People's Prayers

Monday, January 5, 2026

Prayers of the People: ~ The First Rising, 1st Sunday after the Epiphany '26 Yr A

For Sunday, January 11, 2026, Readings: Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 29, Acts 10:34-43,

Matthew 3:13-17

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. [Isaiah 42:1]

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. [Psalm 29:2]

He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. [Acts 10:42-43]

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” [Matthew 3:16-17]

We’re now in fast-forward mode. Just a few days ago in our readings, the Magi visited the Christ Child and left town in a hurry to avoid reporting back to Herod. In the readings between then and today, Joseph received a dream that caused him to take Mary and the Child and escape to Egypt as Herod was killing all the mal children under two. Take a moment, at this point in the narrative, to imagine racing your precious child over a border, legally or not, to save his life and your own, entering a place where you don’t know anyone, the language, the customs, safe housing, food, the money…

It wasn’t until after Herod’s death that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus returned to settle in Nazareth. While the “real” time for these events took several years, the Church Calendar advances swiftly. We now pick up where we left off in Advent just after John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers” for their false piety when they presented themselves for Baptism. John is a God-sent herald to warn them to turn away from their corruption as he says, “one more powerful than I is coming.” This Sunday, we look closely at Jesus, now a grown man beginning his public ministry as he comes to John for Baptism.

Baptism and other similar water rituals are a significant practice in nearly every faith or cultural tradition, symbolizing spiritual rebirth, purification, and initiation into a community of shared beliefs and ritual. Our focus is on the tradition of Judaism into which Jesus was born and what has evolved over the centuries since the founding of the Christian church and its customs long after his crucifixion and resurrection. One only has to search the internet for “origins of Baptism” or similar phrasing to be inundated with sources, some more useful than others. [For one source see *** below]

But why ever does Jesus ask to be baptized? Even John wonders and is reluctant. After all Jesus is without sin and was beginning to build his own community as God’s own Son brought to human incarnation to lead Israel from the old Law of Moses into the new Way of The Great Commandment [Matthew 22:36-40]. Yet Jesus prevails ~ as he does with Peter and the foot-washing later on ~ and chooses to identify as the good Jew he was raised to be. Through Baptism he assumes his place in the Hebrew nation by participating in this communal rite of repentance and purification.

As Jesus rises from the water, Matthew tells us that God announces from on high, "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" and that the Holy Spirit descended as a dove to mark this man Jesus as God-sent, of God-nature, One with God, God’s own Human Image.

In this awakening season of Epiphany, let us begin again to discover and define our own public and private ministry. With the glitter of Christmas nearly put away, all the turmoil in every corner of the world claims our attention and/or repels us and it’s easy to be distracted and distanced from the calling of Jesus. Whether you were officially baptized or not, take some time to think about the ritual of Baptism and its deep significance. For many Christian, though not all, Baptism is a Sacrament of Purification, a Rite of Initiation, a formal Adoption into the Christian faith. A simple definition is that the word comes from a hybrid of Latin and Greek and essentially means immersion for washing oneself, a cleansing of one’s soul. This Sacrament is intended to be a means of and a visible form of God’s grace, just as the dove descending was for Jesus, the symbol of the beginning of his journey as Messiah.

To learn more about the Baptismal ritual of the US Episcopal Church, and revisit its purpose and understanding, click on the link to the Book of Common Prayer here: www.BCP.org and then by clicking Holy Baptism on the left sidebar, or if you have a Book of Common Prayer turn to pages 298 and 312, for explanation. The service itself begins on page 299. The five questions below* are asked of and answered by either the one being Baptized or, in the case of a child, a Godparent or Sponsor. Along with the five promises** that are part of the Baptismal Covenant, these questions and promises are our life’s operating principles, our acceptance of our charge and responsibilities as followers of Jesus with responses to the promises spoken by the entire congregation. Both questions and promises are to be taken seriously and not as mere platitudes in a sweet ceremony. We revisit them at least five times per year in the Liturgy to remind us of what we might need to work on, a chance to reflect on how we managed at the end of a day or a month or a season, an opportunity to renew our own commitment to Jesus, our Christ. One or more of them may even point to possibilities to shape our mindset for daily activities, or perhaps a new direction in our everyday or other religious vocation and/or as a volunteer in ministry as we make our way through our brief human existence.

My favorite part of this Sacramental Service is near the end, after all the words have been spoken and the water has been poured. It is then that the Celebrant takes the chrism [olive oil mixed with spices], that was blessed in the prior Holy Week, and anoints the forehead of the one Baptized. The words at that moment stir my heart and my self-reckoning: you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ's own for ever.

Whether by actual Baptism or a Baptism of desire, whether or not officially anointed, we are each claimed as Christ’s own for ever. As mortal beings we will fail and fall away yet we can and may always return to the One who raises us with Him. Our hearts love to claim the Babe in the Manger. Let us now stake our soul’s claim to the Christ who at his first rising, from the waters of his Baptism, leads us on His Way to our Salvation, and after his second rising, his Resurrection, he is with us constantly for whatever comes during our earthly lives.

*The Questions:

*Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?

*Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?

*Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?

*Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?

*Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?

**The Promises, the response for each is I will with God’s help:

-Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?

-Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

-Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

-Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

-Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

***https://boojiawa.com/jewish-vs-christian-baptism-key-differences-explained/

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, You are the Covenant that God has made with us all, the bright beacon of love that can reach into the darkest of hearts and blindest of eyes. Animate our wills to answer Your call, to enter the beauty of holiness, and to worship You first through how we live our lives.

Jesus, Lord of All

RESPONSE: Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, Light to all Nations, give strength to Your people and the blessing of peace. May open hearts filled with mercy and justice be discovered by all who lead the governments of this World, this Country, and this Community, that they may work together, and with us, to serve all Created Beings and this Earth with humility, compassion, and righteousness. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, shower Your healing mercies upon all who are ill or filled with worry and dread, and refreshment for those who give them care. We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, grant solace for those in sorrow through joy in the memories of those well-loved, now returned in eternal glory to You. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, endow all who lead us in Your Church with the grace, wisdom, and strength of spirit to shake us from the wilderness of apathy, and guide us to the fullness of faith and forgiveness in You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

The Celebrant adds: Living Jesus, in whom God’s soul delights, You rose from the waters of Baptism to bring new life to God’s people. Raise us up with You again, that through renewal and repentance to purify our souls, we may live into and give the glory due Your Name, and always claim You as our Redeemer Christ. We ask through the Holy Spirit, the Fire of our Faith; and the Creator of All That Is, who together with You are One God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Monday, December 29, 2025

Prayers of the People: Finding The Epiphany! ~ Sunday of the Epiphany '26 Yr A

For Sunday of the Epiphany, January 4, 2024, Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14;

Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you…Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. [Isaiah 60:1, 3]

For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, and the oppressed who has no helper. [Psalm 72:12]

Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace…This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. [Ephesians 3:7a,11-12]

“Go and search diligently for the child…” When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. [Matthew 2:8b, 10]

Although technically this Sunday is the 2^nd Sunday of Christmas, because of its close proximity ~ 2 days ~ to the feast of The Epiphany of Our Lord, January 6, The Epiphany will be celebrated by many non-Orthodox Christian denominations on this Sunday. The Orthodox Christians around the world, however, will celebrate Christmas either on January 6^th or 7^th [see* below], while Orthodox Epiphany is also celebrated later, as the celebration of the Baptism of Jesus. Back in the olden days when I was, ahem, young-er, Epiphany was known as “Little Christmas” in my Roman Catholic upbringing, perhaps a nod to our orthodox brothers and sisters, and it seems to have gotten lost to many along the way. With its depiction of the Magi, or Three Wise Men, in many Nativity scenes on Christmas, it’s just become a non-event with all the hype for Christmas shopping stealing the scene as early as September. For me the cultural change explains, sadly, the appearance of a few leftover Halloween skeletons with Santa hats, and large lawn balloon figures of Darth Vader, dinosaurs, unicorns, etc., from Thanksgiving until perhaps as late as February. Not screaming “Christmas” to me, rather, in a piece I wrote recently, it’s more crissmiss.

The Epiphany is meant to be a bright shiny and HOLY Revelation. It IS the continuing and the expanding of the celebration of the birth of our Messiah, and His importance to us all! But perhaps we are worn down after the four weeks of anticipation in Advent, the hustle and bustle of preparation for gifts and food and gatherings, the familiar rush of the time of year, followed by the pageantry and the glorious music, and then the usual “let down.” Perhaps Epiphany, the 12^th Day of Christmas, has become an anti-climax, the end of the story, yet it is meant as a beginning.

We open new chapters of the swiftly moving Lectionary Story that will take us from Jesus the Baby, to Christ our Redeemer. While we celebrate the birthday with great fanfare, the Epiphany moves us into the reason for which this Child was born of a woman, the revelation of God’s eternal purpose is upon us. A “theophany” ~ the manifestation of God visible to humans ~ a re-discovery now. One definition of “epiphany” is “a sudden insight or intuitive understanding.”

While dates are relative to a given denomination or organization, at the Nativity of Jesus, Luke tells us that the angels appeared to the shepherds who received the good news of great joy, but Luke never mentions the Three Kings. Matthew never mentions the shepherds or even the birth itself except for a brief phrase: "...until she had borne a son; and he [Joseph] named him Jesus." But Matthew did tell us of the "...wise men from the East..." They saw a great star revealing to them the need for a journey to pay homage to a new born king of the Jews. Herod gets involved and we begin to see the ominous cloud moving in to shadow the glorious star. But having heard this story so very many times perhaps we’ve tuned it out. Generally arriving on a week day rather than a Sunday, when Christmas is over and the work and school weeks are back in swing, Epiphany is not what it has meant in the past. It’s time, as a new year begins, to be re-awakened to the wonder and to ponder what it might mean for each of us in our own time? What sudden insight or understanding might come?

These three “Kings” weren’t likely kings at all but rather astrologers and astronomers. Possibly, as they have been called, they were Magi, priests of Zoroastrianism** from ancient Persia, who saw a sign to follow in the famous star. Traveling as many as a thousand or more miles, their journey would likely have taken months, not days, and they would have had an entourage carrying food, tents, supplies, etc. At last they found King Herod to tell him, and us all, of the significance, power, and majesty this Child brings. And as the Magi left by another road to avoid Herod, we learn in later verses we don’t read on this day, that Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus fled to Egypt. Emigrants, perhaps illegal, being warned of the acts of Herod murdering male children trying to kill the One. They didn’t return until after Herod’s death.

Today, it is a new dawn, another chance to read these Scriptures, not only on this day, but each Sunday (and weekdays, too!), especially the Gospel, and to hear, feel, and know the message deeply within. In the compression of time given in the Gospels and the Church calendar, it is a short season indeed before we begin the unfolding of the ministry, miracles, teaching, sacrificial execution, and resurrection of Jesus. It is time again to rediscover the astonishment, the amazement, the true adoration in this event.

Hear the story as if for the very first time ~ know that we have been given an extraordinary gift in Jesus, our Christ, Our Lord, who has been born to us! Let us be overwhelmed with joy! Let us search diligently for the Child within us and around us. Epiphany is a time to seek the Magi-cal gifts in my own life that call me to pay homage, follow, and live into the light and life of Christ in boldness and confidence through faith in him. Isaiah seems almost to be shouting: Arise, shine; for your light has come! It is time for each of us to experience finding The Epiphany again or for the first time.

* https://www.holidayscalendar.com/event/orthodox-christmas-day/

** https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zoroastrianism

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, as we arise in the shining Light of your glory, help us to come together as your people, to seek the joy that you bring to us again and again, and to share in your eternal promise.

Jesus, Light of Heaven

RESPONSE: Our Strength and our Redeemer

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, guide all nations and all leaders of governments to be drawn to the brightness of Your dawning. Let us each model the very compassion and peace needed in the world to reverse the damage of oppression, violence, and injustice in our own time. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Heaven

Our Strength and our Redeemer

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, deliver from distress all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, and comfort all who give them support. We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Heaven

Our Strength and our Redeemer

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, lift the hearts of those lost in grief as those we love now receive the boundless treasures of eternal life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Heaven

Our Strength and our Redeemer

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Heaven

Our Strength and our Redeemer

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, lavish special blessings upon the wise women and men who lead us in Your Church, as they prayerfully bring us Your words, works, and wonders on our life’s path toward Redemption. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Heaven
Our Strength and our Redeemer

The Celebrant adds: Most Holy Child, God’s Eternal Purpose, grant us the willingness to become a servant to You, our guiding star in the dark moments of life, and our rising and sustaining sun in each and every day. We ask with deep humility grounded in our Almighty Creator of all that is, and in the Holy Spirit, the Wisdom of our souls; who together with You are One God, now and forever. Amen.

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Prayer for Grieving at Christmas

For All Who Mourn, Worry, or Feel Lost

Silent Morn, Holy Morn

Sometimes I wonder

Why I was born.

I wake in the darkness and can't see the light.

All I want is the end of the night.

Take this grief from me, Lord

Please take this grief from me, Lord.

Silent Noon, Holy Noon

All songs I sing, are out of tune.

I’ve been looking for right words to pray

Nothing I’ve found yet, has shown me the way.

Help me find my voice, Lord

Please, help me find my voice.

Silent Day, Holy Day,

All's not calm, on my way.

In my life, so much does not seem,

to be close to what I once dreamed.

Help me trust in Your Peace, Lord.

Please, help me trust in Your Peace.

Silent Night, Holy Night

Finally calm, finally bright

With Your love so vast and yet mild

Now I can rest as I’m also Your child

I found some peace in this night, Lord,

Heaven-sent Peace in this night.

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Prayers of the People: Beginning ~ 1st Sunday after Christmas '25 RCL Yr A

For Sunday, December 28, 2025; Readings: Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Ps 147, Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7;

John 1:1-18

For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations…I will not keep silent…I will not rest…until the nations see Your vindication. [Isaiah 61:11, 62:1a, 2a]

Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God!...He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds…The Lord lifts the lowly, but casts the wicked to the ground...Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion… [Psalm 147:1a, 3, 6, 13][

God sent his Son, born of a woman…so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, "Abba, Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child…then also an heir through God. [Galatians 4:4b-7]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God...What has come into being was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it...And the Word became flesh and lived among us...From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. [John 1:1-2, 3b-5,14a, 16]

Still in the thrall of Christmas, we are on the cusp of the end of one year and beginning of another. The music, lights, the food, and the now unwrapped presents are all still claiming our senses though perhaps our attention is slightly on the wane. We’re not quite out of the holiday mood even if all the necessities of action in daily life are creeping in. Yet there is time enough to breathe deeply and inhale the air still electric with excitement for the Sacred and Holy Infant's birth and the high expectations for the coming of a New Year. We fill our lungs with our God-given breath and it disperses throughout our own life’s blood. Let us exhale the doubts and fears of uncertain faith, and inhale deeply again to set our course for a new start, a new birth in and for ourselves, an awakening, a fresh awareness of the presence Christ within us and everyone around us.
For some of us, it is an important moment to breathe in the hope for those who are no longer in this life, and with whom our mutual love will live forever, that their journey is fulfilled as promised, as they live again in a joyous eternity.
John tells us in today’s Gospel that Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. As the Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts by God's gift, let us radiate that light from within by being the change we want to find in others and living into our faith through daily prayer-filled practice and action. Let us live into and out of what we say we believe through the grace upon grace received from the Incarnation of Jesus, our Christ, the Word made flesh who lived among us. And, may this be our first Resolution of the New Year: Begin at the Beginning and follow the Light. As John says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus, our Redeemer Christ, let us begin again with You.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Abba! Lord! You have revealed all life through Christ who was born of a woman to redeem us as Your children, Your heirs. Grant us the faith and courage to live every day in wisdom and in strength, through the Spirit of Christ that You have sent into each of our hearts.

                                                    Jesus, God’s Holy Word
RESPONSE: Center our hearts and minds on You

~ Abba! Lord! Keep us from rest and silence in seeking Your righteousness and peace among all nations and all leaders, everywhere. Activate the changes to spring up in ourselves that we seek in others, through our faith-filled daily prayers, thoughts, and actions. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, God’s Holy Word
                                                       Center our hearts and minds on You

~ Abba! Lord! Lift the lowly from their distress and bind up the wounds of all hurting bodies and souls as you renew the energy of all who give care and support. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, God’s Holy Word
                                                       Center our hearts and minds on You

~ Abba! Lord! Heal the hearts broken by grief as those we love are alive again, swathed in the glory and rejoicing of the exquisite bliss of Eternity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, God’s Holy Word
                                                       Center our hearts and minds on You

~ Abba! Lord! We pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, God’s Holy Word
                                                       Center our hearts and minds on You

~ Abba! Lord! May Your Holy Spark forever blaze through the souls of those anointed to lead us on our journey toward everlasting redemption through Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, God’s Holy Word
                                                       Center our hearts and minds on You

The Celebrant adds: Jesus, God’s Ever-Present Glory and Truth, You came as God’s flesh and blood among us in Your humanity; in Your divinity, You are our grace upon grace. As You have clothed us in the garments of Salvation, guide us to be Your Light in our world that the darkness of evil cannot overcome. We ask through God, our Divine Creator; who together with You and the Holy Spirit, the ever-Flowing Fire of our souls; are One God, now and forever. Amen.

Prayers of the People: Christmas Eve & Christmas Day '25 RCL Year A

For December 24/25, 2025, Readings: Christmas Eve ~ Luke 2:1-20 at Creche, Isaiah 9:2-7,

Ps 96, Titus 2:11-14; Christmas Day ~ Isaiah 52:7-10, Ps 98, Hebrews 1:1-12, John 1:1-18

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light...For a child has been born for us, a son given to us...and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [Isaiah 9:2a, 6] How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” [Isaiah 52:7]

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the whole earth. Sing to the Lord and bless his Name; proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. [Psalm 96:1-2]

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things…In righteousness shall he judge the world and the peoples with equity. [Psalm 98:1, 10]

The grace of God appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce…worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly… [Titus 2:11-12]

[God] has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful words. [Hebrews 1:2]

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy...to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah...and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God... [Luke 2:8-11, 13]

In the beginning was the Word…What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it…The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world…And the Word became flesh and lived among us… [John 1:1a, 3b-5, 9, 14a]

There is something almost magical or perhaps enchanting is a better word, that occurs within me when I hear the words from Luke 2, especially when we get to: In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night... I become expectant. I become my 7 year old self, hearing the resonant voice of a familiar TV narrator in the annual retelling of the Christmas story on tv with marionettes. I am hope-filled. All is right in the world...for this moment.

My older self is revels in the mystical phrases of John’s opening of In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the entirety of this passage that fills me from the inside out as I breathe in the familiar ending of And the Word became flesh and lived among us…

Every year someone asks, "If only we could stay this way all year." The spell cast by the words and the music of a glorious Liturgy as a prelude or the follow up to the early morning glitter of ornaments and lights, and the chatter of little ones and bigger ones ripping paper to reap the rewards, breaks all too soon. Our precious Infant has a far and difficult road to travel in only the few months between now and Easter. Including, as too many today, a dangerous race into another country out of fear. What part of it will we travel with him as the moment spins into what we call reality? What part of the reality of others in our community and in the world at large ~ poverty, violence, war, greed, and disasters, natural or human made ~ do we shun, dismiss, ignore or, throw money to, all while decrying the lack of Christ in Christmas?

Most of the readings for this sacred season are so familiar that even non-Christians will know them. Yet what stands out for me every year, is the short lesson from the Letter of Paul to Titus, that often gets lost in the sparkle of the others. In particular, I am engaged by a phrase in the first of this only two-sentence reading: The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly… [emphasis added]. Jesus, our personal trainer, in our own time! We are so often bedazzled by the glamor and excitement of this season, in stark contrast to the humble surroundings of the birth of our Redeemer, that I am completely drawn to the concept of Jesus training us. The Gospels give us more than just advice, more than just reminders, more than just checklists of nice things to do. Jesus is our trainer, the one that gives instruction and direction to keep us on track, pushing us to go beyond the comfortable, to reach a potential of faith in action that we didn’t ever consider or because we fear the risks in renouncing, or at the very minimum reducing our dependence on all that is earthbound. It is no easy path, but with Christ as my trainer-in-residence, my faith will begin to shape up, become toned and strengthened into becoming a fully-fledged, faith-filled member of The Body of Christ. For me, now, the question isn’t “what is Christmas all about” but rather “when do I allow Christmas to begin in my life?”

Christ is always in CHRISTmas...let's remember to keep Christ in Mondays, Thursdays, in February, and August. Let us truly Sing to the Lord and bless his name and proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day to ourselves first! Let our lives truly reflect what we say we believe in mindset and in practice. Feel the JOY! The Light shines again and always. Suit up, the training begins NOW!

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Holy Infant, Lord at thy birth, a great light shines in the darkness and our joy, at long last, is unbounded by the arrival of You, our Messiah, come to redeem our sins and mark us as Your own forever. Hallelujah! Christ our Savior is born!

Glory to God in the Highest

RESPONSE: And Peace to God’s People on Earth

~ Holy Infant, Lord at thy birth, infuse our souls with Your powerful word that we may stand in Your grace before the earthly powers of our world, our nation, and our community, to renounce impiety and worldly passions. Let us sing to all a new song of great joy as we radiate and model Your Good News of peace, love, and mercy for all. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest