Collect Series
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The Mass: Collect Series Icon. |
COLLECT
SERIES
The
Collect of the Mass for 18TH Sunday of the Year C reads as
follows:
Draw
near to your servants, O Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing
kindness, that, for those who glory in You as their Creator and guide, You may
restore what you have created and keep safe what You have restored.
Who lives and reign with God the Father in the unity o the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
In
making this prayer tangible for my life during this week, the following
reflection questions emerged:
1. What is my attitude towards God? Do I truly see God as Creator and myself as
the created?
2.
How does the attitude of ‘being the creator’ manifest in my life?
3.
How will I deliberately make a choice to put God first in my life this week?
4.How
will I acknowledge God as Creator this week? Eg become aware of creation around
me, take a walk and ponder in both beauty of trees/flowers but God the Creator
who made each one.
GOSPEL REFLECTION
Certainly!
Here's a Gospel reflection post on Luke 12:13–21, the Parable of the
Rich Fool:
📖 Gospel Reflection | Luke 12:13–21
“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s
life does not consist of possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is confronted
by a man asking Him to settle a family dispute over an inheritance. Rather than
involving Himself in legal matters, Jesus goes deeper—He addresses the root
issue: greed.
He tells the parable of a rich man whose
land yields a bountiful harvest. Instead of sharing his abundance, the man
decides to tear down his barns and build bigger ones to store it all for
himself. He imagines a life of comfort—“Eat, drink, and be merry.” But God
calls him a fool. That very night, his life will be demanded of him, and all
his accumulated wealth will be left behind.
This parable is not a condemnation of
wealth itself, but of the illusion of control and the idolatry of
possessions. The rich man is not a villain because he had a good harvest,
but because he placed his security, identity, and future in things rather than
in God. He lived with no awareness of his mortality and no thought of others.
The key to this gospel occurs in the
last sentence where the invitation to become rich in God is offered. What would
that mean for me to become rich in God? What changes would I make to my life
right now/ this week/ this month?
Questions for reflection:
- What
“barns” am I building in my own life?
- Do I
measure success by what I accumulate or by how generously I live?
- If my
life were demanded of me tonight, where would my treasure be?
- What
changes do I need to make to become rich in God? What graces do I need to ask for? How is my prayer life? Am I really in relationship with God?
This parable cuts to the heart of
something many of us wrestle with—not just greed in the obvious sense, but a reluctance
to let go. For some, it’s financial fear: What if I need this later?
For others, it’s emotional: This item holds a memory, a part of my story.
And sometimes it’s simply a quiet resistance to change.
Jesus does not shame us for having
things. However He does invite us to reflect: Are our possessions serving our
life with God, or distracting us from it? Are they freeing us to love others
more deeply, or chaining us to fear, control, or nostalgia?
Reflection Invitation:
Go to a shelf or a cupboard in your
home. Take a slow look. Then gently ask yourself:
What do I need?
What do I like?
Why do these things belong here?
Am
I becoming rich in God—or merely comfortable in clutter?
Letting go is rarely just a practical
act—it is also spiritual. However, Jesus is there waiting in the sacrament of
Reconciliation to help us to become rich in God through His mercy and
forgiveness. As we release, we create
space: for simplicity, for trust, and for God.
Prayer:
Lord, You know how I cling to what I see, to what feels familiar and safe.
Teach me to hold loosely to the things of this world and cling tightly to You.
May my heart become less cluttered and more open to Your voice. Help me become
rich—not in possessions—but in You through Your grace and compassion.