Mass Intentions

Did you know? Every Mass is offered for an intention; depending on if it is a Sunday or weekday Mass, we always mention “For {insert intention here} for whom this Mass is being offered.” If you look just above this reflection, you should see the Mass schedule, listed with the intentions that that Mass is being offered for. Nine times out of ten, those Masses are offered for someone who is deceased; but the Mass can actually be offered for any intention. Do you know someone who is sick? Have a Mass offered for them. Got a friend or relative who has fallen away from the Church? Have a Mass offered for them. Just had your first child? Have a Mass offered for them. Masses can be offered for any intention that we want to bring to God. 

But did you also know: we can offer our own individual participation at Mass for an intention, and that intention does not necessarily need to be the same intention as the one being declared. Every baptized Catholic is a part of the priesthood of the baptized, meaning we are all priests. This priesthood is distinct from Sacramental Priesthood (Holy Orders), but it is still a priesthood that we all share in. When we come to Mass, we all pray as one Body in Christ; this is part of the reason why the priest always faced the Cross rather than facing the people until recent decades: he was praying on the same side of the altar as the rest of the people, as one with them, praying all in the same direction and same movement of prayer. Because of this, we all share in the act of sacrifice and can offer our own intentions within Mass as well. Do you have any of those intentions listed above? Offer your share of the Mass for those intentions.

There are so many ways we can bring our prayers to God, and the Mass is chief amongst all of them. If there is some struggle we are experiencing, some pain we are suffering, some need we desperately need God to fill, bring it to Mass. In doing so, we are able to place it on the altar, unite it to the Cross of Christ and pray for God to transform and/or fulfill it. Bring your needs to God and place them on the altar and trust that God is with each of us to answer those needs.