"Offer It Up." What the Heck Does That Mean?

Jennifer asks what the phrase, "offer it up" means (mentioned in this post). I can understand her question entirely because it certainly mystified me when I first heard it my mother-in-law say it many years ago. She was counseling one of our daughters to "offer up" her annoyance at something. I think that her explanation is the simplest, and therefore possibly the best, that I have ever heard.

It means to offer your suffering to God as a sacrifice.

You can do this with a specific intention. This can be done with small things annoyances (as I did with that woman behind me in line last night in the long, long pharmacy line who was talking so loudly on her cell phone that I couldn't hear the pharmacist when I finally had my turn with him) as well as large (my last root canal!). I often am reminded on a fast day that the hunger I am feeling is perhaps the same hunger that my parents' souls feel without any belief in God, so I will offer my hunger to God as a sacrifice for their conversion. You also can offer it up without any intention at all and give it to God to use as He will. Not only does this put our suffering to good use but, from my own point of view, it certainly gives one a better perspective on putting up with that particular suffering or annoyance.

As the excerpt in the previous post mentions, the point of this is not to be a "victim" but to make a joyful offering.

This post, Holy Mass and Personal Self Sacrifice, also sheds some light on the idea of offering suffering to God.

Romantic Tip 497

Two

There are two kinds of people in the world:

Detail People and Overview People

Detail People focus on the little things; they notice everything. Overview People focus on the big picture; they see general trends. Neither is right or wrong, these are simply character tendencies.

It will be much easier for you to pull romantic surprises if you're a Detail Person and your loved one is an Overview Person. Detail People are good at covering their trail, paying attention to the little things, and acting "normal." The overview partner won't even notice any little slips.

If you're the Overview Person, you'll need to be extra careful when planning surprises. Those detail-oriented partners will notice every unusual phone call, every little chance in your schedule, and that mischievous look on your face!

1001 Ways to Be Romantic

Me? Details, details, details. Tom won't even let me nudge a gift box to one side, having learned the hard way that I am a really good guesser.

The Eucharist as a Sacrifice

As we participate in the Eucharist, not only do we participate in Christ's sacrifice on Calvary but we are called to share in that sacrifice. Just knowing this should change how we view everything that irks us at Mass. Are you:

• Suffering mental anguish -- like a crown of thorns is weighted upon your head?
• Weighed down by worldly concerns -- like the weight of the cross is on you?
• Feeling powerless -- like you are nailed to a cross?

If we take away a sacrificial attitude toward the Eucharist, we are likely to fail to see the connection between our lives and what we do at Mass. We are apt to sit in judgment, waiting to be entertained (whether we are conservative or liberal, what we want to see differs but the attitude is the same). When we fail to bring a sacrificial attitude to the Eucharist, our participation seems at times to be modeled more after Herod's banquet, where Simone's dance cost the Baptist his head, than after the Last Supper of Our Lord, where there was every indication that partaking in this banquet was likely to cost the disciples their own lives. (Indeed, ten of the twelve were martyred, Judas took his own life, and John survived being boiled alive in a cauldron of oil.) ...

Participation in the Eucharist requires that we die to ourselves and live in Christ. If we want to get the most out of the Eucharist, then sacrifice is the key. This is what has been lost on many of us and if we want to reclaim all the spiritual riches that are available to us we must relearn what it means not only to "offer it up" but indeed to offer ourselves up.

Now I want to be clear that what I am proposing in this book is not the "victim-ism" that was sometimes prevalent in the older spirituality of "offering it up." In every situation we are free to choose how we will respond to an event: we can blame someone else for what is happening, or we can feel powerless and do nothing. It is my contention that neither of these responses is Christ-like. The experience of "offering up" our lives to God needs to be a positive and co-redemptive act. Thankfully, with God's help we are all capable of freely choosing to respond in this fashion.

How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist
by Michael Dubruiel

Resource Spotlight

CATHOLIC CULTURE: LITURGICAL YEAR
Catholic Culture has a lot of good resources but the one that I really use consistently is their daily liturgical page. Each one has the Church's saint of the day, along with the saint of the day according to the old calendar which is sometimes quite enlightening. Along with extra links for more information, each saint has a "Things to Do" list at the bottom which have all sorts of different applications to daily life: recipes, crafts, links to more reading, and really good suggestions for ways to relate to the virtues of each saint.

There also is always an overview page for the month as well as one for the liturgical season that the Church is in at that time.

Just Finished

DEJA DEAD by Kathy Reichs

I picked this up because this author's books are supposedly the ones that the new TV show "Bones" is based on. I can see the resemblance though the show is necessarily much tamer. The main character is a woman who is a forensic scientist and, of course, up pops a dismembered body that puts her in mind of one from several years ago. Set in Montreal, there are several policemen whose jurisdiction the various murders fall into and she manages to bully all of them into allowing her to help investigate. (Oh sure, have one best friend fall victim to the murderer and find your own photo in the main suspect's apartment marked with a big X and they're like putty in your hands.)

This was fairly good although I was somewhat hampered by my squeamishness in reading about dismembered body parts, heads, etc. If that sort of thing doesn't bother you then have at it because this was a good book with the main character's life providing lots of room for development in subsequent books.

This was book #97 of the year for me, which even I find rather surprising, especially when you consider how many books I have read anywhere from 50-100 pages of before deciding not to finish it.

Surprised, I Was

Via Idle Mendacity.

Welcome to Happy Catholic Country!

Like my new slogan? Courtesy of the Slogan Generator which I've seen all over the blogosphere lately.

Thar They Blow!

According to Rose, these are the best analogies for how Tom and I lose our tempers ...

"You're more like 'Old Faithful.' The signs are there and you can see it building up until ... it blows!" (Yes, you could say I'm a regular "venter" but at least I leave the landscape in one piece ... I'm taking solace where I can.)

"Dad is more like Mount Saint Helens. It's all quiet and nice and you barely get enough warning to start running for your life before a giant explosion and lots of lava everywhere." (That's the problem with those nice guys ... when they lose it, they don't mess around!)

Saints - Not Just for Catholics Anymore

My latest article for Spero News, a review of The Lure of Saints: A Protestant Experience Of Catholic Tradition.

Highly recommended for Protestants wishing to understand this Catholic devotion and for Catholics wishing more insight into the Protestant imagination. Read the review to find out a bit more.

UPDATE: Just to help us keep seeing things from each others' perspective, Rick Lugari has a Catholic version/Protestant version joke of the day. Hilarious!

Condolences to Lee Strong and Family

Lee's mother died today. Eternal rest grant her, O Lord, and peace and comfort to the family she has left behind. My prayers go with them in these days of mourning.

BlondeStar to the Rescue!

Find out about this valuable service at De Civitate Dei.

Things That Only Happen in Movies

The final ten ...

1. Plain or even ugly girls can become movie star pretty simply by removing their glasses and rearranging their hair.
2. Rather than wasting bullets, megalomaniacs prefer to kill their enemies with complicated devices incorporating fuses, pulleys, deadly gases, lasers and man-eating sharks.
3. All beds have special L-shaped sheets that reach to armpit level on a woman but only up to the waist of the man lying beside her.
4. Anyone can land a 747 as long as there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.
5. During all police investigations it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.
6. You can always find a chainsaw when you need one.
7. Most musical instruments (especially wind instruments and accordions) can be played without moving your fingers.
8. In Middle America, all gas station attendants have red handkerchiefs hanging out of their back pockets.
9. All teen house parties have one of every stereotypical subculture present (even people who aren't liked and would never get invited to parties).
10. Trucks use their horns at random (no hang on, that happens in real life too!).

Source

Via Looking Closer Journal

Coolest Photo of the Week

Sept. 28 - Oct. 5: Supreme Court, Sun and Sculpture
A U.S. Navy F-18 breaks the sound barrier
at the California International Airshow on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2005, in Salinas, Calif.
The cloud built up around the jet as it reached the speed of sound.
(Orville Myers, Monterey County Herald /AP Photo)
From the ABC News Photo Gallery

I Can Dig It

Your Hair Should Be Purple

Intense, thoughtful, and unconventional. You're always philosophizing and inspiring others with your insights.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Via that feisty redhead, The Anchoress.

Our Lady of the Rosary

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and I was surprised to see only Steven Riddle mentioning it ... and mostly to say why he still respects the rosary even though he doesn't particularly like it.

I am not a devoted rosary sayer, though, ironically enough, I started up again this morning on the way to work, contemplating the Sorrowful Mysteries. Steven wrote a lovely piece (as always) and I will direct anyone who wants more info to Catholic Culture's Liturgical Calendar for today.

UPDATE: The Lady in the Pew has a lovely post about this feast.

Mensa Answer

The answer to yesterday's brain teaser was gotten by 75% of Mensa test takers: "parting" and "prating".

See the First 9 Minutes of Serenity

It’s all free and legal. Universal Pictures wants you to watch this one.

Via Ain't It Cool.

Things That Only Happen in Movies

The third ten ...

1. Cars will explode instantly when struck by a single bullet.
2. No matter how savagely a spaceship is attacked, its internal gravity system is never damaged.
3. If being chased through a city you can usually take cover in a passing St Patrick's Day parade - at any time of the year.
4. The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. Nobody will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building undetected.
5. You will survive any battle in any war UNLESS you show someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.
6. Prostitutes always look like Julia Roberts or Jamie Lee Curtis. They have expensive clothes and nice apartments but no pimps. They are friendly with the shopkeepers in their neighbourhood who don't mind at all what the girl does for a living.
7. A single match is usually sufficient to light up a room the size of a football stadium.
8. It is not necessary to say "Hello" or "Goodbye" when beginning a telephone conversation. A disconnected call can always be restored by frantically beating the cradle and saying "Hello? Hello?" repeatedly.
9. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at once (it's called Stallone's Law).
10. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in you room will still be visible, just slightly bluish.

Source

Via Looking Closer Journal

Loving the Will of God

Father, thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven ... We should be disposed to do the Will of God and to love what God does or permits. When we find ourselves in circumstances that are outside of our control, we should look for God's loving presence. If our situation is difficult, humanly speaking, we should pray in a spirit of abandonment: Is that what you want, Lord? ... Then it's what I want also! (J. Escriva, The Way).

These are wonderful opportunities for us to trust more and more in God. The divine Will may present itself to us in the form of suffering, of sickness or the death of a loved one. It may appear to us in the simplest of daily circumstances such as the gradual weakening and aging of the body, an insufficient salary or a professional commitment we cannot get out of. It could appear as some failure due to a simple mistake or misunderstanding. It might manifest itself in the grating personality of a co-worker, the frustration of unrealized ambitions and noble dreams, the acceptance of one's limitations or simply the lifelong struggle to grow in virtue. We may want to say with St. Teresa of Avila:

Give me wealth or poverty,
give me comfort or discomfort,
give me joy or sorrow ...
What do you want to make of me?

What do you want from me, Lord, in this present, actual, concrete situation?

If we accept the divine Will, God will give peace to our soul. We will also avoid useless human suffering, though we will still experience pain. Christ himself wept like one of us...Our cries do not offend God, but move him to compassion...

The Lord wants us to accept his Will in everything. He also wants us to do whatever we can to improve a bad situation, if that is possible. If this is not to be or if we have to be more patient, let us hold onto our Father God's hand with renewed trust. As St. Paul said in the midst of a great trial: With all our affliction, I am overjoyed. (2 Cor 7:4). Nothing can take away our joy.

In Conversation With God: Ordinary Time: Weeks 24-34

The Best Airplane Ever, Don't Cha Think?

The Salmon Thirty Salmon