16th Sunday of Year A- Collect ( Opening Prayer)

COLLECT SERIES

COLLECT

The Mass: Collect Series Icon

The Collect for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time reads as follows:

Be gracious, Lord, to us who serve You

and in Your kindness, increase your gifts of grace within us:

so that fervent in faith, hope and love

we may be ever on the watch 

and persevere in doing what You command.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this prayer tangible the following questions emerged:

1. What does a ''Gracious Lord'' mean to me?

2. What area/s of my life do I desire the graciousness of my God this coming week?

3. How will I serve God this coming week?

4.What gifts of grace would like to receive?

5. What is my understanding of faith, hope and love?

6. What does being ever on the watch mean to me?

7. What does God command me to do this coming week?( Name it)

8. How will I persevere in doing what God commands me this coming week? (Name at least one action or make a small list).

Previously I have written a series on the Virtue series, of which faith, hope and love are the theological graces.  You may find reading this series helpful as further thought on the Virtues. You will find it under the label of Faith nurturing (2010).

The Hand of God on the feast of Sacred Heart

Sacred Heart of Jesus .

I was interstate this past w/end for solemn profession and ordination and first Mass of some Dominican students, whom I know through the parish in which I live.

Last Friday evening heading off to go to the Solemn Profession Mass of 2 of Dominican students, I was in a taxi with my friend.  The taxi driver despite our best intentions of trying to explain it to him could not understand the location of where we wanted to go.  It did not matter how many times we tried to tell him that his spelling in the GPS was inaccurate and how many times we spelt it for him, it made not a note of difference.

Still stuck in the George St- the main street in Sydney for 35 minutes going nowhere, the taxi driver got out of the lane past 6 buses banked up one after the other so that he could turn and take us to where he thought we were going.  At that very instant, along came a police car speeding down his side of the road without his siren on.

I said a very quick act of contrition as I thought "' this is it- this is going to be a head on collision"' I am about to meet God in Heaven- well actually more like time in Purgatory, but I only had time in my mind to think about meeting God.

The taxi driver turned just as the police car sped past- how we did not come to grief was indeed God's hand at work.

Sadly, we were late for the start of Mass, but we arrived just as the Gospel was being read.  We had not missed the Solemn Profession ceremony of the 2 Dominican students which is held just after the homily. I never was so very thankful for arriving and not missing the solemn profession ceremony and actually for still being alive, even though as the Mass went on, my body kept shaking.

We found out later that there had been a fire on the bridge and had brought the city to gridlock.

God indeed showed me His love on His feast- the feast of the Sacred Heart.