Call to Worship
|
Leader:
|
Now is the time of watching and waiting
|
|
People:
|
The time of joyous expectation of new life..
|
|
Leader:
|
Now does the season of our hope the season of light unfold.
|
|
People:
|
In the darkness of winter, hope, light is waiting to be born.
|
|
Leader:
|
Let us enter God’s presence with open and grateful hearts.
|
|
People:
|
Magnified be God’s name, the God who comes to save us, to share the Light.
|
|
All:
|
Rejoice! God comes to bring the birthday of life and hope.
Amen.
|
Glory to you, Great Creator of the Universe;
Glory to you, Jesus Christ, Word of God;
Glory to you ever-creating Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.
Amen. Alleluia
Hymn: People, Look East or Your Choice
People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Guest is on the way.
Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,
One more seed is planted there.
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Rose is on the way.
Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
Guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen
God for fledging time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the bird, is on the way.
Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim,
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as the sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Star, is on the way.
Angels announce with shouts of mirth,
Him who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming
With the word, the Lord is coming
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Lord, is on the way.
Psalm 25
Antiphon: Mother of the Word Incarnate, through you we received the Bread of Life, the Light of the world
Your ways, O Lord, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
and for you I wait all the day.
Good and upright is the Lord;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
Glory to you, Great Creator of the Universe;
Glory to you, Jesus Christ, Word of God;
Glory to you Ever-creating spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.
Amen.
Reading: Jeremiah 33: 14-16
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house
of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch
to spring up from David; and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days
Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called:
‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
Reflection
Gospel Canticle:
Antiphon: Mary in her Fiat awaited the Light of the world
Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Israel;
He has come to His people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior,
Born of the house of His servant David.
Through His holy prophets He promised of old
That He would save us from our enemies,
From the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
And to remember His holy Covenant.
This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham:
To set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship Him without fear,
Holy and righteous in His sight
All the days of our life.
You, My child shall be called
The prophet of the Most High,
For you will go before the Lord to prepare His way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our Lord
The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
And the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to you, Great Creator of the Universe;
Glory to you, Jesus Christ, Word of God;
Glory to you, Ever Creating Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.
Amen.
Our Father
Blessing: May the Light of the World, the Son of God bless us as we begin this day in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.