COLLECT SERIES
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THE MASS: COLLECT SERIES ICON. |
COLLECT
The Collect for the 15th
Sunday of the Year reads as follows:
O God who show the light of
Your truth to those who go astray,
So that they may return to
the right path,
Give all who for the faith
they profess are accounted Christians
The grace to reject what is
contrary to the name of Christ
And to strive after all that
does it honour.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son
Who lives and reigns with
You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS.
In making this prayer
tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:
1.What does the light of God’s
truth mean to me?
2. How do I go astray from
the light of God’s truth?
3. How can I return to the right
path this week?
4. What is contrary to the
name of Christ?
5. How will I do God’s name
honour this week?
6. Why do I profess myself
to be a Christian and am I a light of Christ to others?
GOSPEL REFLECTION.
The Gospel today of the Good
Samaritan brings to play a number of points to consider.
Firstly, those who passed on
the other side good people, even people of faith. However, they lacked a very
important ingredient. Sadly, they thought of their own needs first and were not
prepared to give of their time, resources and effort. They were not prepared to
stop and think of someone else first.
The Good Samaritan did give
not only his money (resources) but his time and effort. He gave out of love for
his fellow human being. He understood the expression ‘’ there but the grace of
God go I’’. He not only gave out of love
for his fellow human being but because He loved God and wanted to express His
love for him.
Most people are not wealthy
and often living from pay check to pay check.
Financially, things can even be incredibly tight. However, even if and when we cannot give
financially, we can give of our time and our effort out of love for God and our
fellow human beings. Time is a precious
commodity and time is money in many cases.
How many times are we like
the Good Samaritan or how many times are we like those who would not help? How can we live out this Gospel this coming
week? Why not discuss it in the family and see how you, as a family can
implement it.
Here is one example: A young
child may be untidy in his/her room. Someone
else is picking up after him/her after he/she plays with the toys. Provide your child with the skills to put the
toys away after she has played. Putting
them away for him is quicker but does not teach the child how to put toys away
in the box. Set realistic tasks for the child to achieve but teach him/her that
putting them away is helping mum/dad who provided the toys and in putting them away
without grumbling is showing them that they love you and love God. God provided
you as adults with the resources to buy the toys for the child to enjoy.
Here is another example:
There is a colleague at work who is struggling to do a task. He/she does not have the skill set yet to do
the task. Are you going to allow this
colleague to continue to struggle and walk on the other side- blind in your
heart to the need of your colleague?
You could do this or you could be like the Good Samaritan and give of
your time to show your colleague what to do and how to do the task. You could give
some of your skill set as gift to this person. You could give your effort to
help this person.
Remember whatever we have
been given is from God to use. We can show God our gratitude by thanking Him and
by using the gifts He has given us. When we use our time, our effort, our
skills to help someone else, we are showing God that we love Him and we are
honouring Him.
Give financially, give time,
give skills, give of your efforts- why… God gave first to me-to you. Let us
honour Him and love Him by loving others especially when they are in need. The need may be small but the gift in God’s eyes
is great because we have given out of love for Him and honoured Him.
Who will YOU be a Good Samaritan to this week?
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