Let us pray.
O God, who have prepared for those who love you
good things which no eye can see,
fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love,
so that, loving you in all things and above all things,
we may attain your promises,
which surpass every human desire.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Collect for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the Collect, the Church speaks to God. In the Roman liturgy, the Collect is a formal prayer that follows a clear and consistent pattern. First comes the invitation, "Let us pray," which is to be followed by a brief period of silent prayer. Then the Collect begins with the address, which takes many variations – in this example, it is very simple: "O God." In other Collects, we call on God as "almighty," "eternal," "ever-living." Sometimes the address is followed by an amplification, a clause which tells us more about God – here, we recall that God has “prepared for those who love you / good things which no eye can see.” There is a petition – “fill our hearts... with the warmth of your love.” There is a motive, suggesting why our prayer should be granted--here, because we love God "in all things and above all things." Finally, there is a result, which expresses why we are making this petition: “that we may attain your promises.” The Collect concludes with a doxology, which may be simply "Through Christ our Lord," or more extended, as in the example above. In these words, which conclude not only the Collects but some of the other Mass prayers as well, we recall Jesus's words: "whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you" ( John 16:23).
