Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: +1 646 558 8656
Opening Song: Be Born in Me – Fountainview Academy
https://youtu.be/azEx9Nm5-p4?si=IOPiDsVl0ON4fxAH
Opening Prayer: Great Mystery who came as a child in the Season of Light, come into our hearts and open them so that we might share the love born in us this Holy Season. May we, like Jesus, be voices for the voiceless, standing with those oppressed, those forgotten, those hungry and homeless. May the Spirit of New Beginnings flow through us to touch a world in need of healing and grace. Amen.
Reading: Excerpts from writings of John Wijngaards & Rev. Dawn Hutchings
John Wijngaards shares, “Our Christmas carols keep celebrating Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. This may lead us astray. For what we should really celebrate is Christ’s birth in each of us. That is where the true meaning of Christmas lies.
In other words: if we believe and make Christ’s teaching on love our own, he is reborn in us so that we too can radiate God’s love in our words and actions.”
This was how the early theologians of the Church understood Jesus’s birth. “What use is Christ’s birth from the holy Virgin, if he is not born in my heart?” asked Origen. St Ambrose says: “Whoever turns to God should be called ‘Mary’. For ‘Mary’ is the name of the person who gives birth to Christ and everyone can give birth to Christ spiritually.”
Meister Eckhart put it this way: “What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to Christ twenty centuries ago and I don’t give birth to Christ in my person and my culture and my times?”
Pastor Dawn Hutchings states: “Christmas, then, is about transformation – and it is about our participation with God in making the world new.”
“Jesus comes among us personifying the words of the prophet, preaching good news to the oppressed, healing for the broken-hearted, liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, and the advent of God’s favor. Jesus comes among us as the “light that shines in the darkness,” inviting us to join with him in dispelling the shadows that hide us – that hide our sisters and brothers – from the face of God. Jesus comes among us as the face of God, reclaiming the image of God within each of us.”
The mystery of Christmas is this: God came among us then so that God might live – God might thrive – God might act – within us now. This year, as we go about our work as the people of God here in this place at this time, let us remember that Christ lives in us.”
Adapted from writings of John Wijngaards and Pastor Dawn Hutchings
Prayers of Petition
We pray for continued blessings on all peacemakers, on leaders who value peace, and on everyone who promotes nonviolent solutions to conflict. We pray for a speedy end to all violence and warfare around the world.
God of peace and gentleness, Hear our prayer.
We pray for the strength of heart and mind to look beyond ourselves and address the needs of our brothers and sisters throughout the world; for the rural and urban poor; for the rebuilding of our communities; and for an end to the cycles of violence that threaten our future.
God of generosity and compassion, Hear our prayer.
We pray for all nations, that they may live in unity, peace, and concord; and that all people may know justice and enjoy the perfect freedom that only God can give.
God of liberty and freedom, Hear our prayer.
We pray that the Holy Spirit may embrace the most vulnerable members of our society; we pray also for an end to the growing disparity between the rich and poor; and for the grace and courage to strive for economic justice.
All: God of all gifts and blessings, Hear our prayer.
We pray for all immigrants, refugees, and pilgrims from around the world, that they may be welcomed in our midst and be treated with fairness, dignity, and respect.
God of outcasts and wanderers, Hear our prayer.
We pray for an end to prejudice throughout our country and the world; that we will respect all people as precious children of God; and that racism, sexism, and all other forms of discrimination will be forever banished from our hearts, our society, and our laws.
God of fellowship and equality, Hear our prayer.
We pray for all children and families, and particularly for the orphaned, neglected, abused, and those who live in fear of violence or disease; that they may be relieved and protected.
God of children and families, Hear our prayer.
We pray for a reverence of creation; that we will have the tools and the will to conserve it; that we will use its bountiful resources in the service of others; and that we will become better stewards of all that has been entrusted to us.
God of nature and the universe, Hear our prayer.
Prepared by the Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations
Closing Prayer: The Seed of a New Year by Joyce Rupp
Seed of Restoration, reach into the layers of my past year. Bring into view the positive gifts that I missed due to clouded expectations and unwanted experiences. Soften the inner places that have been hardened by hurt. Warm the cold ground of dormant hope.
Seed of Curiosity, widen my vision of how life is to be received. Keep me open to what the hidden confines of my soul have yet to reveal. Nudge me to be inquisitive, to be ready for the surprises that awaken the wisdom waiting within me.
Seed of Insight, expand my ideas and thoughts so the lessons of your love keep influencing the way I think and act. Visit me with unexpected turns of understanding and perception. Urge me to be transformed into an ever more gracious and caring person.
Seed of Equanimity, disperse anxious remnants of fear and concern. Strengthen me to free them from my tight grasp. Like a seed planted in the soil, encourage my surrender into your abiding presence. When I wait with uncertainty, draw your enduring tranquility into my heart.
Seed of Happiness, enter the gray spaces in which I lose sight of joy. Awaken enthusiasm. Loosen whatever restrains my spirit from life-giving energy. Release gloom when it wraps around me. Let it slide off like the shell of a seed giving way to a greening shoot.
Seed of Unity, touch my heart to the suffering of others through each kind thought and caring deed. Let compassion spread like droplets of rain seeping into the soil of humanity. Thank you for your life resonating in the heartbeat of our co-existence on planet Earth. May there be peace. Amen.
Closing Song: Love, Make Your Way by Alana Levandoski featuring Noel Keating
https://youtu.be/IUVWjEl1bgQ?si=hj1NlzlGhpRV7y0a
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.