Collect taken from the memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf, priest.
Collect: O God, who called the Priest Saint Sharbel Makhluf to the solitary combat of the desert and imbued him with all manner of devotion, grant us, we pray, that, being made imitators of the Lord’s Passion, we may merit to be co-heirs of his Kingdom. Who lives and reigns …
“ O God, who called the Priest Saint Sharbel Makhluf to the solitary combat of the desert and imbued him with all manner of devotion,”
– Sharbel went to combat in the desert, not against some external enemy, but primarily against himself. His devotions were necessary weapons in that combat. We acknowledge God’s goodness in providing such a powerful example of that self-mastery before asking God for our petition.
“grant us, we pray, that, being made imitators of the Lord’s Passion, we may merit to be co-heirs of his Kingdom.”
-Since each of us is called to battle ourselves for self-mastery, we look to the Lord’s Passion as the ultimate example and source of death-to-self and the only road to the Kingdom of Heaven. This road cannot be traveled by our own power, so we are asking God for the grace to find the road, follow it, and arrive at the end.
Questions & Advice: Do you recognize the ways that you are your own enemy? Do you blame your problems on the world and your situation or on your own limitations? How much do you rely on prayer, devotion and the sacraments to overcome your faults?
Read about Hermits in the Catechism (917-921). If you can, try to spend 30 minutes or more in isolation and quiet today as a way of imitating the hermits of the Church.
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| Sancte Sharbel, ora pro nobis! |