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.
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