The offertory of the mass

The Offertory of the Mass

In the middle ages, farmers would often bring to Mass at the offertory theliteral fruits of their labors, setting baskets of grain and produce at thefoot of the altar for distribution to the poor and other needs of theChurch. Over time, this simple custom evolved into the regular Sundaycollection, the invitation to present a tithe of our weekly monetary laborsin a basket to be set at the foot of the altar, still for distribution tothe poor and other needs of the Church. As I¹ve noticed in my years ofpriestly service, the offertory is not everyone¹s favorite part of the Mass- in fact, many people choose to participate very little, if at all, at thatmoment in the liturgy.Now, just in case you¹re worried that I¹m working up to an appeal for moremoney at Mass collections, I want to put such anxieties to rest right away.Nonetheless, I have to admit that I am indeed making an appeal to you forgreater offertory contributions, because, you see, our Lord Himself asks usto offer more! He asks you and me to come to His house weekly, on His day, and offer Himour joys and hopes, our successes and honors, our dreams and plans, ourdeeds of kindness and our words of consolation, our penetrating minds andour loving hearts, our able bodies, and our immortal souls! In other words,Jesus asks us to bring Him the very best fruits of our lives - and this iswhy the offertory is a central part of the Mass, so that we canintentionally present all such fruits at the foot of the Lord¹s altar inunion with His own sacrificial offering of His whole Body, for our good, andthe good of all His Church!Well, He certainly asks for a lot, but even when we do offer God all thevery best fruits of our lives, the good Lord is not satisfied! Because Healso asks you and me to come to His house weekly, on His day, and tender andsurrender to Him, just as much, our grief and anguish, our failures anddisgraces, our fears and worries, our sinful deeds and thoughtless words,our feeble minds and our selfish hearts, our pain-racked bodies, and ourlost souls. In other words, Jesus also asks us to bring Him the verypoorest fruits of our lives - and this is why the offertory is a centralpart of the Mass, so that we can contritely lay all such fruits at the footof the Lord¹s cross, because when sprinkled with the Blood of Christ, andre-grafted onto the Vine that is divine, even such poor fruits are taken upas part of the Lord¹s acceptable sacrifice!So now let us go to the house of the Lord, on His day that He has made, andapproach His altar with praise and thanksgiving, ready now to participatefully at the offertory, ready now to offer Him more than before - ready nowto offer Him our best fruits, and also even the poorest fruits of our lives,determined to remain in Him, and let His words remain in us, to submit toHis pruning, to keep His commandments, and do what pleases Him, to love oneanother in deed and in truth, and thus to bear much fruit for and from theholy sacrifice of the Mass!----------------------------------