Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14-16; John 6:51-58

Today’s magnificent Collect, or opening Prayer of the Mass, was written by St. Thomas Aquinas. At least; like almost all the non-scriptural parts of today’s liturgy - hymns, Antiphons, Sequence and the rest - it’s ascribed to St. Thomas. But as with the case of William Shakespeare, there are always theorists about who speculate it could have been by someone else. This Collect is anyway a work of genius: concise and clear; simple, yet profound; euphonious and strong. Of course it was written in Latin, as part of an exclusively Latin language liturgy. But even in translation it remains powerful.