The Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully increase in us your gifts of holy discipline, in almsgiving, prayer, and fasting; that our lives may be directed to the fulfilling of your most gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
When I first read the collect of the day, two words jumped out at me: “holy discipline”. Sometimes it is so hard to maintain the discipline of Christian life. Reading the Bible, praying, attending worship and just trying to live your life in Jesus’ image can be a lot to keep up with. It takes a great effort and desire on our parts to live the Christian life and sometimes it can feel like too much. I think that’s why this prayer uses the words “holy discipline”, because the disciplines of Christian life certainly cannot be maintained by our own will, but only by relying on the holy presence of God to keep us on track.
Then, I read the Psalm for the day, which brought it all home for me:
Psalm 19:7–14
The law of the Lord is perfect and
revives the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.
The statutes of the Lord are
just and rejoice the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean and
endures for ever;
the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, more
than much fine gold,
sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.
By them also is your servant enlightened,
and in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can tell how often he offends?
cleanse me from my secret faults.
Above all, keep your servant from
presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me;
then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.
Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
- It will revive our soul
- It will give us wisdom
- It will cause us to rejoice in our hearts
- It will give light to our eyes
- It will make us clean, true and righteous
- It is worth more than fine gold and is sweeter than honey
- It will enlighten us
- It will give us a great reward
- It will make us whole, sound and innocent
- It will give us strength
Phew! That is quite a list and I don’t know about you, but these certainly are things I hope to experience in my life!
So, especially during Lent, let us try our best to keep up our holy disciplines (with help of the ever present Holy Spirit). Just look at all the wonderful gifts promised to us if we do!
-Laura McNally