COLLECT SERIES
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The Mass: Collect Series Icon. |
The Collect for the 15th
Sunday of 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
is the light of Your Truth?
2. What
is the light of Your Truth in my life this coming week?
3. How
will I seek the light of Your Truth this coming week?
4. What
steps do I need to take to return to the right path? (Devise a plan of action
this coming week).
5. What
are the Achilles heel areas in my life which draw me to reject Christ and His
graces?
6. How
will I honour Christ this coming week? Devise
a plan, an action or use of scripture that will help me through the grace of
Christ honour Him each moment of every day this coming week.
GOSPEL
REFLECTION
Today’s
Gospel from Matthew is a challenging one because it invites us to really have a
deep look at our spiritual journey. When we hear it at Mass and/or reflect on
it before Mass as our preparation or during the week, we may identity with all
the phases of the parable- we may identify in our lives when
- we refused to accept the message. We may have been like St Augustine and said ‘ not now Lord’.
- we were on fire for the Lord but because we had no strong roots, we did not accept the sacrifices that are required to live our faith well,
- we got caught up in the practicalities of life of making a living and the worries of living was the focus of our attention without placing Christ as no 1.
- we were faithful to Christ and His teaching and
produced some good fruit- sometimes more than other times.
It is
good to revisit our spiritual journey and see if and how we have progressed.
Give thanks to God for those times we have been receptive to His grace and as a
result bore good fruit and ask for His mercy where we have allowed the seed
that He sowed in us to fall into disrepair through neglect or luke-warmness or through
lack of attention to Christ.
Take
the opportunity this week to visit your spiritual journey. Where would the seed
of Christ fall on the path right now? Of
course, a good examination of this is essential but do not stop there. The key this week is to both examine our spiritual
journeys and to make the necessary changes.
Change
of course is never easy. However, we do have the grace of Christ to help us and
the friendship of the Holy Spirit to be our light and our guide. Like any goal setting, set a goal that is
achievable. For example, it is no use saying that I am going to go to Mass
every day in a church if your country is in lockdown due to covid 19. However, make the commitment to attend Mass
online. Do not just watch it passively
but attend and participate in it fully by preparing the readings, considering
any venial sins that you would like to take into that Mass so that the Penitential
Rite of Absolution does not pass you by, to long to receive Jesus spiritually
by making a good preparation to receive Him spiritually( if you are in lock
down) or to receive Him physically if you are able to attend a public Mass and
of course, to make a good thanksgiving after Holy Communion.
Take
up the challenge of today’s Gospel and reject what is contrary to Christ and
turn around to face Him. Jesus loves you
and wants to be in relationship with us.
Do you
want to be in relationship with Him this coming week?
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