Whatever Happened To The Offertory?

© Mary Gay Moore

Perhaps the advent of a milestone birthday has heightened my nostalgia for times gone by. On the other hand, I feel wistful every time I go to Mass. It seems that with each passing week, innovations take root at the expense of solid liturgical tradition. Of late, my pet peeve has been members of the congregation replying to the priest, "And also with YOU!" with an enthusiastic flip of the hand.

As a child growing up in the fifties, I remember learning that the Offertory was one of the "principal parts of the Mass," along with the Consecration and Communion. It was also the first of the three parts for which one had to be in attendance in order for Mass to "count." If we came in at the Lavabo or left before Holy Communion, we had not heard Mass. I remember being taught that it was a very necessary and integral part of Mass and one to which we had to pay close attention. Although most of what we saw was the back of the priest, we would follow the prayers carefully in our Latin-English missal. It was during the Offertory that Father slightly elevated to God the bread and wine that would soon become the Body and Blood of His Son.

Of late the Offertory at weekend Masses seems somehow to have become irrelevant. Rather than being the link between our earnest supplication and God's loving condescension, it appears to be the priest's prep time that takes place during the second interlude of music. Even if the choir and congregation have finished singing the Offertory hymn (which itself has become something to distract us during the collection), the organist seizes this as his opportunity to shine. He may take the melody of the hymn and weave an obbligato around it, thus showing his prowess on the keyboard. Or he may simply play it again, often on the piano, with a loud accompaniment of rolling chords, a veritable Peter Nero of the sanctuary!

Meanwhile, the priest is in the middle of the altar facing us, doing something briskly and silently. He spends time carefully measuring equal portions of wine into a number of goblets, like a medieval alchemist. First he lifts the paten, then the chalice. His lips are moving but we don't know what he is saying. Next he goes to the side of the altar where the altar server pours water on his fingers, but the reason behind this is unclear. Then we hear, "Pray, brethren," (or, increasingly often, "Pray, my SISTERS and brothers"), and everyone rises. It's been a nice little rest between the homily and the time we have to kneel (or stand, if we're in a really progressive parish!). But what has actually happened?

Far too many people nowadays think that Mass is simply a celebration. They explain it as the Liturgy of the Word in which we hear readings from Scripture, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist when the priest "turns bread and wine into Christ," as though he were some sort of magician. They believe that the reception of Communion is the raison d'etre for Mass and are surprised and puzzled to learn that Mass is a sacrifice. The reasons for these misconceptions are both numerous and sad. For the last two generations, catechesis has become so inadequate that basic liturgical instruction is simply not covered. To a large extent, CCD focuses on fraternal charity, role-playing, workbooks, and sharing feelings. Most priests, following guidelines to preach on the Sunday readings, have little additional time for dogmatic instruction, which is a tragedy. Little do they realize that the people in the pews in front of them are literally starving for knowledge of their faith.

What does happen at the Offertory? Once again, I remember my instruction as a child. When the priest offers the host on the paten, he is showing to God that which we are offering Him all together as a community. That means the bread and wine, certainly, but it is much more than that. We are also offering ourselves to Him. The Offertory of the pre-Vatican II Mass said it so well: "Accept, O Holy Father, Almighty and Eternal God, this spotless host which I, your unworthy servant, offer to you, my living and true God, to atone for my numberless sins, offences and negligences; on behalf of all here present and likewise for all faithful Christians living and dead, that it may profit me and them as a means of salvation to life everlasting."

Like the bread and wine, we are inadequate as a sacrifice to God, finite as we are. When we offer ourselves with the host and chalice we become united with Christ and thus more acceptable as an offering to His Father. The old prayer continues: "...grant that through the mystery of this water and wine we may be made partakers of His divinity, Who has condescended to become partaker of our humanity." I often place myself on the elevated paten along with those for whom I pray. I imagine tiny figures on that gold plate in the priest's hands---some of them sick, some dead, some in tremendous spiritual agony---as though the priest lifts them up for God to examine and listen to before the sacred moment of Consecration.

That is precisely the meaning of offering. It is a sacrifice presented in worship, something that becomes holy. In the case of the Mass, the sacrifice is of bread and wine and ourselves, but also of Christ, once again offered in a bloodless and sacramental way to His heavenly Father. The Father will always accept the sacrifice of His Son, because it is perfect. The magnificent irony is that although we are giving of ourselves, we are the ones who receive, because in accepting our sacrifice God feeds us with the flesh of His own Son and we are strengthened and nourished beyond our understanding.

The washing of the fingers is symbolic yet profound. No amount of purification could truly prepare the priest to confect and hold in his hands the Body and Blood of Christ. Yet it is a public acknowledgement of the unworthiness of sinful man and the magnificent mercy of God. Those in the pew, during the priest's lavabo, should also ask for God's forgiveness of their sins in anticipation of receiving Jesus. This is difficult to do over the dolefully sung strains of "Earthen Vessels."

Much in the way of liturgy in America has changed for the worse, more from ignorance and laxity than from defiance. But it is important to keep intact the main components of the Mass, to remember what is taking place and why, and to celebrate them with correct rubrics and reverence.

_____________________________

Mary Gay Moore is married with 2 grown children and lives in Va. Beach, VA. She has been a catechist for over 30 years. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from Rosemont (PA) College and is working on an M.A. in Religious Studies from Catholic Distance University.

Contact

Catholic Online
https://www.catholic.org VA, US
Mary Gay Moore - Wife, Mother, Student, 757 363-8297

Email

m.g.moore@att.net

Keywords

Liturgy

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