Liturgy
Standing together at the precipice of Advent,
we ready ourselves to step out into
a season of waiting
for the world’s salvation to arrive.
Lord, quiet our minds
in these next forty days.
In a world of notifications, blue light,
never-ending feeds of breaking news,
we need the darkness and the silence
of your coming mystery.
You are always wilder than we understand.
You will not be hemmed in by our theology.
You do not arrive as we expect.
Forgive us the ways
we misinterpret and betray
this boundless mercy.
Show us ways to follow your example
and send our power humbled into the world,
open to all possible dangers,
made vulnerable for the sake of love.
In the name of the Father of Divine Mystery,
Christ for whom we wait,
and the Spirit who hovers over us.
Amen.
(Vox Prayer Team)
Scripture
We invite you to hear from the book of Psalms 146:2-3, 5-10
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. 5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
The grass withers and the flower fades,
but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.
Homily & Reflection
Podcast: Bearing Witness With Whole Lives
How might we be centered in God’s Peace this week?
Where do you find it challenging to bear witness with your whole life?
How might you reconnect with the larger worlds of creation and community this week?
Resources
- Book: Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
- Website: Hokusai: Waves of Inspiration https://nelson-atkins.org/art/exhibitions/hokusai-waves-of-inspiration-from-the-museum-of-fine-arts-boston/
Benediction
Our Christ and Messiah,
arriving in the world as a carpenter Jew,
yet firstborn over all creation,
you are the truest source of all our world’s traditions.
Our High Priest, Mother of Life,
most just Monarch, Great Spirit.
Every title, every metaphor
abides in the frame of your body,
and still you exceed them all.
Give us patience as we await
the fullness of your being.
Give us the stamina we need
to bear witness to a suffering world.
Give us the courage it takes
to love in the face of division.
As we go out today, fix our eyes on
what we already know of you.
As we go, let us know
increasingly more of you.
Our Parent,
our Brother,
our Holy Spirit,
abide with us.
Amen.
(Vox Prayer Team)
[Photo by Randy Laybourne]