I met Andy on a recent Mariam pilgrimage to Spain, France, and Portugal. He had a pleasant personality and a terrific sense of humor. I became more and more aware from talking with him that he was fighting some serious health issues. Over breakfast one morning that our group was in Lourdes, I felt compelled to pray for his health, especially in Lourdes, a place where healing is part of its identity.
The Offering
I promised Andy that I would offer up my Eucharist for him. Andy was grateful, but the look on his face told me that he didn’t really fully understand. I felt that was the most powerful and effective action that I could take for him. Why? Because the Mass is the most powerful prayer we have. Every Mass celebrates the full Paschal Mystery of Jesus – His life, death, and resurrection. It is the prayer that Jesus instructed us to pray in remembrance of Him. Jesus is spiritually and physically present to us in the Mass. When we participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus, in His generosity, offers us the graces of His Divine presence. We can, in turn, through an act of the will, also be generous by asking Jesus to pour those graces intended for us onto another person who is in need.
Power in Community
At the very start of Jesus’ public ministry, He built a community of believers around Himself, which eventually carried on His teachings. When the message was handed on to the Apostles, one of the first things they did was to invite others into the community.
“Peter [said] to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit. . . Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day.”
– Acts 2:38, 41
Jesus promised that he would be present whenever a community gathered in his name. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20. Jesus is especially present to the community in unique ways. He is present in the heart and soul of each member of the community; He is also audibly present in the Scriptures as they are proclaimed, and Jesus is tangibly present in the Eucharist. There is a power then, in the gathered community of believers that exceeds the single heart.
We also believe that the community at Mass extends beyond those physically present. Those believers who have gone before us are spiritually present with us. The Communion of Saints joins in praying for us and with us. We acknowledge this when we pray the Confiteor: “Therefore I ask blessed Virgin Mary, all the Angels and Saints, and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God.”
The Mass is Trinitarian
Because the Mass has its beginning in the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples, we tend to overlook the reality that the entire Trinity is present at the Mass. The priest calls down the Holy Spirit to consecrate the bread and the wine, so that it becomes the very Body and Blood of the Son. That once and eternal sacrifice is then re-presented to the Father for our redemption.
To Gift is To Love
When we offer up our Eucharist for someone else for their good, we love. We express our desire that we want what is best for them for their own sake. That is what God wills for them also. God smiles because we are fulfilling Jesus’ command: “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
How To Offer Your Mass For Someone Else? 3 Helpful Tips
There is no rigid way to offer up your Eucharist for another, but I suggest three things that have proven helpful for me.
- Pray before Mass begins that it is your intention to offer up the graces that we would normally enjoy for the person you have promised.
- When the gifts are brought forward at the offertory, think about that person’s specific need as something that is being brought forward and it will be placed on the altar along with the bread and wine.
- After you have received Holy Communion, say a prayer of thanks for the answered prayer. Be like the one leper out of ten that returned to thank Jesus.
Prayer Before Mass
Eternal Father, I unite myself with the intentions and affections of our Lady of Sorrows on Calvary, and I offer to you the sacrifice that your beloved Son Jesus made of himself upon the cross, and now renews upon this holy altar:
To adore you and give you the honour that is due to you, confessing your supreme dominion over all things, and the absolute dependence of everything upon you, who are our sole and our last end.
To thank you for the countless benefits that I have received.
To appease your justice, aroused against us by so many sins, and to make satisfaction for them.
To implore grace for myself, for (list intentions), for all afflicted and sorrowing, for poor sinners, for all the world, and for the holy souls in purgatory. Amen.
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Image: Photo by Patrick Teixeira on Unsplash
