Collect for 24th Sunday of Year B

COLLECT SERIES

The Mass: Collect series Icon

 

COLLECT

 

The Collect for the 24^th Sunday of the Year reads as follows:

 

''Look upon us, O God,

Creator and ruler of all things,

and that we may feel the working of Your mercy,

grant that we may serve You with all our heart.''

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this Collect tangible for my life during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

 

1. How does God being Creator and ruler of all things sit with my view of God?

2. What image/s arise in my heart when I hear this Collect read at Mass? 

3. How will those images impact my spirituality this coming week?

4. How do I feel the working of Your mercy in my life?

5. How will I help my family, friends, parishioners, work colleagues, strangers to feel the work of His mercy through me this coming week? (Name a person/ area/ task to accomplish it through God's grace).

6. How will I serve God- Creator and ruler of all things in my life this coming week?

 

GOSPEL REFLECTION

Before I share my Gospel reflection for today's Gospel from Mark, the last line from the Collect spoke to me.  In our fast pace world and even with the best of intentions, we can get distracted from a core value/belief and we may even ask or someone may even ask us in frustration, sadness or hopelessness " What is the point of living- God does not even care''.  In these times when we feel dispirited, it is good to be reminded of what God's purpose is for us on earth.  The Compendium of the Catholic Church ( no 1) answers this succinctly as follows:

 

''God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness

freely created man to make him share in His own blessed life.''

 

In other words, God's purpose for us is to know, love and serve Him in this world and be happy with Him for ever in eternity. So, with these reflective thoughts, how will you serve God with all your heart this coming week.

 

Today's Gospel from Mark 8:27-33 asks an important question that each of us needs to answer: "Who do you say I am?" You can read a reflection on this Gospel from my Gospel Series of Mark 8.27-30 and Mark 8.31-33 by clicking on these links.

Before we answer this question, let us think about this for a moment.

 

Think of a person you would say that know (such as a family member, friend, parishioner, work colleague). Do you know them or do you know about them? In every relationship, we learn about a person- their likes, dislikes, what colours they like, what music they listen to, what art they prefer etc, but as the relationship develops, we can say that we know them, although we never really know a person fully. There is always more.

 

Now as we ask the Who do you say I am question now in relation to God and our relationship with Him- would we say that we know about God or do we know God- are we in relationship with Him?

If we answer in our hearts that I know about God- this is a great start. We need to know about God to help us come to know Him better. It also helps us to share our relationship with Him with others since we will not be giving them any false teaching. However, God asks us to come closer and know Him and be in relationship with Him. Why not take it to the next level.

 

So, let this week be an opportunity to reflect and consider our relationship with God. How will I come to know more about God and how will I come to know God this coming week?

 

Perhaps you might like to consider the way you will serve during the week

as you sing/listen to this.song.