Sometimes words don’t mean what I think they do. There are two words in this week’s prayer that might not match the definition you’re familiar with. Knowing what the words were intended to mean when the prayer was crafted, changes and deepens the meaning of the prayer. This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Collect for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
O God, who teach us that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you. 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.
In the “who” phrase of the prayer, we are reminded that God teaches us that the place He abides is in our just and true hearts. Note that when we ask God to teach us, we are not asking that He just impart knowledge in us. In the Latin form of the prayer, for teach, we find the word asseris, which means to plant or to lay claim to. We are asking God to take root and stay in our hearts so that He can abide there.
Note that the prayer does not tell us that God abides in our minds. The mind is considered the place of ration, but the heart is where God comes to stay. It’s not enough to just know about God, we need to know Him.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), paragraph 2563, we learn, “The heart is the place of decision. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as an image of God we live in relation.” The heart is the seat of our affections and is associated with our will. We can’t love God unless we choose to love HIm.
The petition of our prayer is that God would grant that we would be fashioned by HIs grace to become a dwelling pleasing to Him.
The word fashioned also has an unexpected meaning. In the Latin form the prayer, for fashioned, we find the word exsistere which means exist or be manifest. We are asking God the we would exist by His grace.
The value of God’s grace changes when we get a clear vision of the weight of our sin and we feel the pain of the wounds we have suffered. Note what what the Catechism tells us, “Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life (CCC1996).”
Grace, God’s free and underserved favor is one gift after another. “Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life…” (CCC1997) Grace is what makes us a dwelling. God’s grace makes us feel remorseful for our sin, it forgives us, it makes us partakers in the divine life both now and forever, and it is all free. Grace is when we don’t get what we deserve.
So how do get access to this amazing grace? Ask for it. Yes, we can even ask for the grace to ask for grace. When we reach heaven, one of the most overwhelming discoveries we will find might be the unending supply and the power of God’s grace. I believe that we don’t ask for enough from God. His grace know no bounds, yet we think God might be tired of hearing from us or that we’re not good enough, but again, those thoughts underestimate His grace.
We also need to to let God in, to make room for Him in our hearts. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen in an instant. This is a time to build a friendship, the kind of relationship that takes time to be planted, to grow roots, and to grow. It is a relationship in which God is wanting to woo you, and all you need to do ask for grace and open the door to your heart.