COLLECT SERIES
The Mass: Collect Series Icon.
COLLECT
The
Collect for Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C reads as follows:
Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honour you
with all our mind,
and love everyone in truth of heart.
Through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns
with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and
ever.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. What does it mean to me to honour God?
2. How do I currently honour God?
3. What changes do I need to make this coming week to
honour God will all of my mind?
4. What does it mean to
me to love in truth of heart?
5. What changes in my life do I need to make this coming
week to pursue holiness and spiritual growth?
GOSPEL REFLECTION
Today’s Gospel is from Lk 4:21-30. We may wonder why Jesus
was rejected by his own townsfolk- the people who would have known Him the
most. In the time of Jesus, they were
waiting for a political leader and so, they had their own image of what they
wanted. The other reason was that matters of spirituality were at a low point
and so, there was not an interest in spirituality. A little like our own time perhaps.
So an essential consideration for our own meditation of
this gospel needs to be:
·
What is our own expectation of God in our own lives?
·
What is our own image of God and does that truly line up with the
Gospel of God and His Son?
·
What is our own interest in spirituality? How am I affected by the lack of interest in spirituality
in the world? How do I counteract these negative influences?
The other key theme is one of rejection. Time and again Jesus was rejected by the
people and finally crucified- pushed out of the way for good so they thought. In one of the Passion accounts it says ‘ it
is better for one man to die for the people’.
Of course, Jesus was put to death out of of jealousy and the leaders
felt threatened by Him.
As people do not like their power being taken away even if
it is perceived that way, they usually find ways to silence and do away with
the person. It can happen in families,
work, in parishes. If someone is
considered different or does not fit the community mould, they are often ostracised. It can be very subtle and insidious in a
culture of family, work environment or parishes. It is of course not the Gospel way.
We may wish to consider how we have been rejected and the
circumstances with which these incidents occurred. Tap into those feelings of rejection and
where there are unresolved pain, ask Jesus to heal you. At the same time, consider the pain of
rejection Jesus would have felt. He came
to save the world and yet, those who knew Him rejected Him.
May we this coming week learn again what it is to honour
God with all of our mind and to learn to love everyone in truth of heart.
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