November 22, 2005
I know a teenaged boy who, when he was a bit younger, would “play Mass” quite often. He would even look over the readings and prepare a little homily for his “congregation”, which consisted of his parents and sometimes his older brother; further, he would even have an intention for his “Masses”! We all know children who “play Mass”; it’s quite a natural thing for Catholic children to do. However, this particular boy was so earnest and devout that friends of the family would give him real intentions for his “Masses”. (I’m not sure if anyone ever gave him real stipends for those intentions!)
We can learn something from children—actually, we can learn a great deal from them. In fact, if we want to get into heaven, we must become like children.
When we go to Mass, we too should have an intention—someone for whom we are offering the Mass. Yes, “offering”. We, together with the priest, offer. What do we offer? We offer our very selves up to the Father as we join ourselves to the offering of Christ. We offer our body and our blood. We offer our past, present and future, our concerns, our sorrows and joys. We, with that drop of water that is mingled with the wine, pour ourselves into the chalice. We offer up our lives on the paten and so unite ourselves with Jesus in His offering to the Father.
We know that there are many people who do not partake of the Body and the Blood, perhaps even in our own families. We can offer ourselves for them. We can offer ourselves for our friends, for our enemies, and indeed with Christ for the whole world.
“In my body I complete what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church.” ( Col 1:24)
What is lacking in the sufferings of Christ? My active participation!
Sr. Clare Marie Matthiass, CFR
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