This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Prayer Over the Offering for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Graciously sanctify these gifts, O Lord, we pray, and, accepting the oblation of this spiritual sacrifice, make of us an eternal offering to you. Through Christ our Lord.
All of the Prayers Over the Offerings often mention oblation or sacrifice. This is the time in the Mass when the gifts are prepared to be offered. This is the time when you can imagine Jesus and the Twelve sitting at a table prepared with bread and wine.
It is also the time in the Mass to remember the sacrifice that Jesus offered. However, we are not called just to remember it, we are called to partake in it.
Perhaps we were never taught, or we didn’t remember, that the Mass is more than just receiving Holy Communion. It is also about sacrifice, and to be more specific, it is us offering ourselves, along with the bread and wine to the Father.
The purpose of our offering is found in this prayer. We ask God to sanctify and accept the oblation, or the offering, so that we can be an eternal offering to Him.
Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit. When something is sanctified, it is no longer profane, it is set apart for God. The bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. What happens when we offer ourselves with the bread and wine? We become what we receive. We become sanctified. We don’t become Christ, we become more like Him.
Sometimes it’s hard for us to offer everything to the Lord. We often hear, “Offer it up” or “Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything.” Sometimes our lives are so filled with how much we have to give up for the Lord that we don't see how much He wants us to receive from Him.
In the prayer, the words oblation, sacrifice, and offering may seem like we’re losing everything, but just the opposite is true. We are also asking to receive far more than we can imagine