Offer It Up!
- ohclem
- Nov 17
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 11
What does it mean when a kid stubs their toe and Mom yells with a smile "Offer it Up!"?
Well, to start, suffering is important: Kids of "olde" were taught that from an early age. Many of todays' kids are shielded from anything/everything uncomfortable--and so the truths of sin and purgatory are apt to be confusing. That's potentially dangerous to their souls! If suffering wasn't important, Jesus might have died with his arm against his forehead "Oh, I die!" Queue the dramatic crumple down to the pillow strewn floor. It felt disrespectful just to type that, but I'm making the point - Jesus didn't have to suffer. He's God - he could've saved us any way he wished... But God has shown us there's a power in suffering. Did God have to banish Adam and Eve? Gosh it was the first sin--wouldn't a Time Out have been enough? And Noah's Ark? Did the whole Earth need to drown? Need - Want...it's simply not our purvue to question God. Suffice it to say, God made our souls - so he knows, "Suffering is good for the soul." You could stand silent at the same bus stop every morning for a year next to the same stranger - but add the suffering of a sudden snowstorm and suddenly you're chatting with concern and kindness, "I have an extra scarf if you need it!" Siblings might fight like cats and dogs - but if one breaks their arm in the yard, they're instantly best buds full of Johnny-on-the-spot empathy.
Life, as God has set it up, involves some part of 100 years where we get to search for God and prepare for the place He has set for us in Heaven. He individually arranged a family for us on Earth, and has a huge Extended-Family of Angels, Saints, and every faithful soul that has gone before us, waiting to welcome us into Heaven. We are set up to work in tandem. They pray for us--we can choose to pray for them.
And so what of the "up"? What is Heaven gonna do with your stubbed toe? Plenty. Your stubbed toe that hurt for three seconds, or your broken arm that hurts for a month, if offered up in prayer, can be used to scrub time off a soul's time in Purgatory. No joke. Those souls who have gone before us, that are in the purgatory process, could benefit from your prayers. And here's the thing--people used to pray for the dead all the time--families consistently prayed and went to Mass--less prayers and less offering up suffering, means more suffering in Purgatory. Let's fix that! We actually can!
So what's Purgatory? I've heard people argue it's not in the Bible. Bologna. Jesus talked about it - He just didn't give it a name perhaps because it's not a place--it's a process on the way to Heaven. In order to discuss it, we call it Purgatory. (Jesus didn't name his church "Catholic" in the Bible either...St. Ignatius in the year 107 wrote the word Catholic to describe the universal church. The adjective stuck and became used as a noun.) Revelation 21:27 "...nothing unclean will enter..." (Heaven), is one of the many Bible verses that reference the purgation process. I describe Purgatory to the kids as a carwash--a barely sinning nun might need a quick wipe on her way in, but a recently repentant murderer might take some angels with scrub brushes some time to tidy his soul for Heaven.
In Matthew 5:21-30 Jesus advises - perhaps warns - of a court/judge/guard and prison whereas "...you will not be released until you have paid the last penny." Hell is not something you get out of. So the situation we "get released from" after "the court-like scenerio," we call Purgatory. Mary referenced Purgatory when she gave St. Dominic the Rosary (see Mary's 15 Promises on the Resources tab above).
All of us sin--but it's prideful to think we know everything about sin as God defines it. So we all will need the judgement and deep mercy of Jesus to enlighten and prepare us for entry into paradise. Purgatory is what Jesus described to the Apostles, what the early fathers preached, and therefore is what the universal Catholic Church still teaches today. So since helping feels good, let's bring back the phrase "Offer it up!" Offer up your yucky Lima Beans, your bad days at work, your stubbed toes... Jesus and Mary will make sure those sufferings will benefit starving souls in Purgatory, who without your even knowing it, will pray right back at ya. God is always good.
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Romans 5:3-5
Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
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Check out celebrated author/speaker/former Catholic-hating Minister/convert to Catholicism, Scott Hahn:
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