Commentary on the Prayer of Offering
As a reminder here is the prayer from the origins of the Guard of Honor:
“Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in compensation for my sins, in suffrage for the holy souls in purgatory,
and for the needs of the Holy Church. Holy Father, receive the Most Precious Blood and Water which sprung from the wound of the
Divine Heart of Jesus, as a sacrifice of propitiation for men and bestow your mercy upon us.
The Prayer today:
“Lord Jesus, present in the tabernacle, I offer this hour to You with all my actions, my joys and my sorrows, to glorify Your Heart by this testimony of love and reparation. May this offering benefit my brothers and sisters and make me a more zealous laborer for the accomplishment of Your loving designs for humanity. With You and for them, I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. John 17:19). Amen.”
The hour of guard comes; you may find yourself in a variety of states: maybe you are actively busy, at work, at home or at school, driving or riding a bus or walking. Maybe you are resting or working, the day is beginning or ending; maybe you are young and full of energy;
maybe you are older and dealing with infirmity. Perhaps you are happy or sad, grateful and hopeful, or hurting from past wounds, oranxiou
about the future. Resisting the temptation towards discouragement or forgetfulness, you begin your Hour of Guard.
“Lord Jesus,present in the Tabernacle…”
The act of offering one’s Hour of Guard suddenly lifts the soul outside of itself toward Jesus whose Heart filled with Love keeps watch in the tabernacle of a church whether near far.”The mystery of the unity between Christ and His Church must be fully lived by the People of
God. The base and center of every Christian community is the celebration of the Eucharist” (Blessed Pope John Paul II)
“I offer this hour to You with all my actions, my joys and my sorrows..”
There you have it. Everything is placed in this Divine Heart, which had been expecting this offering. And why?
“To glorify Your Heart by this testimony of love and reparation…”
This Act of Reparation is offered in love so that everyone throughout space and time may profit from this offering of the Hour of Guard. This includes our own loved ones as well as the many souls who have no interest or knowledge of making reparation to our Lord or understanding of His love for all.
“May this offering benefit my brothers and sisters and make me a more zealous laborer for the accomplishment of Your loving designs for humanity…”
And so in the midst of your daily tasks, you become an Apostle forgetting your own concerns and needs to collaborate with the
loving designs of Christ the Savor.
“With You and for them, I consecrate myself …”
I give myself more intimately and more generously to Your service each minute of this hour becoming as it were an act of Faith, Hope and Charity, lifting up of my soul toward You with every breath I take, with every beat of my heart, all the while accomplishing faithfully my
tasks and duties of the moment.
“So that they also may be consecrated in truth…”
This is an offering, no doubt unknown by those around me but known to the Lord; it is an offering of the soul alerted by the hour which has just begun. May this offering serve to lift all of humanity towards Him who is Holy and who said: “Be holy because I am holy’. (Leviticus 19:2)