The Collect for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Almighty ever-living God, Who in the abundance of Your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat You, pour out Your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. 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.

Almighty ever-living God – Sometimes it's good to stop for a while and reflect on God's greatness. We get so caught up in asking Him for what we need and want that we don't take time to simply praise Him for how wonderful He is. We can never wrap our minds around God's almighty, eternal power, but we can worship Him for it.

the abundance of Your kindness – These days we hear plenty about an “abundance of caution,” but what we really need to focus our attention on is God's abundance of kindness. In the Old Testament a word often translated as “kindness” is the Hebrew hesed, which refers to God's covenant faithfulness and love. God has made a series of covenants (family bonds created by swearing an oath) with His people down through the centuries, and now He has sworn the ultimate covenant through Jesus Christ, pouring out upon us the bounty of His love and care.

surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat You – God gives us far more than we deserve or desire. We actually do not deserve anything but God's contempt. After all, we sin all the time. We flaunt His will and His word to follow our own “miserable interests” (a phrase used by Our Lady at Medjugorje). Yet God doesn't give us what we deserve; He gives us His grace and His love instead. What's more, our desires often fall far short of our needs, and God in His wisdom gives us what we need but not always what we desire. We have trouble figuring out what is truly good for us. God always knows that, and He provides accordingly. That's why He says “no” to our prayers sometimes, for His plan is to give us far more than our meager, often disordered desires.

pour out Your mercy upon us – We all sin, and we all need God's mercy in abundance. Let us take a moment to enter into the silence of our hearts, bring before God all that we have on our consciences, and beg Him for His mercy.

to pardon what conscience dreads – If our consciences are properly trained, we know when we have done wrong. Our consciences will be appalled by our sins, and we will turn to God for forgiveness.

to give what prayer does not dare to ask – Is there anything we do not dare to ask of God? Is there anything we dare not bring before Him in prayer? There shouldn't be because if there is, we shouldn't be asking for it or thinking about it. That said, though, we know that God always gives us far more than we ask for, for He knows our needs far better than we do.