It's not 'buying' a Mass

In a statement sent to parishes with regard to Mass stipends and Canon Law, Father Sullivan explained the significance of the $10 stipends and attempted to dispel certain myths surrounding the tradition.

Father Sullivan first discussed the communal nature of Mass and addressed the mistaken notion that only one intention is remembered during Mass.

Many intentions

Theologically, there is no limit to the number of intentions a priest may bring to a liturgy, and each person who asked the priest celebrant to pray for their intention at Mass could offer a stipend.

To avoid the "appearance of trafficking" in Mass stipends, the Church has placed a limit of one stipend intention for Mass; the priest celebrant may bring many intentions to a Mass, but he is permitted by Canon Law to accept only one stipend intention per Mass.

Stipend

"When a priest accepts a Mass stipend, he sets up a contract with that person to pray for their intention at a specific Mass," Father Sullivan wrote. "The priest contracts to pray for that intention specifically, but that does not nor can it preclude him from also praying for other intentions as well."

Such phrases as "today's Mass is for..." or "the intention for today's Mass is..." should be avoided, but a priest celebrant instead could say "at today's Mass I ask you to join me in praying for..." to acknowledge the intention.

Taking care

* announcing the offering intention before or at some point during the Eucharist, "which creates the impression that the intentions of the worshiping community actually present are somehow less significant than the intention of a donor who may or may not be present;"

* isolating the offering intention during the Prayers of the Faithful, because "the liturgy itself indicates that the Eucharist is offered for many intentions, not just the intention of the priest;"

* naming the offering intention in the Eucharistic prayer because "although this is not illicit, it disproportionately emphasizes the priest's intention;" and

* reserving special roles for the Mass-offering donor, which "fosters the impression that the Mass-offering donors have special prerogatives that other worshipers do not enjoy and that the donors have a right to these prerogatives because they paid for them."

Father Huels suggested maintaining the practices of publishing the offering intentions in the parish bulletin, and praying for the offering intention along with other intentions of the same category in the Prayers of the Faithful. (PQ)

(10-28-99) [[In-content Ad]]