The Collect for Thursday of the Second Week of Easter is:
“Set aside, O Lord, the bond of sentence written for us by the law of sin, which in the Paschal Mystery you canceled through the Resurrection of Christ your Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”
Reflection
Many people do not seem to think in this way anymore, but the reality is that Original Sin put all of humanity in debt. That’s what this prayer means by the “bond of sentence.” In justice, that debt means we should be punished. But, in his great love and mercy, God provided a way to pay that debt – to cancel that bond of sentence – through Jesus Christ. So, in this prayer, we are basically asking God to do what He’s already done. And, although the debt has already been paid, we still do need to have that payment applied in each of our lives. Ultimately, then, we are praying for the grace to embrace this gift in our own lives, to have the bond set aside in our ourselves as many times as it takes for us to stop getting back into through personal sin.
So, for your daily contribution to the Church’s collection of prayer,
Stop to consider what you owe to God: your life, everything you have, and the reparation for your many sins. Reflect on the fact that you can never pay it back and that God, through His Son, has provided a way for it to be paid back. Pray for the grace to understand how great a gift that is and the courage to live the grateful, holy life it is meant to begin in us. Then spiritually unite that prayer to all the Masses throughout the world today. That way, when the priest says “Let us pray,” you can be a part of that “us” even if you don’t get to attend Mass.