The Surrender Initiative

The Surrender Initiative calls us to prayer. Many of us have experienced the heartache of watching someone we deeply care about drift away from the Church. This separation often evokes feelings of sorrow and leaves us questioning, “Could I have intervened more effectively?” Some distance themselves because of misunderstandings or painful experiences within the Church. It’s natural to feel unequipped to address these situations, especially as the wider culture leans more towards secularization, diminishing the allure of faith for many. 

The Surrender Initiative presents an opportunity to come together as the Body of Christ—to gather in the sacredness of the Holy Mass, praying intentionally and dedicating our Mass prayers and sacrifices for those we love who are no longer practicing their faith. The Surrender Initiative provides the opportunity for those carrying the heavy burden of guilt, shame, and frustration to unburden themselves through an act of surrender — thus opening themselves to new ways the Lord might be calling them to evangelize.

The Mass is the highest form of prayer because it is not just humans praying, but God Himself interceding for us. During the Mass, Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is made truly present on the altar. The Son offers Himself to the Father, and we join in His offering by uniting our prayers to His. The prayers of the Mass are structured around the Eucharistic Prayer, the consecration and elevation of the bread and wine. As the priest invokes the Holy Spirit and repeats Christ’s words at the Last Supper, the entire Church lifts up its heart in prayer and worship. We pray not only with our voices, but with our bodies, our reception of Christ in the Eucharist, and our lives offered as spiritual sacrifices. The Mass is the perfect prayer because it is prayed by Christ Himself, involving the entire Trinity. We join our imperfect prayers to His perfect prayer, offered once for all upon the cross. The Mass is the highest form of prayer because it draws the Divine life into our world.

The prayers of the Mass are God’s gift to us so that we can unite ourselves more perfectly to Jesus and the Church. The presentation of the offerings (i.e., Offertory) is no exception. At Offertory, we enter into a most sacred time to offer ourselves and our prayers fully to the Lord. As the altar is prepared and the gifts presented, we are invited to place our lives—all our needs and desires, indeed, our whole selves upon the altar as a living sacrifice. The Catechism reminds us that “the presentation of the offerings at the altar takes up the gesture of Melchizedek and commits the Creator’s gifts into the hands of Christ who, in his sacrifice, brings to perfection all human attempts to offer sacrifices” (CCC 1350). For The Surrender Initiative, this is a most critical moment, for at the Offertory, we invite everyone present, in silence, to offer into the hands of Jesus, the gift of those loved ones who are no longer practicing their Catholic faith. It is the deepest act of entrustment to Our Lord.

The use of incense in the Catholic liturgy has a long history dating back to the Temple worship of the Jewish people. The Catechism reminds us that the use of incense in Temple worship, along with other signs, signified “the holiness and glory of God Most High and Most Near [and] were appeals to and ways of prayer” (CCC 2581). The use of incense at the Offertory signifies the sanctification and purification of the gifts. Additionally, the rising incense signifies our prayers lifting to heaven, with fragrance filling the air—an offering acceptable to the Lord. The incense is a sign and reminder of the presence of God and that which provokes the heart to rise in offering to God.

Surrender gets at the heart of what it means to be Christian, because surrender is at the heart of Jesus Christ. The Third Council of Constantinople, which dealt with the heresy of Monothelitism (the heresy that Christ had but one will), teaches us that Christ indeed has two wills (human and divine). However, Christ’s human will “does not resist or oppose but rather submits to his divine and almighty will.” The union of wills in Jesus’ very person is the primordial act of surrender. When, in Christ, we surrender everything to the Father—our possessions, future, past, joys, sorrows, family, friends, we enter into the heart of Jesus and find ourselves at home in the Father (Jn. 1:18). The Catechism puts all of this rather beautifully: “We ask our Father to unite our will to his Son’s, in order to fulfill his will, his plan of salvation for the life of the world. We are radically incapable of this, but united with Jesus and with the power of his Holy Spirit, we can surrender our will to him and decide to choose what his Son has always chosen: to do what is pleasing to the Father” (CCC 2825). Surrender is an apt name for this initiative, because, for those we love who are no longer practicing their Catholic faith, there is little more we can do than surrender their lives into the hands of Jesus—who offers them, with himself, to the heart of Father.

In truth, every Mass is an opportunity to pray with intention and to surrender. These events are strategically placed throughout the year to help our Family of Parishes focus on a critical and urgent prayer. 

• Sacrament of Reconciliation — The evening begins by offering the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness in Confession. This is an opportunity for those attending to unburden themselves of the guilt and shame that results from sin and to open their hearts to the mercy and forgiveness of God.
  
  
• Holy Mass — The Surrender Initiative presents an opportunity to come together as the Body of Christ–to gather in the sacredness of the Holy Mass, praying intentionally and dedicating our Mass prayers and sacrifices for those we love who are no longer practicing their faith.
  
  
• The Litany of Conversion is to be prayed before Mass — As a way of setting a spiritual tone for the Mass and helping attendees enter into the spiritual movement of the night, we pray Elisabeth Leseur’s “Litany to Obtain a Conversion” just before the start of Mass.
  
  
• A collection of names during Offertory — Rather than taking up a monetary collection during Mass, we take up a collection of names. This is a gesture that helps to concretize the act of surrender.
  
  
• Reception/Social — An opportunity for those who participate in The Surrender Initiative to gather in a moment of authentic fellowship.