Mass Intentions

A request made to me by Fr. Charles Muyimba, our visiting priest from Uganda, has opened up the possibility for a greater understanding of an important spiritual practice of the Church. Whenever the Mass is celebrated, the priest celebrant may offer the Mass for a particular intention. During the Mass he will pray for that intention, and people might say that the priest “said Mass for my grandmother,” or something like that. Every pastor is “obliged to apply Mass for the people entrusted to him each Sunday and holy day of obligation…,” according to Canon 534.1 of the Code of Canon Law. That means I am offering at least one of the Masses each Sunday and holy day for you and all parishioners of St. Peter’s. But Mass is celebrated more than one time per week.

For the other Masses in the week, the parish is free to accept a monetary offering for celebrating Mass for a particular intention. Here in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the amount of the offering has been fixed at seven dollars since July 1, 1989, when Archbishop Roach made that the official policy. For much longer than that the policy has been that such an offering (a “Mass stipend”) is the property of the parish; the priest does not get to keep it. When you see the list of Mass intentions in the bulletin, you can note the people (living or deceased) for whom the priest is offering the Mass. The Mass designated “for the people” is being offered for all parishioners. We also usually include in the Sunday Prayer of the Faithful the names of deceased people for whose souls Masses are being offered.

We are happy to receive your offerings for the celebration of Masses. Although as of today the Sunday Masses have been already been assigned Mass intentions for many months, many weekdays remain available for your requests. The money offered by people for Mass intentions is used for the general operations of the parish. In the Code of Canon Law, canons 945 though 958 (covering two entire pages) explain the great care that must be taken with any money that is given by people for the celebration of Mass for particular intentions. We take your wishes very seriously. When more requests for Masses are made than we can fulfill at the parish within one year, we send the “excess” money and intentions to priests elsewhere in the world who can fulfill those Mass offerings. We commonly speak of that as “sending Masses to the missions.”

In 1989, Archbishop Roach had this information printed to accompany the legislation on Mass offerings that still remains in effect after all of these years:

From very early days the laws and customs of the Church have considered Mass offerings a way of supporting the church’s works of charity and its ministers. … One of the ways the people were invited to become more actively involved in the Sacrifice of the Mass and the life of the Church was by making an offering; in this way they saw that they were helping the Church, and that their intentions would be prayerfully remembered often in their presence.

In our day Catholics often send a “Mass card” when a friend or relative dies. The offering made in the name of the deceased person is a sincere expression of sympathy and an act of charity. In making such an offering the mourner is aware that something concrete is being done for a loved one. The donor making such an offering may also profit spiritually by making the memorial offering to promote the good works of the Church. It is also hoped that the donor will actively participate in this requested Mass. By doing so he or she shares actively in the work and ministry of the Church.

In this Archdiocese the donations given accrue to the parish or the institution where the priest ministers. This can be of particular financial help to smaller churches that have a limited income. Even more than in our Archdiocese, the financial support from stipends is critical to Church life in many lands. Since the purpose of the offering is to help ministers and the works of the Church, it is a long standing practice in the Archdiocese to send surplus Mass donations to missionaries in foreign countries. Many of these missionaries live on Mass offerings. An increase in the suggested Mass offering will help them tremendously. In some countries where missionaries work the inflation rate is often as high as 80% to 150% a year. An increase in our suggested Mass offering can help offset some to the economic disadvantage….

Perhaps you can see why I invited anyone who would like to make an offering for a large number of Masses to consider sending that offering with priests we know. Fr. Lawrence Kimbowa in Rome and Fr. Charles Muyimba in Uganda are always in need of monetary income, as the Ugandan people often contribute produce such as plantains at Mass, and the priests need at least some money. Fr. Charles will be leaving us on Friday, September 27. I can be your contact for giving him cash as Mass offerings (and of course the names of the people for whom you wish to have Mass celebrated), and he can take those offerings with him so that he and Fr. Lawrence can fulfill your requests in the coming months. Naturally, I would hope that the people of the parish would still want many Masses to be celebrated right here at St. Peter’s as well.