This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Collect for the 27th 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, God, for ever and ever.
The who phrase of the prayer tells us a lot about ourselves, who are asking, and about God, who fulfills our requests.
We learn that God has an abundance of kindness. In the Latin form of the prayer, for the word kindness, we find the word pietas. This Latin word refers to the concept of loyalty, devotion, and duty in relation to family. In ancient Roman society, this word was central to understanding relationships, especially the importance of family ties.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Now the statue makes sense. This familial love is seen on Mary’s face as she holds Jesus’ body in Michelangelo’s Pieta. Mary’s expression shows pure love, however, it is only a shadow of the love that the Father has for us. The kindness of God even more powerful because it is supernatural and since He is the God of more, it is more than we can imagine and it will never run out.
It is important to know what kind of merits we are praying about in this prayer. There are the merits that we perform to try to earn God’s kindness, these aren’t it. The merits in this prayer are the ones that we do try to pay God back for what He’s done for us.
In both cases, it is impossible to earn that much. If we could earn God’s love, we won’t need Jesus. His gift of mercy is offered to us free of charge. You could even say that the greatest gift we could give back to God is to accept it, because when we do, we are forgiven and He makes us His children.
The Father’s kindness also surpasses our desires. Have you ever considered where your desires come from? Some desires come from the opinions of others. The neighbors got a new car; I want one, too. Her designer jeans are cute, now I want some. Those things, while look nice on the outside, don’t really quench the thirst that is in our hearts. As our Creator, the Father knows us best and He knows and will give what we need to satisfy our deepest desires.
We aren’t coming to God using our usual method of asking Him to grant something. In this prayer, we are entreating Him. To entreat means to plead in order to persuade. It is important that we entreat the Lord from a position of humility rather than pride. God looks at our desires from a position of what’s best for us in the long run, sometimes our desires are simply attachments that keep us focused on ourselves or on earthly things that give us false security.
Next, we ask for his mercy to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask.
I’ve prayed with people who carry guilt and fear. Sometimes it seems too good to be true that God would still offer us His mercy when we have sinned or when we are wounded. It’s easy to believe the lies of the enemy and think that we need to clean ourselves up before we can approach God. Lies. They are all lies, given to us by the evil one who wants nothing more than to keep us from God. If Satan wants us to believe that we’re not enough, the exact opposite is true! We are worth it.
As I meditated on this prayer, I was in awe of the love of the Father, the abundance of His kindness and the pouring out of mercy. I had a sense of how important family ties are to Him. Out of His duty as Father (pietas), He lavishes us with mercy. I also had a sense of the joy He has when we take Him up on His offer and drop the dread and accept His love.