What do I do with Mass cards containing cash?

[bjr59]

At my father’s funeral, I received several Mass cards that contained cash. I thought the giver of the card was the one who made arrangements for a memorial Mass. But since these contained cash, does that mean that I take the cash and make arrangements for the Masses? Dad lived with us for the last year, but the funeral was at his old parish which he belonged to for 45 years, which is an hour away from where I live. So where do I have the Masses - at his old parish, at mine (which he did belong to for the year) or doesn’t it matter? Amounts in the cards ranged from $10 to $20 - I read elsewhere that the normal stipend for a memorial Mass is $5, so I’m not sure what to do. I feel really silly because I’m a cradle Catholic and should know this, but I have never had to do this before. Thanks for your help.

 

[Sirach2]

At my father’s funeral, I received several Mass cards that contained cash. I thought the giver of the card was the one who made arrangements for a memorial Mass. But since these contained cash, does that mean that I take the cash and make arrangements for the Masses? Dad lived with us for the last year, but the funeral was at his old parish which he belonged to for 45 years, which is an hour away from where I live. So where do I have the Masses - at his old parish, at mine (which he did belong to for the year) or doesn’t it matter? Amounts in the cards ranged from $10 to $20 - I read elsewhere that the normal stipend for a memorial Mass is $5, so I’m not sure what to do. I feel really silly because I’m a cradle Catholic and should know this, but I have never had to do this before. Thanks for your help.

May God give you comfort in the loss of your father. Sometimes, a person will give cash to be used at the discretion of the family and will designate that on the mass card. If there is no designation as being used specifically for a mass offering, then you may use the money, in total, for the monument, or any other such use connected with the funeral expenses.

If the envelope was checked “mass offering,” then you may send it in a lump sum to the missions who use these offerings and pray for the decedent. You may also send these to your father’s parish, or schedule masses where you live, so may be able to attend them and pray for him. I have also known people to use the money to purchase a needed item for the parish in the decedent’s honor.

So, you have many options, none of which will be wrong.

 

[CB_Catholic]

At my father’s funeral, I received several Mass cards that contained cash. I thought the giver of the card was the one who made arrangements for a memorial Mass. But since these contained cash, does that mean that I take the cash and make arrangements for the Masses? Dad lived with us for the last year, but the funeral was at his old parish which he belonged to for 45 years, which is an hour away from where I live. So where do I have the Masses - at his old parish, at mine (which he did belong to for the year) or doesn’t it matter? Amounts in the cards ranged from $10 to $20 - I read elsewhere that the normal stipend for a memorial Mass is $5, so I’m not sure what to do. I feel really silly because I’m a cradle Catholic and should know this, but I have never had to do this before. Thanks for your help.

I am sorry for your loss.

When my father-in-law died I sent all the money from these envelopes to a Mission he supported in his name. The priests at the Mission said Masses for him. You could also, if no stipulation is written on the envelope, donate the money to his favorite charity

The reason I did this was for 2 reasons: the Mission needed money, and it would take many months to get a Mass said at his parish for him because of the size of the parish and the number of requests already in.

 

[bjr59]

Thank you for your responses. None of the cards had any written stipulations; the cards were the ones offered at the wake which had "The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered for the repose of the soul of . . . " preprinted in them. So I guess that the senders arranged for the Masses themselves and included the cash as an extra. I like the idea of donating to a favorite charity in his name, as there were several that dad donated to on a regular basis.