The Collect for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

O God, Who through the grace of adoption chose us to be children of light, grant, we pray, that we may not be wrapped in the darkness of error but always be seen to stand in the bright light of truth. 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.

the grace of adoption – When we were baptized, we entered into God's covenant family. We became His sons and daughters by adoption. Jesus is God's only-begotten Son, but we are given a share in Jesus' own sonship and become sons and daughters in the Son, heirs in the Heir, sharers in the divine life, and members of the divine family.

children of light – Are we children of light? Do we let God's light shine through us? Do we seek to become transparent like the Blessed Virgin Mary who magnifies the Lord? Or do we allow ourselves to give in to the darkness of the world around us? Do we let it darken our minds and hearts? Do we let it take over our lives?

grant, we pray, that we may not be wrapped in the darkness of error – This world presents so many errors as though they were great truths. We are so often told what to think and what to believe by people who are clearly trying to manipulate us for their own purposes. When we give in and accept the errors, we allow the darkness to overshadow us and to sneak into our minds and hearts. Our thoughts become warped and degraded, and we often forget how to think properly at all. We allow others to control us rather than seeking the truth and the light.

always be seen to stand in the bright light of truth – Jesus says, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” He also says, “I am the Light of the World.” When we stand in the bright light of truth, then, we stand in Jesus. In Him we find the truth. In Him we are filled with light and life and peace. In Him we must stand and allow Him to shine through us to those still wrapped in darkness. We must stand as a lamp on a table or a city on a hill and let His light and His truth pour through us to a world that desperately needs that light and truth.

The Collect for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Grant, O Lord, that we may always revere and love Your holy name, for You never deprive of Your guidance those You set firm on the foundation of Your love. 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.

we may always revere and love Your holy name – In the Bible, a name refers to the one's character, personality, and even person. It is much more than a mere word used arbitrarily to identify someone. So God's name, then, stands for Who He is. When we revere and love God's holy name, we revere and love Him. And we must pray for the grace that will help our reverence deepen and our love broaden, for we can never revere and love God too much.

You never deprive of Your guidance – God guides us always. He nudges us and inspires us. He reveals His will in many different ways. He teaches us through Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium. He pokes our consciences. God is always speaking to us in one way or another. But do we listen? Do we recognize His voice? Do we notice His messages? Do we follow His guidance? Or do we go our own way?

those You set firm on the foundation of Your love – Take a few minutes today to reflect on God's love and how it serves as the foundation of our lives, our faith, and our own love. God has set us firm in His love. We cannot lose it. God will always love us infinitely more than we can imagine. Yet we can fail to accept and return that love or to spread that love to others. May we always embrace God's love and make it the foundation of our entire existence.

The Collect for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

O God, strength of those who hope in You, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without You mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of Your grace, that in following Your commands we may please You by our resolve and our deeds. 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.

strength of those who hope in You – God is our strength at all times, in all circumstances. Without Him, we could not live or move or breathe. We could do nothing good without His grace working in us. And for those of us who hope in Him, who know Him and place our trust in Him, He provides even greater strength and grace that we may shine His light to the world and get everyone else to realize that without God, they are nothing at all.

graciously hear our pleas – God always hears our pleas, and He always hears them graciously and with love. He just doesn't always answer them as we might wish. When we pray words like this, we are actually reminding ourselves of God's love and care rather than asking Him to change in some way.

without You mortal frailty can do nothing – This is a true statement that we often forget. We like to think that we can do all sorts of things on our own, that we are actors in the play that we write for our lives. Yet we are actually dependent upon God for everything. We are weak, frail creatures who can do nothing without our loving God to give us the ability to think and speak and act and even be.

in following Your commands we may please You by our resolve and our deeds – Our good intentions please God even when we fail miserably in carrying them out. He always gives us a chance to repent of our sins and failures and to embrace His mercy and forgiveness. Yet it is, of course, much better to obey God's commands in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Again, though, we cannot do this on our own. God gives us His grace to help us obey Him. Our job is to accept that grace and use it, allowing it to fill us and motivate us that we may live our lives in, with, and for God.

The Collect for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

O God, Who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of Your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of Your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

in this wonderful Sacrament – The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith and life. It is wonderful beyond our imagination because in the Eucharist we receive Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

a memorial of Your Passion – In the Eucharist, Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross is re-presented, made present again in an unbloody manner, that we may participate in it. It is the very same sacrifice. We do not crucify Jesus again. Because Jesus is both God and Man, His sacrifice stands outside of time. Yet Heaven touches earth at every Mass that we may enter into Jesus' Passion anew.

to revere the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood – Unfortunately, many Catholics fail to understand the infinitive treasure we have in the Eucharist. They receive without, as St. Paul says, discerning the Body and Blood of Christ. Perhaps the Mass is a merely routine or habit to some, an obligation to others. Yet they do not realize that Jesus is really present in the Host and in the Chalice. They lack faith, so they also lack the reverence they ought to show toward this sacred mystery. And this is a tragedy on so many levels.

we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of Your redemption – May we open ourselves to Jesus when we receive Him in the Eucharist. May we allow Him to cleans us with His mercy, fill us with His grace, and strength us with His love. May we live a Eucharistic life, filled with His presence, radiant with His joy, and generous in His blessings.