Lectio the Liturgy: Sunday, June 14, 2026

Julie Storr shares a reflection on the Collect for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Collect for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace, that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and our deeds. 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.

In the opening of this prayer we find an interesting set of opposites. We have the people with hope whose strength is the Lord and we find those whose mortal frailty and do nothing.

It’s easy to put ourselves in the first category, isn’t it? We can say, “Yes, I trust in God,” but eventually our mortal frailty shows up in unexpected ways.

We Cannot Succeed Alone

Note that the prayer says that our mortal frailty can do nothing, but at some time in our lives, we all come face to face with the great lie we tell ourselves, “I’ve got this, I can do it myself.” That is called self-reliance.

Self-reliance has a best friend called self-condemnation. They work as a team. Self-reliance says, “I’ve got this,” when in fact we don’t. We can’t do it on our own, and we fail. The voice of self-condemnation then takes over, “I’m no good, I never do things right,” and to make an attempt get to right next time, our self-reliance tries harder. This scenario is often on repeat in our lives.

How do we stop this cycle? First, realize that it is a lie that you can do this one your own. You can’t and it’s okay because you weren’t meant to. The condemnation statements we tell ourselves are lies, too. Just because we do something wrong doesn't mean we are wrong. What we do is not our identity.

The remedy for self-reliance is found in the remainder of the prayer.

Ask for God’s grace. (And ask for His forgiveness as well.) Ask for the grace to follow His commands and for the grace to change your resolve.

God's Commands Are Easy

When we follow God’s commands, it’s actually a relief. We don’t have to drag around the burden of self-reliance. God’s commands are easy and light (see 1 John 5:3). All you have to do is what God asks of you.

Our resolve (voluntate in Latin), is the decisions of the will, that’s why we need grace for this, too. Taking care of things ourselves has become a habit that we don’t need to carry. It’s heavy! Handing our self-reliance to God is a decision of the will. Not giving into temptation is another decision of the will. Our mortal frailty cannot do this on our own. We need the grace that God freely offers.

Our deeds, or actione in Latin, means a putting into motion. As I prayed into these deeds, I had a sense that when we ask God for His grace over our deeds, our actions can become a blessing to others. There is not one action that Jesus did that was not a blessing to all of us, either directly, as in the Passion, or indirectly, in the lessons He shows us about love and healing.

Perhaps that is the underlying petition of this prayer, “Let me be more like you, Lord, so I can bring You to others.

Copyright 2026 Julie Storr
Images: Holy Cross Family Ministries