Collect taken from the memorial of St. Norbert
Collect: O God, who made the Bishop Saint Norbert a servant of your Church outstanding in his prayer and pastoral zeal, grant, we ask, that by the help of his intercession, the flock of the faithful may always find shepherds after your own heart and be fed in the pastures of salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ…
“ O God, who made the Bishop Saint Norbert a servant of your Church outstanding in his prayer and pastoral zeal,”
– Without fail, we continue to give glory to God for the achievements of his saints. Even the ability to pray and speak with God is to God’s credit, not ours.
“grant, we ask, that by the help of his intercession, the flock of the faithful may always find shepherds after your own heart and be fed in the pastures of salvation.”
– We cannot assume that priests and bishops will be “after God’s own heart,” so we pray for them. As St. Norbert understood, faithful shepherds are crucial to the salvation of the faithful, so we implore his intercession and beg God to grant us such leaders.
Questions & Advice: Have you every thanked God for the gift of prayer? Have you ever asked him to help you/teach you how to pray? How often do you pray for your priests? Your Bishop?
Read about prayer as God’s gift in the Catechism (2559). Spend some of your daily prayer time reflecting on how you view your pastor and bishop. Resolve to pray for them at least twice as long and twice as often as you complain about them.
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| Sancte Norberte, ora pro nobis! |