Collect Series: Collect for First Sunday of Advent Year C

 Collect Series

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

It is the start of the new liturgical year - Year C and it is time to enter into more deeply the season of Advent.  Advent recalls the waiting for the Messiah of course, but it is also about the second coming of Christ in all His glory at the end of time.

 

I especially like Advent because it gives me a chance to review my life and make a plan, set goals and have a very good stocktake of myself.   I especially love Year C of Advent because it gives me the opportunity to review the goals I set  at the beginning of Advent last year and see what progress I have made through God’s help during the year.    How many times when you go to an interview is the question asked ''Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time?  I like to ask myself that same question using the 3 year cycle instead.

 

It is always good to acknowledge growth because it can motivate us to know that good has occurred. Reviewing my life is good because it helps me to refocus my attention to what matters.  Setting goals and making an effort to implement them keeps me on track to further progress. Using these tools for my spiritual growth seems an obvious extension.

 

So I ask myself

1. What areas of my life do I want to be different this time next year/ 2 /3 years time?
2. What areas do I want to work on specifically in Advent?
3. Do I need someone else to journey with me to encourage me on my journey- a spiritual director, a Christian counsellor, a spiritual mentor - if so, who might that be?
4. What goals will I set and how will I implement them- in other words I set the goals and then break the goals down into manageable bite size pieces- putting a general time line on these goals is important b/c it keeps me motivated.  However, there is always more with God and His timeline may be different from mine.  So I keep this point firmly in mind- not as an excuse to fail but as a realistic factor in the journey of faith.

Advent too is a penitential season. We are reminded of it with the violet vestments that the priest wears.  Leading up to Christmas can be difficult with various parties to include some fasting.  However, with intention to include it as part of your advent journey, it can be achieved. 

Start small- maybe you fancy another mince pie.  They are a real weakness of mine.!!!!

Going without a second, third or fourth one is a starting point.  Remember though your motive.  Is your motive God related or weight related?  Do you have a tendency towards greed or lack of temperance in food/drink? If so, then start small and make a start to change this vice towards a grace/virtue. We need to stay awake and be on our guard as the Gospel reminds us.

This way you can enjoy celebrating with your family/friends but you can also celebrate your own spiritual growth.

 

Many of us do a good spring clean before Christmas before family and friends come.  What about a spiritual spring clean?  What will do about your soul this advent? Find time to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

 

I encourage you to not let Advent pass you by spiritually.  It is a very quick season liturgically speaking but we are meant to be in an attitude of waiting- waiting expectantly. We need to stay awake and be on our guard.

 

I hope you wait expectantly and with hope during this season of Advent.

 

Happy New Year

 

Now let us consider the Collect and Gospel Reflection for First Sunday of Advent

 

 COLLECT 

The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent Year C reads as follows:

 

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,

the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ

with righteous deeds at his coming,

so that, gathered at his right hand,

they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom.

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. As we begin Advent, what is my resolve spiritually?

2. How do we intend to carry out my resolve during Advent- what is my plan?

3. How do I want to meet Christ at Christmas in a different way than last year?

4. Take time to make a spiritual stock take and consider my current level of spirituality and what areas I need to address?

5. What righteous deeds might I carry out this coming week that will be pleasing to God?

 
 GOSPEL REFLECTION

 

The First Sunday of Advent marks the new Liturgical Year, and the Church shifts into a new Lectionary Cycle for Sundays, with 2024-25 from Year C, the Gospel of St. Luke. In the Sunday Gospel (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36) Jesus invites us to recognize the signs of the last days. This is a reminder that Advent is not just looking back at the first coming of Christ at Christmas, but our personal preparation for His Second Coming: "Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

The traditional Collect of the last Sunday of the Church year began "Stir up the wills of Thy faithful people, we beseech Thee, O Lord..." With this request to God to "stir up" our wills, this day was traditionally called Stir-Up Sunday.

"Stir-Up Sunday" can now be the First Sunday of Advent. The traditional Collect of the First Sunday is asking God to stir up His might: "Stir up Thy might, we beg Thee, and come."  Our updated Collect invites us to have the resolve- again stirring us into action.

Many families create a traditional plum pudding or fruit cake or some other recipe that all the family and guests can "stir-up." This activity of stirring-up the ingredients symbolizes our hearts that must be stirred in preparation for Christ's birth.

What needs stirring in my heart this Advent?  How will I stand ready and stay awake?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solemnity of the Feast of Christ the King

Collect for Christ the King.

The Collect for the Feast of Christ the King reads as follows:

Almighty ever-living God,

whose will is to restore all things

in Your beloved Son, the King of the Universe

grant, we pray, that the whole creation set free from slavery,

may render Your majestic service,

and ceaselessly proclaim Your praise.

 Pope Pius XI universally instituted The Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in his encyclical Quas Primas. Pius XI, and the rest of the Christian world, witnessed the rise of dictatorships in Europe, and saw Catholics being taken in by these earthly leaders. Pope Pius connected the denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism, since at the time of Quas Primas, secularism was on the rise, and many Christians, even Catholics, were doubting Christ's authority, as well as the Church's, and even doubting Christ's existence.

It is interesting to observe that just as the Feast of Corpus Christi was instituted when devotion to the Eucharist was at a low point, the Feast of Christ the King was instituted during a time when respect for Christ and the Church was waning, when the feast was most needed. In fact, it is still needed today, as these problems have not vanished, but instead have worsened.

Pope Pius hoped the institution of the feast would have various effects. They were:

1. That nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state (Quas Primas, 32).
2. That leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ (Quas Primas, 31).
3. That the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies (Quas Primas, 33).

Today, the same distrust of authority exists, although the problem seems to have deteriorated. Individualism has been embraced to such an extreme, that for many, the only authority is the individual self. The idea of Christ as ruler is rejected in such a strongly individualistic system. Also, many balk at the idea of kings and queens, believing them to be oppressive. Some even reject the titles of "lord" and "king" for Christ because they believe that such titles are borrowed from oppressive systems of government. However true these statements might be (some kings have been oppressive), these individuals miss the point: Christ's kingship is one of humility and service. The following two scripture quotes support this view.  Jesus said:

'You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:42-45, NAB).
and also:
'Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?"... Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world,to testify to the truth (John 18:33b, 36-37).

Jesus knew the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, He connected His role as king to humble service, and commanded His followers to be servants as well. In other passages of Scripture, His kingdom is tied to His suffering and death. While Christ is coming to judge the nations, His teachings spell out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness. 

 Christ the King Sunday used to be celebrated on the last Sunday of October, but since the calendar reforms of 1969, the feast falls on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, which is the Sunday before Advent. It is fitting that the feast celebrating Christ's kingship is observed right before Advent, when we liturgically wait for the promised Messiah (King).

As we celebrate this solemnity, we may thank God that Pope Pius XI' instituted this  feast of Christ the King because it reminds us that our allegiance is to our spiritual ruler in heaven as opposed to earthly supremacy in whatever form it takes in our lives.

When we celebrate Christ as King, we are not celebrating an oppressive ruler, but one willing to die for humanity and whose "loving-kindness endures forever." Christ is the king that gives us true freedom, freedom in Him. Christ radically redefined and transformed the concept of Kingship.

As we celebrate this feast, we may wish to look back at our spiritual year. We may ask ourselves whether Christ has been king of our hearts throughout the year and if not, resolve to make Him King of our hearts. 

Why not lift up your heart to the King of Kings as you listen to Hallelujah chorus by Handel. 

Collect for 31st Sunday of Year C

THE COLLECT SERIES

the Mass: The Collect Series Icon.

The Collect for the 31st Sunday of Year reads as follows:

Almighty and merciful God,

by whose gift your faithful offer You right and praiseworthy service,

grant, we pray, that we may hasten without stumbling

to receive the things you have promised.

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.  What is right and praiseworthy service in God’s eyes? 

  2.  What is right and praiseworthy service in my eyes?

3.     What are the things that God has promised me?
4.     What are the stumbling blocks to me receiving these promises?
5.     What is my current prayer life/spiritual life like?
      Does it need an overhaul or just tweaking here and there?
6.    How will I give God right and praiseworthy service this coming week?.

GOSPEL REFLECTION.

Today’s reflection is directly taken from www.catholicculture.org

The Gospel is from the Gospel of Matthew 23:1-12. As this picture of the Pharisees is painted by none other than Christ himself, we can have no doubt but that the description given is the truth and nothing but the truth. In spite of their great knowledge of "the law and the prophets"—the divine revelation God had given to the Chosen People—and of their many strict observances of that law, they were not pleasing to God. All their good works and all their learning were spoiled by the vice of pride which made them seek earthly glory for themselves and prevented them from giving glory or thanks to God. Their religion was an empty external cloak which they used to attract attention and honor to themselves. Internally, they were so full of their own importance that there was no room for God in their hearts.

Our divine Lord warned his disciples, and through them all of us, to avoid that pernicious vice of pride. It should not be hard for any true Christian to avoid this vice. We know that every material and spiritual talent we have has been given us by God, so we must give glory to God for any gifts we possess and not to ourselves. St. Paul reminds us of this fact when he asks us: "What have you that you have not received, and if you have received it why glory in it as if it were your own?" We owe everything we have to God and we should use all the gifts he has given us for his honor and glory, and for that purpose alone.

Do we always do this? Are we never tempted to look down on our less fortunate brothers? If we have got on well in our temporal affairs do we attribute our success to our own skill and hard work or do we thank God for the opportunities he gave to us and not to others. If, aided by God's grace, we are keeping his commandments, do we show contempt for those who give in to temptations which we did not have to meet?

The best of us can profit from an examination of conscience along these lines. If our external observance of the Christian rule of life is motivated solely by love and gratitude to God all is well. But if our hearts are far from God and our motives in our religious behaviour is self-glorification, we are in a dangerous position. The sinners and harlots of Christ's day repented and were received into his kingdom; the Pharisees, unable to repent, were left outside.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

I have written a series called The Virtue series (this is the first post of the series) which you may find helpful and/or on my podcast where I have completed a few episodes of this series. 

Collect for 30th Sunday of Year C

THE COLLECT SERIES

The Collect for the 30^th Sunday of Year reads as follows:

Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and charity,

and make us love what you command,

so that we may merit what you promise.

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. What is my current level of faith, hope and charity?  Give myself a stock take of my spiritual life overall especially in these areas. 

2.   Why do I want or desire God to increase my faith, hope and love?  

3. Why do I want God to make me love what He commands?  

4. What does this mean? What does God promise?  

5.    How may I merit what God promises this coming week.

GOSPEL REFLECTION.

The Gospel is from St. Luke 18:9-14.  Jesus forgave sinners, especially those who regretted what they have done. Jesus did not condemn them but brought them forgiveness, healing and peace. During His hidden life in Nazareth, and especially during His public life when He travelled through the towns and villages of Palestine,  Jesus met sinners of all kinds, never providing any harsh word to any of them. They may have deserved it because of their sins but never a harsh word.   However, Jesus was accused of mixing too freely with them. His answer was that "it was those who were ill who needed a doctor, not those who were in good health." The sinners He met knew that they were ill. They regretted their sins. He forgave them.

Jesus however did speak condemnation on the Pharisees and for whom He foretold an unhappy ending. These were the Pharisees. In Mt. 23, the whole chapter is devoted to Christ's condemnation of them. It contains eight "woes" which He utters against them. He calls them by many unflattering names. One was "whited sepulchres, appearing beautiful to men on the outside but full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness within" (23: 27). Such harshness, coming from the gentle Christ, may surprise us, but knowing as He did that pride, the first and basic sin of mankind and the root of all other evil in the world, was so ingrained in their very hearts, that they could never seek forgiveness, He stated nothing but the truth concerning them or to them.

In this parable which He addressed to the Pharisees themselves, He tells them once more where their pride will lead them. They will be excluded from the kingdom of God, because they will not admit or repent of their pride and their lack of charity. Instead of thanking God for the many gifts He had given them, they almost demanded thanks from God for being such pious people. They had virtues. They avoided serious injustices. They did not commit adultery. They fasted often. They paid all their Temple dues, but it was all done, not for the honor and glory of God, but for their own honor and glory. They told the world about it. They demanded the first places in the synagogues, and special marks of reverence on the streets. They had to be called "masters" as they claimed to represent and interpret Moses to the ordinary people.

One thing that we can learn from this sad story of the Pharisees is that, while God approves of no sin, His mercy and His forgiveness is available for all sinners except the proud. It isn't that God cannot or will not forgive the sin of pride but that the proud man will not ask for God's forgiveness.

We must all be on our guard against this insidious and destructive vice. It is insidious because it can grow in us almost without our knowing it, and once it has taken root it is difficult to eradicate. It is destructive because it spoils every other virtue we practice and every good work we do. Charity, or brotherly love, cannot flourish in a proud heart, for a proud heart is so full of self that it has no room for others. No true love of God can exist in a proud heart, for even the very acts of religion which a proud man performs, are done for the motive of self-glory and not for the glory of God. The Pharisee in this parable proves that fact. He boasted of his good works.

 Some simple questions can identify whether or not we are proud.  These include:

1.    Do we like others to see and hear of our good works, or do we prefer to do them in secret?

2.    Do we give as generously to charitable causes when no list of benefactors is published?

3.    Do we willingly take part among the rank and file in parish activities or do we feel offended if we are not the leaders?

4.    Do we criticise offhand those who are not all they should be, or do we thank God that we were saved from similar temptations?

5.    Do we always try to find an excuse for the failings of others or have we excuses for our own faults only?

When we are pondering these questions, we might also refer to the Scripture of the two men praying in the temple. One prays to himself whilst the other man dares not look up but pleads ‘’Be merciful a sinner’’.

The opposite of pride is the virtue of humility.   You may wish to check out my series on the virtues as each of the virtues are the answer to or the medicine for the seven deadly sins.  People often have issues with a confused understanding with regard to humility or a healthy understanding of what humility it is and is not.  It is definitely not a putting down of oneself or the gifts that God has given you. 

During this week as we take a stock take of our spiritual lives especially in the areas of faith, hope and love, we may also, in the light of this Gospel consider where we stand in relation to pride.

Collect for the 28th Sunday of Year C

COLLECT SERIES

 

The Collect for the 28th Sunday of the Year C is as follows:

May your grace, O Lord, we pray, at all times

go before us and follow after

and make us always determined to carry out good works.

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 reflections questions emerged:

1.    What are the graces I desire from God in your life this coming week?
2. .    What are the graces I pray for? 
3.   What are the good works that need to be carried out this coming week?
4.   What are the good works that I have previously failed to do and could do this coming week?
5.     What does it mean to me to be determined to carry out good works? What does being determined mean to me in this context.

GOSPEL REFLECTION.

The Gospel is from St. Luke 17:11-19. The incident of the ten lepers happened as our Lord was on His way to Jerusalem, where He was to die on the cross so that we could live eternally. The Church brings it before our minds today,  to remind us of  remind us of the mercy and kindness of Jesus to all classes, even the outcasts, as lepers were,  and to remind us and be amazed at the depths of ingratitude to which humanity can sink.

Jesus cured many people in His public ministry. Some would have been grateful for sure but also many of them who were miraculously cured forget to thank Him.

Lepers in the time of Jesus were outcasts. Today’s Gospel highlights that there was one, and he was the one least expected to do so, who had the decency to return and thank his benefactor. This pleased our Lord and led Him to remark on the ingratitude of the others. "Were not all ten made whole, where are the other nine?"

Jesus was not disappointed that He was not thanked for His own sake but for theirs as in failing to show gratitude, they missed greater graces through this lack of appreciation and gratitude.

It should be noted clearly that all ten lepers showed great faith and confidence in Jesus' power to heal. They had not heard Him preach nor had they seen any of His miracles. They lived in isolation camps, yet they believed the reports they had heard. They all were very obedient too. They set off for Jerusalem to carry out the command of Jesus, even though their leprosy had not yet left them.

In all of this it was their own self-interest which came first in the minds of the nine Jews. Once they found their leprosy gone all they thought of was their own good fortune. Their Benefactor was quickly forgotten. The Samaritan's first thought, on the other hand, was of the one who had healed him. He was as delighted as the others with his cure but being generous and thoughtful for others, he felt it his bounden duty to return and thank the man who had done him this miraculous good turn.

How do we feel when we hear this Gospel?  Does it speak to us about our own level of gratitude to God and to others who help us?  We may feel ashamed of our fellowmen who were so ungrateful, and who treated the loving Jesus so shamefully,  but are we any different from them towards showing gratitude to Jesus.

It should be noted that those Jewish lepers  were unaware that He was the Son of God who assumed human nature, became man, in order to raise us up to a new supernatural status. He gave them the gift of physical health for thirty, forty, or maybe sixty years more. We know that He has come to give us an eternal life — a life that will last forever, a life free from all troubles and worries "where all tears will be wiped away and death shall be no more."

With this knowledge then of what Christ means to us, of what His Incarnation has won for us, of the eternal freedom from all sickness and death which His human life, death and resurrection have put at our disposal, how can any real Christian ever cease thanking Him, could there be such a being as an ungrateful Christian ever on earth?

Unfortunately, there is not only one such ungrateful being, but there are millions of them. How many of us here present are numbered amongst these ungrateful ones? There are those of us who think of God only when we are in difficulties. While things are going well, when there is no sickness in the home, when our business is prospering, when there is peace all around us, how many times in the week do we say, "thank you, God, you are very good to me." When trouble strikes it is a different matter. We rush to church, we implore God to have pity on us, we make novenas to our special saints. This is not wrong. What is wrong, however, is that we forgot to thank God all the time that He was giving us spiritual and temporal favors.

Think for a moment. If those nine ungrateful lepers were struck again with disease some months later and returned to implore Christ for a cure, would you blame Him if He refused? Most of us would refuse. Yet we expect Him to listen to our urgent pleas the minute we make them, while we have not given Him a thought and never said one "thank you, Lord; while things were going well with us.

We all need to be more grateful to God every day of our lives—more grateful than we have been. He has not only given us life on this earth with its joys and its sorrows, but He has prepared for us a future life where there will be no admixture of sorrows. It is for that life that we are working. It is because there is a heaven after death that we are Christians. God has already done His part in preparing this heaven for us. He is assisting us daily to get there. We need a lot of that assistance and one of the surest ways of getting further benefits from God (as well as from men) is to show true gratitude for the benefits already received.

HOW TO DEVELOP GRATITUDE

Psychologically and physically the best way to develop gratitude is this:

Just before you fall asleep, walk through in your mind your day.  Name 1 or 2 things you were grateful for that day. 

They do not have to be big events- eg it might be that you thank God for the water so you can do the dishes or the dishwasher can do the dishes for you.  It is something we do every day- dishes…always dishes.  Yet do we stop and think of the people who made the dishwasher who were given the skill and expertise by God to be able to do it?  Do we thank God that we have water?  Many drought stricken parts of Australia suffer because of lack of water. Many of us waste so much water that could be used by these people in these areas.

It is vital that it is done just before you fall asleep as the mind processes and provides healing as we sleep. By doing this at this time, we are, over time bathing our spirit in gratitude and we will awake feeling more appreciative of life.

Sometimes when life is really difficult, it is hard to think of something to be grateful for.  However, we all wake up because God allows it for us each morning. We all get out of bed- when life is difficult, getting out of bed can be a real achievement. Be grateful for that step.

There is another part to the exercise but I know from experience that doing this for a week/month every night at first really helped me to focus on what I had to be grateful for and to appreciate the many gifts God gives me every day.  There is seldom a night I miss this now because I know that the more I do it, the more grateful I feel about life- my spirit is bathed in gratitude and should Jesus choose to provide more graces for me, I am ready and open to receive them. 

I highly recommend this to you all. Try it for a week to start and see how different you feel- better still do it for a month and you will be surprised at the difference.  Remember even getting out of bed on difficult days is a grace and something to be grateful for.

Collect for 26th Sunday of Year C

COLLECT SERIES

The Mass: Collect Series  Icon.

The Collect for the 26th Sunday of the Year C is as follows:

O God, who manifests your almighty power above all

by pardoning and showing mercy,

Bestow, we pray, Your grace abundantly upon us

 and make those hastening to attain your promises 

 heirs to the treasures of Heaven.

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 reflections questions emerged:

1.    What are the characteristics/traits of God’s pardon and mercy?

2.    What scripture passages exemplify God’s pardon and mercy?

3.    How have/ will I experience God’s pardon and mercy?

4.    What graces do I need to be poured on my life abundantly?

5.    What graces can I pour on others I meet this coming week through God’s help?

6.    Why do I wish to be an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven?

GOSPEL REFLECTION.

Today’s gospel is the parable of the rich young man and Lazarus.  Both in life were given different lifestyles- the rich man sadly did not help Lazarus, who was not only a beggar but a beggar outside his own gate.  Scripture tells us ‘’’He would have gladly eaten the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table’’

The rich man had the means to help but did not because he was too interested in his own life. His heart was hardened to seeing the need of other people less fortunate and he did not acknowledge that the blessings he had received ultimately came from God not him.   Added to that, his example caused his brothers to follow a lifestyle similar.

On the other hand, Lazarus although poor and a beggar did not scoff at God for his predicament but accepted the blessings that God had given him. 

The contrast between the two men is stark.   Both experienced the mercy of God in their own way, although the rich man still wanted more. He was not satisfied to admit his own selfishness completely, still had to complain when things were not to his liking.  However, he did want to save his own brothers from a similar fate.

Lazarus experienced the mercy of God in the after life. Despite his life being difficult as a poor beggar, he remembered God in his life and the importance of who he was in relation to God.  He knew that God in his mercy would care for him because he experienced it every day in his life. Although a beggar and poor he managed his life with God’s help. He kept in his own way a sense of balance and he knew his priority- God was no 1 in his life.

We may might not be poor or rich, but the questions we wish to ponder include

1.            Who do we identify with most here- the rich man or Lazarus?

2.             If we died today/tonight, are we ready to be co-heirs with Jesus?

3.            Are we blind to those closest to us in need (physical, emotional and spiritual need)?

4.            Is God first place at any given moment in my life?

There is a lot to ponder in this Gospel.  We need to both ponder and take action.