Changes to Mass Intention Procedures & Requesting Intentions ONLINE!

Beginning for the Masses after May 1st, we will institute new procedures for scheduling intentions. With the advantage of secretarial help that speaks all of our parish languages, and the need to schedule intentions by members of each of these communities, our Mass intentions will be available for booking on-line. That means that without contacting the office in person or by phone, one can schedule a Mass on line through our parish website. Intentions will continue to be limited to two for each Mass. The one scheduling will have the ability to pay on line with a credit card when scheduling. Each intention will need to be reviewed and approved by an administrator of the program; intentions are limited to one a month. We will make intentions to be scheduled available every quarter of the year, so recent deaths can have intentions scheduled in a more timely manner without all possibilities having been booked months or a year in advance.

This program is not free; it requires the parish to pay an administration fee and a percentage of the stipend paid for the Mass. So, while Mass intentions have been at a suggested offering of $10 for decades, we will need to increase this offering to offset the cost of the new program to be at no additional cost to the parish to $15 for those intentions booked after January 15, 2024.

Of course, no one is denied an intention for a lack of funds. The offering is given as a way to share in the sacrifice of the Mass and is an expression of affection for the loved one being remembered. No one ever pays for a Mass, but provides an offering, in that way, the one who requests the intention by their own financial sacrifice shares in the perfect sacrifice of Christ offered for their loved one.

The remembrance of a loved one by offering a Mass for them is a time honored act of devotion and affection for a deceased loved one in our Catholic tradition. While it gave rise to abuses in the Middle Ages, the intent is that a Mass offered for a loved one is our best act of love, the offering of a prayer, and not just any prayer, but the prayer of Christ, his perfect offering on the Cross, made present in a sacramental way at every Mass. So, remembering a loved one who has passed from our midst, or praying for the health of another, or remembering an anniversary or birthday of a loved one, all as a possible intention at a Mass is to join one’s love to that of Christ that he would bring that person and need to the presence of the Father in the offering of that Mass.  

One can still come to the office or schedule an intention over the phone, but this will allow those who are not available during the day to schedule at their convenience. While any change is difficult, we anticipate this is a more modern approach to an ancient practice that will be easier for everyone. In turn, while some have shared that intentions are lost or overlooked, this should eliminate or at least reduce the frequency of it happening in the future.