Now you can also donate to the collection via MobilePay! If you have downloaded the MobilePay app on your smartphone, you can easily contribute to the collection without cash. Simply enter the parish’s MobilePay number and the amount you wish to donate – your contribution goes directly to the parish. Thank you for your support!
The Preparation of Offerings and the Collection
A collection is taken up alongside the preparation of the altar gifts, which is a gift to be offered to the church. Actually, in addition to the bread and wine intended for the celebration of the Eucharist, Christians have, from the very beginning, brought gifts to be distributed to those in need (CCC 1351). This practice, which was called the “collection” (1 Cor. 16:1), remains relevant today. It is inspired by the example of Christ, who became poor to make us rich (2 Cor. 8:9). What we give to the poor, we give to God, for Christ says: “Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matt. 25:40)
Old and New
In the past, many gifts were brought to the church, which were handed to the priest during the offertory. These gifts were mainly foodstuffs. This is also why, after receiving the gifts, the priest would wash his hands. He did not lose any dignity by accepting them in his vestments, for he was performing an important task belonging to his priesthood. The gifts were divided into three parts and designated for the following purposes: one part for the poor, another for the clergy, and the third, the smallest but the most valuable in purpose, the bread and wine, was to be used for the Holy Mass. Only this third part was to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ, but all three parts were offered to the Lord. During the offertory, these three components became one single offering: the priest, representing the Lord, would receive what was designated for the whole congregation’s benefit.
Thus, there was no collection of money in earlier times. The faithful would bring natural gifts to the altar, some of which were used for the consecration and communion, some for the sustenance of the priests, and a third part for the poor. For practical reasons, the collection is now taken as money, rather than natural foodstuffs. Though the method has changed, the underlying meaning has always remained the same. How could there be priests, churches, liturgical items, and rituals unless the servants of the altar had a means of livelihood? Ensuring their livelihood means ensuring the continuity of the praise of God, for they are His servants.
Bread and Wine
The offerings, especially the bread and wine, are the fruits of human labor and effort. They would not exist without the work of millers and vintners, without the toil of those who have harvested the grain and gathered the grapes, who have bent low to plow the furrows, planted the vines, and tended the vineyards. They would not exist without the plow and hoe, without smelters and steelworks, and without those who work deep in the mines. And all of these people, in turn, have needed clothing, food, shelter, doctors to care for them, and various other public officials. A whole mysterious chain of interconnections has been necessary for this long process of labor to produce this bread and wine, which the priest brings to the altar of the Lord. Thus, human labor is truly offered to the Lord, not just symbolically, when the priest says the words: “Through your generosity we have received this bread, which we offer to you, the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands, from which it will become the bread of life”; “Through your generosity we have received this wine, which we offer to you, the fruit of the vine and the work of human hands, from which it will become our spiritual drink.”
All of human work and effort, all of humanity’s hopes and disappointments, can be united with the cross and resurrection of Christ. As soon as this bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ, this transformation becomes the crown and fulfillment of work, redemption, and sanctification. In this process of divinization, life itself is fulfilled and realized — the life of the individual, the family, the nation, and the entire world.
The Collection = The Holy Sacrifice
In all of this, the collection has its own part to play. The work of our hands, everything that human effort and toil bring about, acquires special value and consecration through the collection, with part of it being used to care for the body of Christ and its suffering members. Therefore, the collection is by no means a way for the priests to access money. It is simply the contribution of the faithful to the holy sacrifice, a means to support the church and clergy in their livelihoods and to care for the poor in the congregation.
In the past, the faithful brought the products of their labor as gifts to the altar. This practice was more meaningful than the collection basket that now circulates through the pews, into which we sometimes thoughtlessly toss a small coin. In any case, our offering as a collection does not go to the sacristy but to the altar, where it becomes the consecrated collection. The collection taken at the church door or a membership fee cannot replace the actual collection, because if that were the case, we would be using a pious excuse for something that is purely financial and material in nature, and it would lose the religious and liturgical value that is inherent to the collection.
Consecrated Collection via MobilePay
During the celebration of the Holy Mass, a consecrated collection is made during the offertory. The Mass offering and Holy Communion are significantly connected to the collection. Of course, care must be taken to ensure that the collection is gathered quickly and simply, but in such a way that it is dignified and considerate, so as not to disturb the faithful or the sacred ceremony. The collection gains clearer significance when it does not cause scandal, but rather adapts to the celebration of the Eucharist.
Now, MobilePay makes it easier to collect donations. The Parish of the Holy Cross has already introduced a MobilePay short number and QR code. These allow parishioners, even those who do not have cash on hand for the collection basket or who are following the Sunday Mass online, to participate in the collection by using the MobilePay app.
The use of such “mobile money” has become more common in society at large, and some parishes are now receiving an increasing portion of their collection payments via mobile payments. Naturally, the requirement for this payment method is that the MobilePay app has been downloaded and activated on your smartphone.
When it is time for the collection, you can scan the parish’s QR code with your phone’s camera, or simply open the MobilePay app and use the parish’s short number. After this, you can choose the amount you wish to donate to the collection. The short number will remain in the app’s memory, making it even easier to find in the future.
In Short
Now you can also donate to the collection via MobilePay! If you have downloaded the MobilePay app on your smartphone, you can easily contribute to the collection without cash. Simply enter the parish’s MobilePay number and the amount you wish to donate – your contribution goes directly to the parish. Thank you for your support!
Fr. Tri Nguyen
Sources:
- Roomalaisen Messukirjan yleinen johdanto (RMYJ), Pieksämäki 1999, II luku
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part II, Nos. 1322-1419
- Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part II, Nos. 271-294
- Katolinen uskomme, suom. E. Koski, KATT, Kerava 1974, 16. luku, ss. 213-221
- Vatican II, Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium on the Sacred Liturgy (4.12.1963), abbreviated SC
- Vatican II, Constitution Lumen Gentium on the Church (21.11.1964)
- Vatican II, Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation (18.11.1965)
- Vatican II, Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis on the Priesthood (7.12.1965)
- The Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on Implementing the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, Inter Oecumenici (26.9.1964); AAS 56 (1964).
- The Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction Musicam Sacram (5.3.1967), AAS 59 (1967) 300-320.
- The Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on Eucharistic Worship, Eucharisticum Mysterium (25.5.1967); AAS 59 (1967).
- Pope Pius XII, Encyclicals Mystici Corporis (29.6.1943) and Mediator Dei (20.11.1947)
- Pope Paul VI, Encyclical Mysterium Fidei (3.9.1965)
- Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17.4.2003)
- Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Document Redemptionis Sacramentum (23.4.2004)
- Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum caritatis (13.3.2007), lyh. SCa
- Herran pöytä, Messu, Valkeus & Elämä 4, Studium Catholicum, Helsinki 1964, ss. 37-42.