Greetings!
For many years, the rate of Mass offerings, sometimes referred to as Mass stipends, was five dollars. On January 17, 1014, the Bishops of the province of Kansas, decided to increase the offering to ten dollars. The new rate will start on May 1st and is in conformity with most dioceses around the United States.
This is a good opportunity to consider the practice of Mass offerings in the Church as there are many misunderstandings. The canonical history of Mass stipends is both extensive and complicated. The legitimacy of Mass stipends has been sustained from at least the 8th century. It was at this period of history that Mass stipends took the form in which they have been practiced during the past century. Since their origins, even in the midst of abuse and misunderstanding, the magisterium has continued to defend their legitimacy. The history of the special benefits received from the offering of a Mass has a long and extensive history, which, due to the confines of this article, will not be treated here. Suffice it to say that since their origin in the 8th century, Masses applied to a specific intention were deemed to be effective means for obtaining a special grace. However, what exactly that grace is has been greatly contested. The Church has not officially characterized the nature of this special grace.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law does not clarify the issue. In fact, renowned canonists derive somewhat different conclusions regarding the fruits of the Mass. John Huels in reference to both Paul VI’s motupropio on Mass offerings and the 83 code states that neither of these “claims that the offering of Mass for a certain intention produces any benefit at all for that intention.” On the contrary, Julio Manzanares notes the practice of Mass stipends demonstrates an expression of faith in the power of the Church to mediate on behalf of the
faithful. In regards to c. 945, Joaquin Calvo-Alvarez commented that the canon implies the traditional special fruits of the Mass. It was noted in the committee reports studying the draft De Sacramentis for the revision of the Code of Canon Law that canons 109-129 were based upon a “theory of merit and the fruits of the Mass.”
One can be confident that the Church’s long-standing tradition of priests offering the sacrifice of the Mass for a particular intention does produce a special fruit directed to the donor’s intention.
You can schedule a Mass to be offered for a specific intention by contacting the parish office. A priest can apply the Mass to anyone, living or dead (c. 901). And, yes, the person for whom the Mass is offered does not have to be Catholic.
Ad majorem Dei gloriam,
Fr. John F. Jirak
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