Collect taken from Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time.
Collect: O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose, grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son…
“O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose”
– Unity cannot come from worldly control or merely human efforts. We recall in this prayer that it is God, and God alone, who can produce true unity among human minds.
“grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise”
– Rather than asking for clear rules, we ask instead what only grace can give. The gift of Christianity is not just our teaching, but that it gives us access to the one who can actually change our desires and give us the strength to do what we’d normally reject.
“that, amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found.”
– We have asked for right understanding (unity of mind) and right desire (love of God’s command). Last of all we recall to ourselves why this is valuable: because it gives us the stability and certainty that can be found in only one place: God Himself.
Questions & Advice: How much unity of mind do you have with other Catholics? Do you want to obey God’s laws? Are you in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty?
Read about the final Unity that God will bring as found in the Catechism (1042-1050). Spend some of your daily prayer time asking God for unity of mind and right desire. You may not want the right thing, but you can start by wanting to want the right thing and asking God to give you the right desire. It may be helpful from time to time to think about the inevitability of our death. At that moment, what will have mattered most?
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| Ezra reads God’s Law to the people. |