This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Collect for the Third Sunday of Lent.
O God, author of every mercy and of all goodness, who in fasting, prayer and almsgiving have shown us a remedy for sin, look graciously on this confession of our lowliness, that we, who are bowed down by our conscience, may always be lifted up by your mercy. 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.
As we open the prayer, we address God as the author of every mercy and of all goodness. Used here, the word author isn’t limited to to mean writer. In the prayer it means that God is both, the author and the authority, of every mercy and goodness.
Mercy an attribute of God. Just like being omnipotent, mercy describes the character of God. St. Thomas teaches that mercy is the highest virtue and that it makes up for the defects of the other. (ST II-II 30.4) Let it sink in - in His mercy, God makes up for our defects!
Saint Katharine Drexel describes this mercy in a recent post in a Magnificat® publication. She writes to an early community, “I know I have failed in this… I said the rosary to obtain from Our Lord, through his own love for you, that he himself would supply for all my failures.” If St. Katharine Drexel can accept her faults so easily, we can too. All we need to do is rely on the mercy of God to make up for what we lack. Moreover, He really wants to do this for us.
God is also the author of all goodness. The goodness of God is a transcendental, something that exists beyond the time, space, and matter. The three transcendentals of God are truth, beauty, and goodness. God doesn’t have truth, goodness, and beauty, He is truth, goodness, and beauty. All truth, goodness, and beauty come from God. If you find yourself looking for something to be grateful for, think of something good or look at something beautiful. In goodness, beauty, and truth, we find God.
In the “who” phase of the prayer, we find a remedy for sin: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Fasting teaches us to rely on God, prayer nurtures the most important relationship we have in our lives, and almsgiving allows our fasting and prayer to be made holy as we give and pray for others.
The petition of our prayer is that God would look with grace on the confession of our lowliness.
Being aware of our lowliness isn’t comfortable, but it is crucial. It can be hard to come to terms with our sins and failures, but the confession of our lowliness puts us in a special place.
When we recognize our lowliness, God lifts us up in His mercy.
As I meditated on God’s goodness and mercy, I was reminded of Psalm 23:6, “Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life.” The verb pursue tells us just how important it is to God that we recognize our lowliness. Goodness and mercy are pursuing you, God wants you to accept them. He wants His goodness and mercy to fill in what you lack.
St. Thomas teaches that in everything God does, he shares His goodness. “His goodness is the final cause of all that He does (ST I 19.2) because that is who He is. The sharing of His goodness is always an extension of His mercy.”
Goodness and mercy aren’t meant to be left behind in Lent, however, Lent is the perfect time to get to know the incredible and endless goodness and mercy of God.