For
Sunday, December 30, 2018, 1st Sunday after Christmas Day, Year C, 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 it 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. [Psalm 147:1a, 3, 6]
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, and 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 and it disperses throughout our own life blood. We exhale the
doubts and fears of uncertain faith, and inhale deeply again to set our course
for a new start, a new birth in ourselves, an awakening, a fresh awareness of
the presence Christ within us and all around us.
For some 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, living
again in a joy-filled 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, be the change we want to find in others, live as though we believe in
the grace upon grace received from the Incarnation of Jesus, our Christ, the
Word made flesh who lived among us. Let the first Resolution be: 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, let us begin again with You.
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! Let us not rest or keep silent in
seeking Your righteousness and peace among all nations and all leaders,
everywhere. Cause the changes we seek in others to spring up in ourselves in
our daily 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. Renew the love and 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 now live 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
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