The Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

Almighty ever-living God, lead us to a share in the joys of heaven, so that the humble flock may reach where the brave Shepherd has gone before. Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

lead us to a share in the joys of heaven – We will never make it to Heaven on our own. We must follow our Lord and allow Him to lead us with His love and His grace and His mercy. But if we do, we will begin to encounter great joy already here on earth, and that joy will blossom in Heaven in ways we can't even imagine. God wants us to begin living with Him right now in joy that one day we may experience as fully as possible the joy beyond all telling.

the humble flock – Do we behave like a humble flock that follows wherever our divine Shepherd leads? Or are we stubborn, stupid sheep that go off on our own paths and get tangled up in thorns? Worse yet, do we go chasing after another shepherd, one who sounds good and who makes nice promises but will only lead us away from God and His plan for us?

may reach where the brave Shepherd has gone before – Our brave Shepherd went to the cross for us to save us from sin and death. He entered the realm of the dead where the souls of all righteous people who died since the world began awaited His arrival. He conquered death, opened the gates of Heaven, and ascended to His Father's side. Now our brave Shepherd waits for us to follow Him, but He does not wait passively. He showers us with love and grace. He gives us everything we need to embrace the salvation He holds out to us that we may join Him in Heaven. Will we bravely follow where He has led?

The Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter

May Your people exult for ever, O God, in renewed youthfulness of spirit, so that, rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption, we may look forward in confident hope to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

May Your people exult for ever, O God – Here is the goal of our entire existence. We want to rejoice forever in God and in the eternal life He gives us with Him.

renewed youthfulness of spirit – It is so easy to feel tired and rundown, depressed and old, especially when we live in such a world as ours has become. Yet this is not God's desire for us. Jesus once told the disciples, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Children are often innocent, open, honest, filled with wonder, willing to be led, and unconditionally loving. We, too, must strive for this kind of youthfulness, putting aside our worry and cynicism, our anger and anxiety, and allowing ourselves to lean back in our Father's arms in peace.

rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption – God has made a covenant with us. He has adopted us as His own children, creating a family bond with us. We entered into this covenant when we were baptized, and we renew it every time we receive the Eucharist. When we fail and break the covenant bond we have with God, He restores it for us by His mercy. He fills us with a share in His glory. He illuminates us with His light. How can we not rejoice?

we may look forward in confident hope to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection – But God isn't finished yet! At the end of time, He will rejoin our risen bodies to the our souls. Hopefully, we will have been waiting in Heaven, confident in God's promises and already enjoying God's infinite love.

The Collect for the Second Sunday of Easter

God of everlasting mercy, Who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast kindle the faith of the people You have made Your own, increase, we pray, the grace You have bestowed, that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed, by Whose Spirit they have been reborn, by Whose Blood they have been redeemed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

God of everlasting mercy – On Divine Mercy Sunday, we do well to reflect on the depths of God's mercy. Of course, we can never reach the bottom of these depths. God is infinitely merciful, infinitely loving. When we repent and confess, turning to Him in humility, He forgives us...again and again and again. After all, Jesus told His disciples that they must forgive seven times seventy times (i.e., infinitely). Why would God not do the same?

recurrence of the paschal feast – Many people forget that Easter is not just a single day. Rather, Easter is an entire season, and today we celebrate the Second Sunday of this Easter season. Our Lord's Resurrection is so central to our faith that we continue to commemorate it for weeks. Further, every Sunday of the year may be considered a little Easter as we praise and worship our Lord with gratitude in our hearts for His dying and rising again to save us from our sins.

kindle the faith of the people You have made Your own – Faith is both a human act and a gift from God, but the initiative always lies with God. He gives us faith as a theological virtue, a divine gift. Our faith arises as a response to that gift. Further, God has established a covenant with us through Jesus Christ. We belong to Him. We are His family, His children by adoption. Further, Jesus paid the price for us, for our redemption, with His own blood. How can we not belong fully to our Lord?

increase, we pray, the grace You have bestowed – We are such frail, weak creatures. We are so prone to sins and falls. We need God's grace at every moment, and we must always ask God to send us more of His grace. This kind of prayer shows both gratitude for what He has already given us and a humble awareness of our continuing need for His constant help and support.

that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed – How well do we understand the sacrament of Baptism? We would do well to read and meditate on the Catechism paragraphs 1213-1284 to better comprehend the great gift God has given us when He came to dwell within us, filled us with sanctifying grace, and made us members of His family, the Church

by Whose Spirit they have been reborn – The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, is the love between the Father and the Son that is so strong, so intense, that He, too, is a Person. In this Spirit, we receive new life, eternal life. We can begin to live Heaven right now and can look forward to the day in which we fully unite the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Heaven forever.

by Whose Blood they have been redeemed – Jesus shed every last drop of His precious blood for us. On the cross, He redeemed us from slavery to sin and death. He bought us for Himself. We belong to Him. And this is an infinitely good thing.

The Collect for Easter Sunday

O God, Who on this day, through Your Only Begotten Son, have conquered death and unlocked for us the path to eternity, grant, we pray, that we who keep the solemnity of the Lord's Resurrection may, through the renewal brought by Your Spirit, rise up in the light of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

have conquered death – Jesus is risen! Death no longer holds Him. He has given His life for us, sacrificed Himself for our sins. But because Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God the Father, death cannot attain ultimate victory over Him. Jesus is God as well as Man, and He rises up from the dead, conquering death once for all.

unlocked for us the path to eternity – Because of Jesus' resurrection, death can no longer hold us either. Jesus has unlocked the gates of Heaven for us. We will still die a physical death, but then, if we remain in a state of grace, in relationship with God, and when we are purified of the consequences of our sins, our souls will rise to Heaven to be with Him forever. Eternal life will open up before us with all its infinite vistas, and we will see God face to face.

keep the solemnity of the Lord's Resurrection – How do we keep Easter? Has the day become more about Easter baskets and the Easter bunny? Or do we focus on the victory of our Lord and spend at least part of the day in joyful worship? Remember that solemnity and joy are not opposites, but actually go hand in hand as we adore our Risen Savior.

the renewal brought by Your Spirit – The Easter season is a perfect time to drink in the freshness of our faith and to allow the Holy Spirit to renew us with His life-giving love. As we are sprinkled (or drenched, depending on the priest) with Holy Water during our Easter Masses, we should take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to sprinkle (or even drench) us with His love that we may renew our commitment to and our joy in our Christian faith.

rise up in the light of life – Easter is all about light and new life. At the Easter Vigil, we bask in the light of the Easter candle, which symbolizes the light that our Lord shines into our lives through the forgiveness of sins and the gift of grace poured out on us by His death and Resurrection. That forgiveness and grace bring us new life, life with our Lord forever in Heaven that we can start living right now. Alleluia! He is risen!