The Spirit of Things by Fr. Bob - Mass Book Opens Wednesday For 2023
It’s a big week with the All Saints Holy Day on Tuesday, All Souls Mass on Wednesday, and the Anointing of the Sick Mass on Saturday. Another big event this week is the Mass Intention Book opens for 2023 Masses on Wednesday, November 2, at 8:30 am in the Parish Office.
A refresher of what a Mass Intention is: Mass intentions developed as a way to supplement a priest’s often meager income. A person would give the priest an offering, many times not cash, but whatever a person could offer. A farmer might offer a chicken, for example. In return, the priest would offer to pray for that person’s intention. The current offering for a Mass stipend is $10. For that $10, the priest prays privately for that intention during Mass. A priest is able to take one $10 stipend per day.
When someone makes an offering for a Mass intention, sometimes I hear phrases like, “It’s my Mass,” or “I’ve bought it,” which are inaccurate. As I stated above, a Mass intention is the priest’s private prayer intention for that Mass. We publish the Mass Intentions each week in the bulletin. But we do not announce the priest’s Mass Intention at Sunday Masses. This is because each person attending Mass is able to bring his/her own personal Mass intentions. All are equally important; the priest’s intention is not more important. Again, the understanding is that it’s the priest’s private intention and that a person is not buying the Mass.
On behalf of Fr. Bud and Fr. Dave, I thank you for scheduling the abundance of Mass intentions that you do. Also, please be nice to the parish staff as they try their best to fulfill your request.
Mass Intention Request Form for 2023
Original source can be found here.
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