Offering up suffering

[Montie_Claunch]

As I said on another thread, I have been having knee problems which has been causeing a nice bit, not a whole lot, of pain. I have heard of offering up ones suffering for people and yourself.

I thought that while I had this suffering (hopefully the docters can do something about my knees) I would like to offer it up for people. Does anyone know how to do this properly? I would like to make sure that I am doing it properly and that it counts for something.

Thanks and God bless.

 

[Genesis315]

I don’t know if there is a right or wrong way, but personally I think the best way is to do it at Mass. During the offertory I pray something like, “Eternal Father, I offer you all my sufferings, anxieties, struggles, and petitions, especially… I unite them to the perfect Sacrifice that will be made me present on this altar so that they will not be in vain. I also offer You all my adoration, thanksgiving, praise, joy, love and my whole being. I unite it the perfect Sacrifice that will be made present on the altar, so that they will be an acceptable gift to you.”

Anyway, that’ just what I do, but I do think offering it at Mass in union with the Eucharistic Sacrifice is the way to go. If I have a specific intention for my offering, I’ll mention that too

 

[Polish]

It may sound a little strange, but a lot of the time when I offer up pain and suffering it instantly disappears.

 

[Trelow]

There is an awesome little book I’ve found on this,

“An Offering of Suffering”, Paul A Mihalik OCDS

 

[LilyM]

It may sound a little strange, but a lot of the time when I offer up pain and suffering it instantly disappears.

Me too - or if not instantly, then a whole lot quicker than it does if I whinge and complain about it.

I guess it shows how much our state of mind affects our perception of things like pain. That or it’s God stepping in to spare us

 

[Em_in_FL]

I don’t think there’s a rule about how to do this…
I think of it more as an acceptance of the suffering… rather than concentrating on our own pain (ie focusing our thoughts on it, complaining vocally about it), concentrate on the pain and suffering of others…
It’s just selfless and turns your thoughts to others rather than yourself…

 

[blessedstar]

If we desire to offer up our sufferings there is no better place to unite our sufferings than at the Holy Mass which, as you all know, enters into the Passion of Christ at Calvary. Here at Mass we unite our sufferings to Jesus suffering on the Cross in His True Presence.

Of course sufferings can be offered any other time a person may choose to offer it up.

By the way, don’t forget to say thank you to our Father for everything.

 

[TOP]

Can past sufferings be offered up? Thanks , Tim

 

[AquinasXVI]

Montie:

Suffering, work, study, play, rest, personal injustice to us, etc…all can be offered up as gifts to Christ if we keep the presence of God while these things are going on. I think it helps when we offer up for our intentions, reparations for our own sins, and the sanctity of others. That way we have a good, noble and beautiful goal on the other end of the suffering. We then participate in the work of Christ for the salvation of souls.

Then all of these “gifts” to Christ come to full holocaust and glory when we bring it to the altar during Offertory. There Christ will physically convert our offerings to himself. And then give us himself as our nourishment. The beauty of daily Mass is we can do this dynamic exchange of gifts with Christ everyday. And since if at the end of the day we go, all of the offerings we did throughout the day are still fresh in our memory and easier to put upon the altar.

Hope this helps a bit.

in XT.

 

[blessedstar]

Can past sufferings be offered up? Thanks , Tim

Yes and you can also offer up the sufferings of others past and present.

 

[Polish]

blessedstar:

Yes and you can also offer up the sufferings of others past and present.

Thank you BlessedStar, I’ve done that often in the past and have wondered many times about it.

Thank you

 

[puzzleannie]

As I said on another thread, I have been having knee problems which has been causeing a nice bit, not a whole lot, of pain. I have heard of offering up ones suffering for people and yourself.

I thought that while I had this suffering (hopefully the docters can do something about my knees) I would like to offer it up for people. Does anyone know how to do this properly? I would like to make sure that I am doing it properly and that it counts for something.

Thanks and God bless.

doing it properly just means, in the context of your daily prayer, you simply say to God, I offer my suffering to you in union with the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross for all those who are suffering in this world and the souls in purgatory.

the Morning Offering expresses this perfectly
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day, for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the unity of all Christians, for the intentions of all our associates and all apostles of prayer, particularly for those of our Holy Father.

 

[Morwenna]

It may sound a little strange, but a lot of the time when I offer up pain and suffering it instantly disappears.

I have only recently learned about the concept of offering up suffering, and have been trying to make a practice of it as much as possible.

I’ve consistently had the same sensation (almost instant disappearance, or at least very marked lessening of the suffering), but thought that I was just imagining things.

Glad to know I’m not the only one who felt this

 

[Red_Meg]

Offering up sufferings is such a beautiful way to get closer to God.

I’ve never actually heard, or used a formula for it-- I usually just say, internally, “Lord, this is for ______” whatever the intention is. As AquinasXVI noted, we aren’t limited to physical suffering in terms of what we offer up-- sometimes the most difficult things to offer up are those little, unplanned contradictions, like hitting every stinkin’ $#(^$^& traffic light when you’re already running late. Offering up those kinds of things not only help whatever intention we’re praying for, but also help those of us who are prone to getting rather cranky about things like traffic lights to be more cheerful…

Also, sometimes it’s helpful to “plan out” in some way what you’re offering up-- sometimes I’ll have such a full morning of errands and housework that offering it up will slip my absent mind. But at least having the general intention that I always change diapers in reparation for my sins, or always straighten the trash can liner to pray for so-and-so’s vocation, helps here.

This is especially on my mind right now because I’m having a baby next week. The pain, to put it mildly, is excruciating. And, unfortunately, it’s one of those situations where offering it up doesn’t actually minimize the pain. (Trust me, I’ve tried it.) But at the same time, it seems foolish to waste such an opportunity to please Our Lord. So I’ve already sort of got a list of intentions that the labor will be for-- and if in the thick of things in the delivery room, I don’t actually remember to repeat the intentions, I trust that my Guardian Angel will fill in the gap for me.

Margaret