Collect for 21st Sunday of Year A

 

COLLECT SERIES

 

COLLECT

 

The Collect for the 21st Sunday of Year reads as follows:

 

O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose,

Grant Your People to love what You command and to desire what You Promise,

That, amid the uncertainties of this world,

our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found.

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.    1.   Is my mind united in the single purpose of God?
2.    What does God command?
3.    Do I truly love what God commands?  What steps will I take this week to improve this love?
4.    What does God promise? 
5.    How passionate am I in desiring what God promises?
6.    What is my response to uncertainty in my life?  How can I strengthen trust in God through uncertainty?
7.    Do I live every day fixed on the goal of Heaven?

 

 GOSPEL REFLECTION

How can we ever thank Christ for these marvellous gifts to his Church, that is, to us?

Today’s Gospel from St. Matthew 16:13-20.  Shows us that Jesus, the true Son of God, became man in order to make all men His brothers and co-heirs with Him, to the divine, eternal kingdom. However, in order to carry on His divine mission on earth (after He had ascended into heaven), He founded the Church on the twelve Apostles. This Church was to be God's new Chosen People (hence perhaps the twelve Apostles take the place of the heads of the twelve tribes of the Chosen People of old). It was to be made up of all races from all parts of the world. As its mission was to bring the message of salvation to all people, it was to continue until the end of time. For this Church,  which was divinely instituted by Jesus Himself, to carry out its mission of helping all  people to reach their eternal kingdom, it was necessary to be sure of the road and the aids offered to its members.

In other words, the Church should be certain that what it told people to believe and to practice was what God wanted them to believe and to practice. Today's reading from St. Matthew tells us how Christ provided for this necessity. In making Peter the head of the Apostolic College, the foundation-stone of his Church, the guarantor of its stability in the symbol of the keys and the promise that all his decisions would be ratified in heaven, Christ gave him the power of freedom from error when officially teaching the universal Church in matters of doctrine and dogma.

In other words, Peter received the primacy in the Church and the gift of infallibility in his official teaching on matters of faith and morals. As the Church was to continue long after Peter had died, it was rightly understood from the beginning that the privileges given to him and which were necessary for the successful mission of the Church, were given to his lawful successors-the Popes.

This has been the constant belief in the Church from its very beginning. The first Vatican Council solemnly defined this dogma and it was reconfirmed recently in the second Vatican Council. In giving these powers to Peter and to his lawful successors Christ was planning for our needs. In order to preserve and safeguard the right conduct of all its members He provided a central seat of authoritative power in His Church. Through the gift of infallibility, He assured us that whatever we were commanded to believe (faith) or to do (morals) would always be what He and his heavenly Father wanted us to believe and to do.

It is important that we understand in what way and circumstances he uses this gift of infallibility. He does not use it of course for the weather or for foretelling what might happen in a month’s time.  Many Christians and some Catholics have an incorrect concept of this dogma.  If that  is you, then why not correct it today.

Do we know our faith and are part of our everyday lives?  If you would like some insight into what the Catholic Church teaches, you may wish to learn it from the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  I have a weekly blog series called Compendium Series where I examine one teaching and explore how we might incorporate that teaching into our lives.  Why not check it out?

So, on this Sunday, why not stop and ask ourselves how can we ever thank Christ for these marvellous gifts to his Church, that is, to us? Let us say a fervent: "thank you, Lord; You have foreseen all our needs and provided for them, grant us the grace to do the little part you ask of us in order to continue our progress on the one direct road to heaven."