32 Sunday Ordinary Time Prayer over the Offering

This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Prayer Over the Offering for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Look with favor, we pray, O Lord, upon the sacrificial gifts offered here, that, celebrating in mystery the Passion of your Son, we may honor it with loving devotion. Through Christ our Lord.

If you’ve ever had a toddler in your house you know the scene: By the time you realize that things are too quiet, you hear that little voice, “Look at what I have.” 

Moms know that you don’t just look that direction, you actually go there and on the way you make sure you have brought everything with you that you might need. You’ve got your patience, a smile, and some encouragement, just in case you need it.

God’s reaction is the same. When we ask Him to look with favor, He doesn’t just look our way, He comes to us, He becomes present, and He brings with Him His patience, a smile, and some encouragement. He also brings His power to cleanse and to save which we need because our “sacrificial gifts” need His cleansing and His power so they can become a perfect offering.

In the next phrase of the prayer, we ask that as we celebrate in mystery the Passion of Jesus, we honor the Passion with loving devotion.

We may not think about it much, but when we are praying the Mass, when we partake in the liturgy and the Sacraments, we are celebrating in mystery. The signs, the bread and wine which also symbolize our offerings, become the Body and Blood of Christ; the postures, we kneel to proclaim and we bow in reverence; and the prayers we pray all have meaning. What we do and say in the natural world affects what happens in the spiritual world. It is in this mystery that we make present the Passion of Jesus.

To honor the Passion with loving devotion, we need to go back to being the parent and child, God is the parent and we are his children. In the Latin form of the prayer, for loving devotion, we find the words pio affectu. This kind of devotion refers to the loyalty and affection in a family.

During the Mass, we spiritually place our sacrifice on the altar and say to God, “Look what I have,” and He draws near. We are in His presence in this moment in time, whether we feel it or not. This is the moment to thank our good and loving Father for His most precious gift, the Passion of your Son sacrificed for us.

Thanks for praying with me,
Julie