"offer you the Body and Blood"

[stjosephtomasi]

in the chaplet of divine mercy, we say, “i offer you the Body and Blood, soul and Divinity, of your dearly beloved Son.”

what does “offer” mean in this case? I can offer someone a beverage when they enter my house. Does “offer” have the same meaning in both cases?

 

[Servulus]

When our Lord died for us, He offered himself completely to the Father as a sacrifice. When we pray the Chaplet, we are joining with Christ in His offering of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity to the Father in reparation for the sins of the whole world. In doing so, we participate in some way with the sacrifice of the Cross and plead with the Father that we also might participate in the forgiveness Christ’s death has won.

Hope that helps.

 

[jpjd]

in the chaplet of divine mercy, we say, “i offer you the Body and Blood, soul and Divinity, of your dearly beloved Son.”

what does “offer” mean in this case? I can offer someone a beverage when they enter my house. Does “offer” have the same meaning in both cases?

Yes. Christ’s sacrifice is what we give, or offer, to God “in atonement for our sins, and those of the whole world” so that we may receive the grace that it merits.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

I’m not sure if this is what you mean, but I’ll take a stab at it …

I think it has to do with a sacrificial offering. In the Old Testament we see many examples of God’s people offering sacrifices to Him (animals, crops, etc.) to atone for sins, in thanksgiving, etc., like giving a gift or peace offering.

While He appreciates the good intentions behind these, God doesn’t really need those things. He says as much Himself:

“What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the LORD. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure” (Isaiah 1:11).

“Listen, my people, I will speak; Israel, I will testify against you; God, your God, am I.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, nor for your holocausts, set before me daily.
I need no bullock from your house, no goats from your fold.
For every animal of the forest is mine, beasts by the thousands on my mountains.
I know every bird of the heavens; the creatures of the field belong to me.
Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for mine is the world and all that fills it.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High.
Then call on me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.” (Psalm 50:7–15)
The gift that really pleases the Father is the sacrifice of His beloved Son, Jesus. But how can we “offer” Jesus to the Father when we don’t really own Him in the first place? But in a sense, we do — Jesus gives Himself to us (in a loving relationship, and especially when we receive Him in Holy Communion). So if Jesus gives Himself to us, in a way we do “possess” Him, and we can offer Him back to the Father as a truly pleasing sacrifice. That is what we do at Mass. We participate in the sacrifice Jesus made of Himself to the Father. The priest acts on our behalf and in the person of Jesus, offering the sacrifice of Jesus’ Body and Blood to the Father.

Even at times when you are not able to personally be at Mass, you can still participate in the sacrifice, by uniting yourself spiritually to the sacrifice of the Mass wherever it is being offered. We say this in the Morning Offering: “I offer You all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.”

It kind of makes me feel like a little child. When I was small, the only way I could buy a present for my parents was because my parents had given me money in the first place. The only way we can offer Jesus to the Father is because God gave us Jesus first.

 

[Michael_Howard]

I’m not sure if this is what you mean, but I’ll take a stab at it …

I think it has to do with a sacrificial offering. In the Old Testament we see many examples of God’s people offering sacrifices to Him (animals, crops, etc.) to atone for sins, in thanksgiving, etc., like giving a gift or peace offering.

While He appreciates the good intentions behind these, God doesn’t really need those things. He says as much Himself:

“What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the LORD. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure” (Isaiah 1:11).

"Listen, my people, I will speak; Israel, I will testify against you; God, your God, am I.

Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, nor for your holocausts, set before me daily.

I need no bullock from your house, no goats from your fold.

For every animal of the forest is mine, beasts by the thousands on my mountains.

I know every bird of the heavens; the creatures of the field belong to me.

Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for mine is the world and all that fills it.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High.

Then call on me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall honor me." (Psalm 50:7–15)The gift that really pleases the Father is the sacrifice of His beloved Son, Jesus. But how can we “offer” Jesus to the Father when we don’t really own Him in the first place? But in a sense, we do — Jesus gives Himself to us (in a loving relationship, and especially when we receive Him in Holy Communion). So if Jesus gives Himself to us, in a way we do “possess” Him, and we can offer Him back to the Father as a truly pleasing sacrifice. That is what we do at Mass. We participate in the sacrifice Jesus made of Himself to the Father. The priest acts on our behalf and in the person of Jesus, offering the sacrifice of Jesus’ Body and Blood to the Father.

Even at times when you are not able to personally be at Mass, you can still participate in the sacrifice, by uniting yourself spiritually to the sacrifice of the Mass wherever it is being offered. We say this in the Morning Offering: “I offer You all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.”

It kind of makes me feel like a little child. When I was small, the only way I could buy a present for my parents was because my parents had given me money in the first place. The only way we can offer Jesus to the Father is because God gave us Jesus first.

Well said! It’s interesting, as a Protestant I use to say at times of
intensified prayer, “I plead the blood of Jesus over such and such” which is similair. Essentially I was asking God to cover the situation with the blood of Christ, same idea really.