

Now, perhaps I misjudge the whole endeavor. \u00a0Perhaps the Pope is doing something else entirely \u2014 perhaps, instead of reaching out, this is an action of trying to shore up support among traditional Catholics. \u00a0Perhaps this is a true \u201cdog whistle\u201d situation, and I genuinely can\u2019t hear the whistle, so it doesn\u2019t make sense to me.<\/p>\n

What do you think?
\n
\nStay in touch! Like Jane the Actuary on Facebook:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Jane the Actuary<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I share blog posts there, as well as other worthwhile articles I come across that don\u2019t necessarily make it into blog posts.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m going to be honest here: \u00a0I know there are many people who find the Year of Mercy to be truly meaningful to them. \u00a0And that\u2019s great. \u00a0But I\u2019m simply skeptical of the whole enterprise. \u00a0I hadn\u2019t wanted to voice my complaints in the past but I\u2019m getting increasingly irritated with the whole endeavor \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[317,316],"class_list":["post-3850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-pope-francis","tag-year-of-mercy"],"yoast_head":"\nThree reasons I'm skeptical about the Year of Mercy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I'm going to be honest here: \u00a0I know there are many people who find the Year of Mercy to be truly meaningful to them. \u00a0And that's great. \u00a0But I'm simply\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three reasons I'm skeptical about the Year of Mercy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I'm going to be honest here: \u00a0I know there are many people who find the Year of Mercy to be truly meaningful to them. \u00a0And that's great. \u00a0But I'm simply\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-08T16:42:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-10T14:53:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html\",\"name\":\"Three reasons I'm skeptical about the Year of Mercy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-08T16:42:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-10T14:53:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"I'm going to be honest here: \u00a0I know there are many people who find the Year of Mercy to be truly meaningful to them. \u00a0And that's great. \u00a0But I'm simply\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Three reasons I’m skeptical about the Year of Mercy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Three reasons I'm skeptical about the Year of Mercy","description":"I'm going to be honest here: \u00a0I know there are many people who find the Year of Mercy to be truly meaningful to them. \u00a0And that's great. \u00a0But I'm simply","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Three reasons I'm skeptical about the Year of Mercy","og_description":"I'm going to be honest here: \u00a0I know there are many people who find the Year of Mercy to be truly meaningful to them. \u00a0And that's great. \u00a0But I'm simply","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2016-02-08T16:42:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-10T14:53:43+00:00","author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html","name":"Three reasons I'm skeptical about the Year of Mercy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-08T16:42:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-10T14:53:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"I'm going to be honest here: \u00a0I know there are many people who find the Year of Mercy to be truly meaningful to them. \u00a0And that's great. \u00a0But I'm simply","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/02\/three-reasons-im-skeptical-about-the-year-of-mercy.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Three reasons I’m skeptical about the Year of Mercy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}