Collect for 5th Sunday Eastertide Year B.

 

COLLECT SERIES.

The Mass: Collect Series Icon.

COLLECT 

The Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Eastertide Year B reads as follows:

Almighty ever-living God,

Constantly accomplish the Pascal Mystery within us,

That those You were pleased to make new in Holy Baptism,

May, under Your protective care, bear much fruit

And come to the joys of life eternal. 

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, the following reflection questions emerged:

1. What does the Pascal Mystery within me mean to me?
2. What difference does my Baptism make in my life?
3. How can I support those who are newly baptised in my parish?
4. What fruit will I bear this coming week through God’s protective care?
5.  

 

GOSPEL REFLECTION

The Gospel for today is from St John15:1-8.  We all need encouragement and consolation from our friends. The disciples were no different. They needed encouragement and thankfully for them, they received it from Jesus Himself.  We too, through the Gospel can receive that same consolation and encouragement when we take the words of Jesus seriously and we take them for ourselves.

The words of consolation and encouragement which our Lord spoke to his Apostles on Holy Thursday night were intended to console and encourage all his followers for all time. They encourage and console us today, and we need encouragement to persevere on the road to heaven.

Living a truly Christian life is never easy.  There are the attractions of the world, temptations by the devil to side track us. Power, Wealth and Pleasure can be intoxicating agents to send us down the wrong path.  The point is that humanity will by its nature choose the easy way out and so it is always more difficult to choose the right course especially when the right course is harder.

Having the ordinary comforts of life and the possession of some of this world's goods is not wrong or anti-Christian.  However, the natural temptation is to get more and more of these comforts and riches, and the point is soon reached where this becomes the only purpose in life.  At this sad point, we have forgotten God and His purpose for our lives whilst the world has become our idol and also sadly our prison.

If we are to swim against the tide and not be swallowed up in the pursuit of wealth, power and pleasure, then we need to keep God first place in our lives. Jesus tells us to abide in Him, to remain closely united with Him, as is the branch to the vine, if we hope to bear fruit worthy of heaven. He promises us that if we remain closely united to Him, that is, if we strive daily to keep his commandments, he will be ever ready to answer our requests, and to heed all our prayers.  We need to pray and live out the sincere prayer today of every person who is trying to lead a Christian life is for the grace to overcome the allurements of the world, the flesh and the devil.  We can only do this through God’s grace and by staying close to Him. 

Let us take courage, then. Christ has promised to remain beside us during life if only we stay close to him. While we remain healthy branches of the vine, Christ, we will be on the road to heaven. Our daily tasks, our work as well as our prayer, our recreation as well as our rest, our joys as well as our sorrows, will give glory to God and prove that we are worthy to be called disciples of Christ.