Collect taken from the Second Sunday of Advent
Collect: Almighty and merciful God, may no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son, but may our learning of heaven wisdom grain us admittance to his company. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son…
“Almighty and merciful God, may no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son”
– In seeking to live the Christian life, a person is called to “set out in haste” to meet Christ in their daily living. Remembering that our home is ultimately in heaven, we pray not only to avoid sin, but even that good earthly tasks do not distract us or prevent us from our heavenly mission.
“but may our learning of heaven wisdom grain us admittance to his company”
– Here “heavenly wisdom” is set up as the contrast to “earthly undertaking.” To the eyes of the world, much of what a Christian is supposed to do will look foolish. Attendance at Mass, prayer, intentionally humbling oneself, embracing suffering – all of these are part of our journey to Heaven, but they require us to think with the mind of God and live according to his grace.
Question & Advice: What “earthly undertaking” might be holding you back today? Throughout your whole life? Is it your devotion to a football team every weekend? Perhaps your plans for remodeling your house? Compare the effort and time you put into your hobbies in comparison to your prayer life and the works of mercy – how do they measure up? Hobbies and ordinary tasks are not evil and sinful, but they must not be a distraction and prevent us from doing more important things. At the same time, however, it is possible to do even these ordinary things for the Love of God.
Pray today for the gift of heavenly wisdom today. Ask the Lord to reveal to you, to convict you of those places in your life that aren’t serving heavenly wisdom – give the Lord 5-10 minutes of silence to answer that question. Also, try praying the morning offering. When you get to the part about “works,” try inserting those things which most occupy your mind today. At the end of the day, evaluate your motivations throughout the day – did you really “set out in haste” to meet Jesus?
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| Come Lord Jesus! |