28th, 29th, and 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Grace Goes Before and After Us

by Mr. Jericho Christian Aguiatan

The preceeding Sunday’s Collect and this coming Sunday’s Collect are so linked intimately.

Here’s the preview of the Collects.

Missale Romanum 1998
28th Sunday:
Let your tireless grace accompany us, Lord God,
let it go before us and follow after,
that we may never slacken in our resolve
to pursue the practice of good works.

29th Sunday:
God ever faithful and true,
form our wills at all times to accord with your own,
and so direct our hearts,
that we may render you undivided service.

30th Sunday:
God of holiness,
increase within us your gifts of faith, hope, and love,
and enable us to cherish whatever you command,
that we may come to possess all that you promise.

 

Missale Romanum 2002
28th Sunday:
May your grace, O Lord, we pray,
at all times go before us and follow after
and make us always determined
to carry out good works.

29th Sunday:
Almighty ever-living God,
grant that we may always conform our will to yours
and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart.

30th Sunday:
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.

The prayers are so good, even the Missale Romanum that was to be revised on 1998.

In a Thomisitic view, Grace is what moves men’s soul to produce good things. Grace comes from God alone. We humans cannot produce good things except only through and by God, and forging our will to God’s love. The day we have been baptized is the day we are made adopted sons and daughters and endless grace is bestowed.

The 28th Sunday speaks of Grace. In the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, the grace of God is supplied for every soul, so that no man could say, “Hey, I’ve DONE this GOOD WORK BY MYSELF.” Saint Augustine had said, “He crowns his own merits to us.”

The 29th Sunday speaks of Will and Pleading for Grace. By crowning God’s own gift to us, we are helped by Him to attain Heaven. Remember, human strength can’t do anything good unless moved by Grace. Though man is wounded by nature, he is still good inside, because he is created in His image. Daily, we pray for God to help us to do good things, right? We ask Him to keep us in his love and grace, as we say in the Mass, “Lift up your hearts.”

The 30th Sunday speaks of the fruits of Grace: Faith, Hope and CHARITY. Why charity? Not love? Aquinas argues that the concept of “love” is always bent by passions. “Love” could mean, in classical philosophy, as in lust (eros) or brotherly (philia). But when we say CHARITY, it’s beyond the self. It’s self-emptying for greater good. Charity is the GREATEST of them all, because it is the summary of His commandments: all in all, we shall return to Him! Saint Paul beautifully addresses this in 1 Cor 13, that, even if he has Faith, but without Charity, he is nothing. Everything we do must always be accompanied by Love!

When we are in a state of grace, and continues to persevere, Faith springs. The Council of Trent reaffirms this, in their Canon about Justification, by citing the letter to the Hebrews, “Faith is the beginning and root of justification” and, “It is impossible to please God without Faith.” With Faith, we cling to His awesome power! With Faith, it helps us to ATTAIN salvation! But remember that Faith without Good Works are simply nothing. Faith must see its fruits. Grace must see its fruits.

With Hope, we DESIRE things Heavenly. We desire to be with God. We ask for hope so that we wouldn’t be discouraged. Heb 10:23 encourages us to hope in God! Spera in Deo! Even in trials, we are brought joy because of hope, as blessed Paul the Apostle writes in his letter to the Romans. Persevere!

The readings in these Sundays are well connected. On the 28th Sunday, it all spoke about how powerful the word of God is, “living and effective” (Heb 4: 12-13), if and only if we let God’s grace work in us, and the eyes of our hearts will be opened. And we shall attain life eternal if we let go of our possessions. On the 29th Sunday, the letter to the Hebrews exert us to hold fast to the confession of our faith. If we only allow ourselves to conform to God’s immense mercy and love, we shall receive His help! Humility also calls us at this point. We should NOT DESPAIR nor PRESUME. We should humble ourselves before the presence of God.

Lastly, today’s Readings are centered on Charity, on the First Reading where the love of God rescues us and grants us comfort. The Second Reading is about Hope and Faith, where we have Christ, our Mediator to the Father, interceding before all of us. Christ, in his human nature, didn’t despair nor presumed; but when Humility calls us, we shall be caught up towards higher things. The Gospel is about curing the Man Born Blind: Christ is the Doctor of our Souls, let us approach Him with full of faith, and we shall be cleansed and saved.