The Collect for Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter is:
“O God, who open wide the gates of the Heavenly Kingdom to those reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, pour out on your servants an increase of the grace you have bestowed, that, having been purged of all sins, they may lack nothing that in your kindness you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”
Reflection
Heaven is open to us because we are baptized, “reborn of water and the Holy Spirit.” That great sacrament gave us many graces, but we pray for even more of that grace. That’s because the “Heavenly Kingdom” is a place of perfection; Only the perfect live there. We are not perfect, which is why we specifically recall the grace that purges us of all sin. Even better, the prayer reminds us that this perfection does not depend on us, but on the promise of God. God keeps his promises.
So, for your daily contribution to the Church’s collection of prayer,
Pause for a moment to think about the fact that only perfection exists in the Heavenly Kingdom. Recognize your own imperfection, but do not give way to despair. Instead, pray with confidence, thanking God for the grace to overcome all of these imperfections. Don’t pray it like your unsure, but instead express it along the lines of “thank you Lord for the grace that is overcoming and will overcome all my imperfections. 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.
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