I added this short thought to my blog today but wanted so much to add it here also since it seems so appropriate this time of the year. 

SILVER or GOLD

All I want for Christmas is ... 
We hear a lot of that about this time of the year, "What are you hoping to get from Santa? What do you want? I hope I get this or maybe that!"
Instead of thinking about what we want, let's consider what we need. "Want" as defined as a desire for something; "Need" as defined as requirement, essential, necessity.  There is a difference in the meaning.  The things we want today, are usually tossed in the corner tomorrow, but the things we need will be appreciated sooner or later.
One valuable Christmas suggestion would be GOLD!
I remember learning in school that a Mass offered for your loved one after death is like giving them SILVER, but a Mass provided while they are living is like giving them GOLD.  It is worth so much more than just gold if we only knew.  
We all need to save our soul, give the gift that will last forever, have a Mass offered for your loved one.  They may not want it today, but they will need it for tomorrow and ever after. 
 When a priest offers Holy Mass, he has three intentions: First, to pray the Mass reverently and validly.  Second, to offer the Mass in union with and for the good of the whole Church. Third, to offer the Mass for a particular intention. We find the origins of this practice dating back to the early Church with Mass intentions pleading for a soul buried there inscribed on tombs in Roman catacombs.
GIVE YOUR LOVED ONE A MIRACLE!
Here we read in Mirae Caritatis ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII:
"In every place there is a sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a pure oblation" (Mal. i., II). "And this miracle, itself the very greatest of its kind, is accompanied by innumerable other miracles; for here all the laws of nature are suspended; the whole substance of the bread and wine are changed into the Body and the Blood; the species of bread and wine are sustained by the divine power without the support of any underlying substance; the Body of Christ is present in many places at the same time, that is to say, wherever the Sacrament is consecrated. And in order that human reason may the more willingly pay its homage to this great mystery, there have not been wanting, as an aid to faith, certain prodigies wrought in His honour, both in ancient times and in our own, of which in more than one place there exist public and notable records and memorials. It is plain that by this Sacrament faith is fed, in it, the mind finds its nourishment, the objections of rationalists are brought to naught, and abundant light is thrown on the supernatural order."