This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Collect for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time. You may, or may not, want to know that there are four weeks left in Ordinary Time and then Advent begins.
Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope, and charity, and make us love what you command, so that we may merit what you promise. 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.
Faith, hope, and charity are theological virtues “infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and meriting eternal life.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1813) These virtues “dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity.” (CCC1812) The theological virtues are how we come to know, to love, and to serve God.
Faith, hope, and charity are given to us in baptism. These virtues are strengthened in the Sacraments. They are also increased when we ask. Matthew 7:7 tells us, “Ask and you will receive.” Matthew also tells us that we have a good Father who gives only good gifts to His children, (Matt. 7:11) and these virtues are definitely for our good.
The next part of our petition is that God would make us love what He commands. There are two ways to look at the verb “make.” You could make someone go to the doctor, or you could make a pottery vase. The “make” in this prayer is like the vase. We ask God to make, or to form us, to love His commands.
To love God’s commands might sound difficult or even scary. In 1John 5:3 we read that loving God means we keep His commandments and His commands are not difficult. Actually, keeping His commands is easy when we are living the virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
The reason we ask for faith, hope, and charity, and that we love His commands, is because we want to merit God's promises. In our prayer, to merit something is not performance-based. We are not set out to earn the Eternal Life Merit Badge. To merit His promises means that we are worthy of them.
When it comes to God’s promises, you can be sure that if it sounds too good to be true, and if it is from God, it is really true. For example, nothing will separate you from His love (Rom. 8:39), He will never leave you or forsake you (Deut. 31:8), He forgives and does not remember our sin (Is. 43:25), He promises us new life in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), and He promises every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3).
How do we know these promises are true? Because we don’t just know about God, we know Him.
When God promised Abraham that he would have a son, he didn’t doubt, nor did Abraham have any unbelief. He believed God and took Him at His word. He “was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do.” (Rom 4:20-1)
In our prayer, we have asked for and received all the tools we need. We have asked for more faith, hope, and charity. We have asked God to form us to love His commands. It is now up to us open the spiritual toolbox and get to work. Open the scriptures and get to know Jesus. Spend time with Him every day. Soon you will be just like Abraham, not only worthy of His promises, but convinced that what God has promised he can and will do.