I wouldn’t say that I come from a particularly musical background, but I do love
music. In addition to the handful of instruments I play poorly, I also find myself whistling and/or singing virtually all the time in the office. You can ask the wonderful parish staff, as those poor folks are subjected to it almost
constantly. In fact, one of the benefits of living on my own in the rectory is that I can loudly serenade my cat with made up songs without anyone else judging me condescendingly.
All of this is simply to ensure that what I’m about to say isn’t taken as a slight towards liturgical music, our talented choirs, or our wonderful music directors; but sometimes we miss out on beautiful prayers at Mass because they coincide with the music accompanying the liturgy. In particular, we rarely get the chance to hear the offertory prayers during the song of preparation, so we have to focus on the liturgical action in order to fully enter into the prayer. The music helps us in this active participation, but it’s helpful to reflect on these prayers from time to time so we can worship more fully.
The offertory prayers offer a beautiful segue from the Liturgy of the Word into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and in a sense, they provide the best opportunity for us to unite our prayers, concerns, and gratitude to Our Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross. Archbishop Fulton Sheen once wrote about how the offertory of the Mass represents our prayers’ union with the merits which Jesus earned for us in His sacrifice. As the priest offers the bread and wine, we have the chance to take everything that is occurring in our lives, the good and the bad, and place it on the paten with the host which is to become for us the Bread from Heaven.
Stressing the importance of praying the Mass with Jesus, Archbishop Sheen says “We are not passive spectators as we might be watching a spectacle in a theater, but we are co-offering our Mass with Christ. If any picture adequately describes our role in this drama it is this: There is a great cross before us on which is stretched the great Host, Christ. Round about the hill of Calvary are our small crosses on which we, the small hosts, are to be offered. When our Lord goes to His Cross we go to our little crosses, and offer ourselves in union with Him, as a clean oblation to the heavenly Father.” As we draw closer to the beautiful season of Lent, may we all strive as a parish family to enter fully into the mystery of the Mass, reflect on the prayers, open our hearts to the Lord, and bring before Him everything going on in our lives. If we are willing to offer everything, He will transform it into the means of our salvation in the one
sacrifice of the Mass.
Prayers always,
Fr. McCullough
Blessed are you,
Lord God of all creation,
for through your goodness we have received
the bread we offer you:
fruit of the earth and work of human hands,
it will become for us the bread of life.
Blessed are you,
Lord God of all creation,
for through your goodness we have received
the wine we offer you:
fruit of the vine and work of human hands,
it will become for us our spiritual drink.