The Miracle of the Black-and-White TV

Growing up in a blue-collar Italian-American family in the late ’50s and early ’60s, major household purchases were family affairs. That was the case when Dad brought home a brand-new television – 17-inch black-and-white set with built-in rabbit ears. It was a second TV and would go in the kitchen.

We all gathered around the living room as my dad hoisted our new treasure onto its portable stand to test it. We were all so excited! I was probably 7 or 8 years old at the time, just old enough to know everything. I was anxious to wheel the rig toward its assigned spot in the kitchen. Dad unplugged the cord and I dashed forward, grabbed the stand’s handle and gave it a tug.

To this day, no one in our family could ever understand how
our new television still worked after crashing to the floor.

Time warped into an eternity as I watched our new, prized possession begin its slow-motion descent. My entire, all-to-short life flashed before me by the time the TV hit the floor.

Decades later, my mother still calls it a miracle. The screen didn’t shatter. The reception was still clear as a bell. It may have been a reprieve for the TV set, but it wasn’t for me.

“You know you’re going to have to be punished,” my father intoned. I breathed a sigh of semi-relief, knowing the punishment would likely be something less than lifetime death.

Later that evening, Dad looked over at me and said simply, “Just be careful.” It was his way of telling me he forgave me. But he said nothing about punishment. After a week or so, I realized Dad had either forgotten or silently commuted my sentence. I was grateful for the rare occasion of escaping the well-deserved consequence of a brainless action.

It’s often easy to forget our actions come with consequences. Parents watch as children throw tantrums and become entitled adults. Students aren’t prepared for life or job because, to avoid bureaucracy and boost graduation rates schools, give diplomas to uneducated students.  Slightly more than 50 percent of adult US citizens vote – Japan, Chile and Switzerland are the only countries that are worse – then complain about rotten politicians.

“The Madonna Of Carmel and the Souls of the Purgatory”
by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1730) hangs in
Milan’s Palazzo Brera.

It’s not just the secular world. We Catholics do the same thing with our faith. God forgives us through the sacrament of reconciliation, but we tend to forget the consequences. The Church reminds us that there’s a detour on our way to heaven called Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches “All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (1030).

But God loves us completely and unconditionally. He prefers not to punish us. That’s why, in his infinite mercy, he gives us opportunities to shorten or even eliminate our time in Purgatory through indulgences. An indulgence “removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin” (1471). In other words, it’s a “suspended sentence” granted by the Church. Pope Francis has emphasized God’s infinite mercy, declaring an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy from December 2015 to November 2016, followed almost immediately by the Jubilee Year of Fatima.

Lent is a time to step back, take a breath, and assess our relationship with God. Our bodies may eventually return to ashes and dust, but our souls will live forever – somewhere. The sooner we are able to pay our debts in Purgatory – or erase them altogether – the sooner we will share in God’s eternal glory.