Let us pray (in silence) [that we grow into Christ’s new life]
pause
O God,
from whom all good things come,
grant that,
by your inspiration,
we may discern what is right,
and by your merciful guiding may do it;
through Jesus Christ
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Textweek resources (off this website).
Please add any ideas and resources in the comments section below.
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I really appreciate your work on the collects. I am constantly annoyed by the wordy, ill-formed collects which appear in our Lectionary. They feel like feeding birds crumbs on a windy day – lots of disparate thoughts scattered on the wind. This one, for Week 10, is a model of precision which bears constant repetition and so drives us ever deeper into who we are. It is general enough for me to pray it as part of a congregation now, and in the company of all God’s people of every time, yet it hits a very personal mark. I think that when we are constantly inventing new liturgical words we provide a distraction from letting the words sink deeply into us and form us as a community.
Thanks so much, David, for your encouragement of this project of mine – trying to use our great Western collect tradition for our contemporary context. I strongly agree with you about having quality resources that bear repetition (and are not simply throw-away, one-use) – and then actually wearing them smooth through repeated use and treasuring. If you read my commentary, you may have noticed I’ve used this particular collect twice recently (Easter 6; Ordinary 10) – I still think that is possible; there is a bit of distance between the uses (tell me if you disagree). I’m working towards a one-year cycle, which also means repeated use. Blessings.