Saturday, September 26, 2020

The Collect for the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

O God, Who manifest Your almighty power above all by pardoning and showing mercy, bestow, we pray, Your grace abundantly upon us and make those hastening to attain Your promises heirs to the treasures of heaven. 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.

Your almighty powerDo you ever stop to think how powerful God really is? There is no limit to His might. He is infinite in His abilities. Yet He acts in ways that are perfectly in tune with the nature of His creatures. He is never arbitrary. He never does something just because He can. He always acts for our good because He loves us and wants only the very best for us: our salvation.

pardoning and showing mercyThis is especially where God shows His almighty power. We should marvel at this. God's power is particularly manifest in forgiving us and giving us His mercy so that we may be with Him in Heaven forever. Just bask in that for a while.

bestow, we pray, Your grace abundantly upon us We must ask God for His grace continually. He knows, of course, that we need it, but He wants us to ask so that we, too, are aware of our great need for His favor and assistance. Our prayer also helps us to open ourselves to God's grace.

hastening to attain Your promisesAre we eager to attain God's promises? Are we hastening toward our salvation? How much to we desire to be with God forever, to see Him face to face, to enter into intimacy with Him? Are we committed to obeying Him, to living the divine life as much as possible now, that we may live it fully one day in Heaven?

heirs to the treasures of heavenHere is our ultimate goal: the treasures of Heaven. And what are these treasures? Nothing less than God Himself and His intimate love for all eternity. We are heirs in the Heir, sons and daughters in the Son, Jesus Christ, and in Heaven, we will share fully in the divine life. This is our treasure and our heritage, and our hearts must already be where our treasure lies.

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