What exactly does "offering it up" mean?

[Jermosh]

tru_dvotion:

Jermosh, you are right; I did misunderstand. I am a bit paranoid when it comes to our Holy Mother. No, nothing would be possible without his sacrifice. We would not even be having this conversation otherwise. It’s just that… the comment sounded so Protestant… almost need not be stated, because it is… after all… the basis of our faith, no? God bless!

I am a convert so I do not have the same thinking of Mary as some devote Catholics. Do not get me wrong, I do adore her, and I also pray to her for intercession. But I find some people really turn Mary into a Idol, and place her on the right hand side of the Father. This is not Church teaching of course, and the people who do this are of good spirit of course.
But I am curios what statement seemed to smell of protestism? And why?

 

[tru_dvotion]

Dear Jermosh,

I had no idea you were a convert. But your reaction to my post was a Protestant reaction. You reminded me of Christ’s sacrifice. It would never have occurred to me to make a point of it, because it is as obvious as day follows night. Once again, you reference to *some people *turning Mary into an idol is another indication you still cannot take on the Catholic mindset when it comes to the Holy Mother. Please don’t take this the wrong way; I am not criticizing you for it. Conversion is a life long process, and we are all in it until the day we die. I would never say for instance that I adore her, you said it, the word adore I reserve for God. I realize we adore ice cream too, but as Catholics we have been accused of Mary idolatry so often, I would never use the word adore describing my relationship with Mary. I love her as my true mom and she always takes me to Christ. I like to go to my Lord through her; he seems to listen to her so well that I am not willing to take it on myself to approach him on my own. I am much too sinful and I need all the help I can get. God bless!

 

[mtr01]

Hi Carolyn,

As to you original question, let me quote a couple of paragraphs from “The How-To Book of Catholic Devotions” (I highly recommend this book, as it puts in very clear terms some of the Catholic practices me may be familiar with, but not quite understand). From the chapter “How to Offer It Up”:

We can imitate Christ by our own sacrifices. In fact, He has commanded us to take up our cross every day. Well, we never have to look far for the cross. In this world, we daily encounter difficulty, pain, suffering, discomfort, illness, delays, annoyances, interruptions, or disappointments. These are inevitable. But how we handle them is a matter of free will. We can grumble and complain, or we can join our difficulties to the suffering of Christ. If we choose to “offer it up” with Jesus, out suffering, discomfort, or struggle can be redemptive for ourselves and others.

For our sake, Christ presented his body as a living sacrifice to the Father – the only sacrifice that was worthy of God. When we join our own sacrifices with His, they rise like incense before the throne of the Father. Read what St. Paul said to the Colossians (1:24): Christ wants us to make up in our own bodies what is lacking in His suffering, for the sake of our neighbors, co-workers, and family members.

The authors then give some examples:

When we’re delayed in traffic, we can offer our impatience for young couples we know who have to wait patiently to find a spouse. When we are served food we don’t really like, we can offer our displeasure for the sake of someone who’s facing a much more unpleasant situation in life. Thus none of our suffering, great or small, is ever meaningless or useless.

Sorry to quote so extensively, I just thought it was a really good, clear explanation. As for how to specifically do it, I think the others have had some great ideas. You could also simply pray along the lines of : “Lord, you have suffered far worse for love of me. For my love of you, please accept (whatever you wish to offer up) and join it to your sufferings for the sake of (whatever you wish to offer it for) and for Your greater Glory”. Or anything along those lines. I hope this helps!

 

[Elizabeth_B]

There is a beautiful Apostolic Letter from Pope John Paul II regarding the redemptive power of suffering. It’s well worth the time to read and ponder:
vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/hlthwork/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris_en.html

 

[kepha1]

It sure is Elizabeth. I have that one posted in a parallel thread I opened last night called “Redemptive Suffering and Mental Illness”. I found this article while I was trying to find the name of the saint that wrote The Morning Offering.

Its about “offering it up”
kensmen.com/catholic/offeringitup.html

kepha1

 

[Jermosh]

I am not sure if I adore the Father, the Son I do though. I adore my wife, and Mary, my mother, my children as well. You added a differant point to my understanding of the Trinity by that.
I did not mean that all Catholics take Mary to the wrong extreme, some do though.
I was raised a FundieX and told since childhood that Catholics were satan worshipers becuase they worship statues and Mary above Jesus. So no matter what I do I will always hints of that bluring my vision. I came into the Church in a extraordinary way, but I still had reservations about Mary. I then looked at what was our obligated believe of her to be a Catholic, and tomy surprize it was already inline with previos beliefs minus the Emmacualate Conception of course. So I was fine with that, and moved on. I found during easter that Mary and I both have a strong bond and its odd how I act to her now. I still am weird about statues and stuff though, I see them only as a picture or reminder, but some people think of it as much more. Again its a blurred vision.

 

[Minerva]

Jermosh is right - there are some Catholics who do go overboard with their devotion to Mary and it borders on idolatry. This is not in line with Church teaching, of course, but it does happen. Usually it happens among people who are not well educated about the faith and who tend to be superstitious to begin with. We need to distinguish between true devotion and inappropriate focus on Mary - and make sure our Protestant friends know the difference too, otherwise it causes scandal.

 

[rwoehmke]

Joe Kelley:

In an old Irish tradition you place it on the paten. That is at the Offertory when the priest lifts the paten to offer the unconsecrated bread to God you mentally place all your problems and sufferings on the paten too as a part of that offering. they are then united with Jesus in the Consecration.
Not in formal Church teaching, but it appears reasonable.

My wife is Irish so I like Irish traditions. Somewhere in the Rite for Baptism there are words to the effect that through Baptism we become priests(small p), prophets and kings in that we join with the Priest in offering sacrifice of both our goods and our lives. Prophets because as members of Christ’s body the Church we are to proclaim the Gospel to the world, and Kings because as members of the mystical body we share in some way in the Kingship of Jesus our head. Don’t get a swelled head because it does not make you God and as President Bush says,“Its hard work.”