Father and Joe E446: Indulgences & Spiritual Health—Relational, Not Mechanical

Indulgences can sound like scorekeeping. They’re not. Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks unpack indulgences in plain relational terms: the Church’s “treasury of merit” is like trusted relational credit you can lean on—the saints’ friendship with God helping you deepen your own. We connect First Fridays/Saturdays, rosaries, Scripture, adoration, and pilgrim practices to one aim: better spiritual health, i.e., a stronger, freer relationship of trusting love with God.

Key Ideas

Indulgence = relational help, not a magic pass: you “tap” the Church’s treasury of merit (the saints’ lived friendship with God) through concrete practices.

Always personal: you still act (prayer, Scripture, adoration, works of mercy); grace perfects, doesn’t replace, effort.

Apply to self or the dead: love shares its credit—our bonds in Christ extend beyond death.

Keep the frame human: think “street cred” or a trainer’s plan—habits that restore and strengthen relationship, not accounting tricks.

Sin harms relationships; practices heal: less “temporal punishment” math, more repair, trust, and re-ordering of love.

Helpful Parallels

Trainer plan → spiritual plan:

30 min Scripture reading (indulgenced)

Rosary in common

30 min Eucharistic adoration

Stations of the Cross

Pilgrimage/holy door (in jubilee years)

Works of mercy + usual conditions (state of grace, confession, Eucharist, prayer for the Pope’s intentions)

Scripture touchpoints

“Whatever you bind on earth…” (Mt 16:19; 18:18)

“The communion of saints” (cf. Heb 12:1; Eph 2:19)

Reconciliation and restoration (Jn 20:21–23; 2 Cor 5:18–20)

One-week Spiritual Health Tune-up (simple, doable)

Pick one indulgenced practice above and do it twice.

Go to confession (once).

Add one concrete act of mercy (call, visit, forgive, give).

Close each day with a 2-minute examen (gratitude → review → ask help for tomorrow).

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Father and Joe, Joe Rockey, Father Boniface Hicks, indulgence, treasury of merit, communion of saints, First Friday, First Saturday, adoration, rosary, Scripture, pilgrimage, spiritual health, confession, temporal punishment, works of mercy, Catholic podcast, practical spirituality, relationship with God