The Collect for Monday of the Third Week of Easter is:
“Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, putting off our old self with all its ways, we may live as Christ did, for through the healing paschal remedies you have conformed us to his nature. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”
Reflection
The Resurrection means that there is a new and better life meant for all of us. Like Christ, we have to die in order to attain that new life. This applies in the literal final way of actual death, but also in the spiritual way of death to self here and now. Thus, we pray for the grace to put off that old self – the self that lived for fun or money or pleasure or, well, self. We can ask for this because, God has “conformed us to” the nature of Christ through the “paschal remedies.” Those remedies refer to grace in general and especially to Confession and the Eucharist. Hence, we are praying to make use of the Sacraments.
So, for your daily contribution to the Church’s collection of prayer,
Spend some time evaluating whether or not you are living for Christ or something else. Consider whether you’ve really put off the old self. Next, pick the bad habit, the part of your old self that just seems to stick with you. Pray for the grace to truly put that old self off in order to be conformed more to Christ. 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.