A moment of contemplation for yourself or on behalf of others on everything from the life-altering to the mundane.


Prayer: A conversation with The Higher Other who lives within each of us. An invitation to vent, to re-think, to ask, and to rest.

Monday, December 23, 2024

Prayers of the People: This Light Outshines All Darkness ~ 1st Sunday After Christmas '24 RCL Yr C

For Sunday, December 29, 2024, 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 along with keeping hope alive regardless of our expectations for the New Year. As we fill our lungs the Creator-given oxygen disperses throughout our own life’s blood energizing every cell and tissue. On our exhale, we can thoughtfully, consciously, and intentionally send our doubts and fears of uncertain faith and the everyday concerns into the heavens. We inhale deeply again to refresh our souls’ sights 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 in everyone around us ~ every single one, even, and especially, those with whom we disagree mildly or strenuously.
   For many of us this is a special and emotional moment to breathe in the memories of and deeply held hope for the journey of those no longer with us in this life. Our faith gives us comfort for their continuing new life in a joy-filled eternity where our mutual love lives forever.
  Yet, while in the glow of spiritual and earth-bound celebrations, we are to remember the sacred obligation given to us by Jesus to help others struggling with their ongoing day-to-night-to-day life issues of serious illness, severe poverty, homelessness, and/or hopelessness. In this particular season of beauty and fun and exhilaration, it is too easy to look away from and even blame those in poor and often desperate conditions. Perhaps you have given donations of much needed money, food, and/or clothing to worthy organizations. And now is the time, as the New Year approaches, to mark your calendar to search for ways to continue to give in any way possible, more often than the once a year thought, even adding time occasionally or regularly to volunteer to help at food closets, clothing distributors, shelters, or perhaps pre-paying for meals at a trusted local restaurant.
   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 made and kept: 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. Time itself is always moving forward; may we move forward in purpose to rededicate ourselves to and with Christ’s love to be the Christians we claim to be.
 
LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Abba! Lord! You have revealed all life through Your Son Jesus, 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 hearts to pray 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 in 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… 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 Christ’s everlasting redemption. 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 Creator, who together with You, our Redeemer Christ, in the unity of Holy Spirit, are One God, now and forever. Amen. 

 






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