The Collect for the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and charity, and make us love what You command, so that we may merit what You promise. 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.

increase our faith, hope and charity – Faith, hope, and charity are the three theological virtues, which are “infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as His children and of meriting eternal life” (CCC #1813). God gives us the gift of faith that we may believe in Him and all He has revealed. Faith combines with hope, “the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness” and trust Christ's promise that these great gifts will be ours through God's grace and our open cooperation (CCC #1817). Charity, self-giving love, allows us to “love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God” (CCC #1822). With charity, we live out our faith and hope and immerse ourselves in God's infinite love for us.

make us love what You command – Do we love God's commands? Or do we see them as burdensome nuisances that get in the way of our freedom? Actually, God's commands are perfectly designed to give us true freedom. God knows us better than we know ourselves, and His commands fit our nature perfectly. God is never arbitrary. He never commands us to do something just because He says so. He always has a reason, and that reason is to draw us closer to Him. God's commands free us from sin so that we may be truly free to do good and to love God and to know Him better and better. This is why we should love His commands.

so that we may merit what You promise – We do not earn our way to Heaven! The Catholic Church never has, does not now, and never will teach that we earn eternal life. God gives it to us by His grace, which we accept in faith and live out in love. But as we believe, hope, and love, God allows us to merit, to deserve and be worthy of what He has promised and what He gives us. We don't even do this on our own, although we do cooperate, for God gives us the grace even to merit and to grow in His love.