COLLECT SERIES.
 |
The Mass: Collect Series Icon. |
COLLECT
The Collect for the first Sunday of Lent Year A
reads as follows:
Grant, almighty God,
through our yearly observances of
Holy Lent,
that we may grow in understanding of
the riches hidden in Christ,
and by worthy conduct pursue their
effects.
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 Christ's death and
resurrection mean to me?
2.
How can I reflect its meaning in my
life this coming week?
3.
What is the self sacrificing love of
Christ?
4.
How may I be able to reproduce it in
my life this coming week?
5.
How does my Lenten observance support
this goal of self-sacrifice?
6.
How can I grow in understanding of
the riches hidden in Christ this week?
7.
How have I succeeded in my Lenten
commitment so far? Have I kept to the
commitment I set myself or have I already
strayed away from what I started?
8.
What alterations do I need to make to
my Lenten commitment during this week?
9.
What extra supports do I need to
ensure progress during the first full week of
Lent.
GOSPEL REFLECTION
On the first Sunday of Lent each
year, we are given the Gospel of the temptations of Christ.
Each of the temptations invite Jesus
to be the false Messiah by being the political Messiah, a powerful ruler and to
accept human privileges of power, wealth and glory. Like Jesus, in his
humanity, Satan still tempts us. The temptations have many forms and guises but
underneath each of them, their purpose is twofold, that is to provide a short
term gain or attraction since Satan's goal is to lead us away from God.
The important point to remember about
temptation is that, like Adam and Eve in the garden when they saw the apple, it
was as scripture says ' pleasing to the eye and good to eat'.
Temptation therefore comes as a guise in the form of a good in our lives-
something desirable and worthwhile. It also comes a pleasing alternative-
a quick solution where no effort on our part is required.
When we give in to temptation, we
take the easier route, the more pleasing option. When we resist temptation, we
build up our defences in the form of grace so that when stronger temptations
emerge, we have the grace and strength with God's help to overcome it.
If our pattern is to easily fall into
temptation (take the easier route when we know in our hearts, we need to be
taking a different option) then we all need to build our strength- weight
training for the soul. God does not provide us with a temptation which is
greater than we can manage. However, we need to be aware of what
temptation really is and not be drawn into the enticement. The evil one
is subtle so we need to stay focused and finely tuned to God's way. Lent is our
intense weight training bootcamp but remember, we must stay focused all the
year.
For example- I love my cappuccinos
and inevitably when I am at the coffee shop, I will have a nice cake with
it. Nothing wrong with the cake/coffee. Whenever i decide I will
have less cake and/or less cappuccinos, the desire for it becomes stronger. In
my weaker moments, I can easily talk myself back to having it- after all the
taste of the coffee is great and the cake is most enjoyable. (just like Adam
and Eve in the garden with the fruit). When
I am successful at resisting it and sticking to what I have set out to achieve-
eg a visit to the coffee shop without the cake with my coffee- or a smaller cup
instead of a mug, I have built up some strength to resist it again.
Now when we consider the love of God
and resist it because my love for Him is stronger than my need for the coffee,
then I assure you, it definitely becomes easier. Put Lent into the
picture as well as motivation and it definitely helps. However, remember
the subtly of the evil one whispering in the ear ' cake with your coffee wont
hurt you- you will enjoy it. Perhaps even you need it or you deserve to reward
yourself'- it can become easier to listen to the reasoning and succumb.
Why because there is nothing inherently wrong with the cake. However, the
reason for going without it is for spiritual reasons- my love for God and
building up my spiritual muscle.
The response of Jesus to Satan also
needs to be our own. Jesus chooses complete dependence on God, a recognition
that God and his will must always come first, a willingness to obey God at any
cost. In effect Jesus states that nothing- not pleasure, not power, not
wealth must ever come between us and saving will of God. Jesus does not fool
around with temptation but stamps on it decisively. We too need to stamp
decisively on the temptations that come our way so that we remain faithful to
God.
During this first full week of Lent,
let us ask God to be merciful to us and pray that when temptation comes our
way, we will call on God to assist us to be strong. Let us stand up to Satan
and all his works this week. Let us remember our goal- Heaven.
