THE COLLECT SERIES
 |
the Mass: The Collect Series Icon. |
The
Collect for the 31st Sunday of Year reads as follows:
Almighty
and merciful God,
by
whose gift your faithful offer You right and praiseworthy service,
grant,
we pray, that we may hasten without stumbling
to
receive the things you have promised.
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.
2. What
is right and praiseworthy service in my eyes?
3. What
are the things that God has promised me?4. What are the stumbling blocks to me receiving these promises?
5. What is my current prayer life/spiritual life like?
Does it need an overhaul or just tweaking here and there?
6. How will I give God right and praiseworthy service this coming week?.
GOSPEL REFLECTION.
Today’s
reflection is directly taken from www.catholicculture.org
The Gospel is from the
Gospel of Matthew 23:1-12. As this picture of the Pharisees is painted by none
other than Christ himself, we can have no doubt but that the description given
is the truth and nothing but the truth. In spite of their great knowledge of
"the law and the prophets"—the divine revelation God had given to the
Chosen People—and of their many strict observances of that law, they were not
pleasing to God. All their good works and all their learning were spoiled by
the vice of pride which made them seek earthly glory for themselves and
prevented them from giving glory or thanks to God. Their religion was an empty
external cloak which they used to attract attention and honor to themselves.
Internally, they were so full of their own importance that there was no room
for God in their hearts.
Our divine Lord warned his disciples,
and through them all of us, to avoid that pernicious vice of pride. It should
not be hard for any true Christian to avoid this vice. We know that every
material and spiritual talent we have has been given us by God, so we must give
glory to God for any gifts we possess and not to ourselves. St. Paul reminds us
of this fact when he asks us: "What have you that you have not received,
and if you have received it why glory in it as if it were your own?" We
owe everything we have to God and we should use all the gifts he has given us
for his honor and glory, and for that purpose alone.
Do we always do this? Are we never
tempted to look down on our less fortunate brothers? If we have got on well in
our temporal affairs do we attribute our success to our own skill and hard work
or do we thank God for the opportunities he gave to us and not to others. If,
aided by God's grace, we are keeping his commandments, do we show contempt for
those who give in to temptations which we did not have to meet?
The best of us can profit from an
examination of conscience along these lines. If our external observance of the
Christian rule of life is motivated solely by love and gratitude to God all is
well. But if our hearts are far from God and our motives in our religious behaviour
is self-glorification, we are in a dangerous position. The sinners and harlots
of Christ's day repented and were received into his kingdom; the Pharisees,
unable to repent, were left outside.
Excerpted from The Sunday
Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
I have written a series called The Virtue series (this is the first post of the series) which you may find helpful and/or on my podcast where I have completed a few episodes of this series.
No comments:
Post a Comment