The Collect for Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter is:
“Grant us, Lord, we pray, that, being rightly conformed to the paschal mysteries, what we celebrate in joy may protect and save us with perpetual power. 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
Conformity to the paschal mysteries is the means or the foundation for what we are asking of God. By conformity, we mean that our way of looking at the world should reflect the fact that we really believe in Christ’s death and resurrection and that we really expect everything to be judged by that standard. At the same time, we are still in the Easter season, which means that we not only strive to learn from and imitate Christ’s Passover, but that we simply relish it, enjoy it, and celebrate it. This is a integral part of what it means to worship God: that we celebrate His goodness without worry about usefulness. And, by God’s grace, this kind of worship actually does protect us and apply the saving power of God to our lives.
So, for your daily contribution to the Church’s collection of prayer,
Contemplate what it means for you to celebrate Christ’s Passover. Pray to God for the grace to place your joys in him so that you have the strength to persevere in following him. 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.