Family
Spirituality
Families can
get more out of Mass
At Home with our Faith
offered a series of 10 short articles on how your family can get more
out of the Mass. We walked through the chronology of the Mass, from
preparation and gathering through the final blessing and sending forth.
Each month for ten issues we suggested ways that you and your family
can better appreciate how the Mass can deepen and enrich our life
together. What follows are the ten installments.
What gifts we bring
I once attended a wedding
with a bunch of co-workers. One of the women at the table grabbed
her purse after dinner and began filling out a check. "What’s
this all about?" I asked. "Oh, I never decide the amount
of my wedding gift until after I see how good the meal is," she
replied.
Believe it or not,
that story reminds me of the Mass. During the first part of the Mass
we are fed on the Word of God. The movement is from God toward us.
Beginning with the Offertory, the movement of the Mass changes. At
that point we are invited (usually only symbolically) to bring our
gifts to the altar. And like my friend with her checkbook, we need
to decide what kind of a gift to make.
At the Offertory, the
celebrant raises the cup of wine and the bread. He offers this "fruit
of the vine and work of human hands" to God on our behalf. Too
often, though, the wine was pressed and the bread was baked thousands
of miles away. It’s the fruit of vines we’ve never tended
and work of human hands we’ve never held. What else can we offer
that is our own? We offer the stuff of our own lives.
Think of the kitchen
table at home and everything that finds its way there–bills,
reminders of phone calls, report cards, apology notes, artwork emblazoned
with gold stars, paycheck stubs, homework, tax forms, brochures for
family vacations, letters from relatives, groceries, and table settings
for family meals.
This is what we offer
God each Sunday at the Offertory. It all belongs on the table of the
Lord. Fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
Did I bake a cake or
make a meal for the family down the block who has the new baby? Put
it on the table of the Lord. Did I hold fast to my convictions at
work when I was feeling pressure to cave in? Place that on the table.
Did I put down the newspaper and play with my kids or listen when
they had a problem? Did I stifle my sarcastic remark, knowing how
much it can sting my child? Did I get the gumption to voice my opinion
when I typically would just keep quiet for fear of upsetting the applecart?
Did I ask forgiveness or give it unbidden? Did I struggle with temptation
and even stumble along the way? Put it on the table. It all belongs.
The altar is Christ.
We place our Offertory gifts directly into the hands of Jesus, who
receives them with deep, deep love for all who come.
Help your children
take advantage of this opportunity to give their week to Jesus. Before
Mass, explain that when the members of the congregation bring the
gifts of bread and wine up to the altar, they also symbolically bear
our personal gifts to God. Help your children review the events last
week that meant a lot to them. Invite them to put those events in
the hands of Jesus at the altar, e.g., "How did you try to love
God and other people this week? What did you do to live out your faith?"
Tell them it doesn’t
have to be only the hard things they do; their gift can and ought
to be the ordinary things they do in the course of the day. Being
happy you made the team. Being frustrated that math is so hard. Going
out of your way to involve a new kid in school. Being loyal to a friend
that others tease. All these are fruit of the vine and work of human
hands. Their hands. TJM
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