Here is the Collect prayer for the Second Sunday of Lent in the Ordinary Form: Deus, qui nobis dilectum Filium tuum audire praecepisti, verbo tuo interius nos pascere digneris, ut, spiritali purificato intuitu, gloriae tuae laetemur aspectu. The ICEL translation currently in use: “O God, who have commanded us to listen to your beloved Son, be pleased, we pray, to nourish us inwardly by your word, that, with spiritual sight made pure, we may rejoice to behold your glory.” The words gloria and digneris (“deign”) underscore that the covenant we are in with God is not a relationship of equals. The current version avoids the humbling language whereby we beg God to “deign to feed” us. The Latin vocabulary underscores that we must beg as supplicants before His Majesty, not as cowed slaves terrified of a harsh master, but as children looking up at authority with the eyes of truth and reverential awe. Our orations during Mass – especially in Latin – help us to see who we are and who we are not. Speaking of seeing, note the words that refer to the senses of hearing (audire) and of seeing (intuitus, aspectus), both physically and also inwardly, spiritually. The voice of God the Father spoke at the Transfiguration commanding us to listen to His beloved Son (Matthew 17:5). We listen to Jesus and look at what He does, both in the pages of Scripture and in His continuing work through Holy Church. Christ’s words which we hear and His deeds which we see both save us and teach us who we are (cf Gaudium et spes 22). Our intuitus spiritalis (“spiritual view, insight”) is our ability to see clearly into the state of our soul. This intuitus is that spiritual lens which must be cleansed so that we can have a more perfect “view”. Moreover, intuitus can also be the spiritual landscape within us, the “view” God sees, how we “look” to Him. Both of these views of intuitus are important for our progress during Lent. Both how we see and what is seen in us, our spiritual views, must be purified (purificato) so that God is not offended (cf Habakkuk 1:3). God and neighbour must see His image in us. We also must see His image in others if we are going to treat them with the charity Christ commands. Visit fatherzonline.com