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SERVICE OF LIGHT AND PRAISE
Greeting/Invocation
On this evening we light the First & Second Candles on the Advent Wreath, and say or sing:
Light and Peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
~Thanks be to God!
Let your face shine on us, O God;
~And we shall be saved.
ADVENT EVENING HYMN
All may sing or alternate the verses of the Advent Evening Hymn—
The voice of God goes out through all the Earth:
God’s glory speaks across the universe.
The great One’s herald cries from star to star;
With pow’r, with justice, Love will walk this way.
Our God has said, “Receive my messenger,
My promise to the world, my pledge made flesh,
A lamp to ev’ry nation, light from light:
With pow’r, with justice, Love will walk this way.
The broken reed will not be trampled down,
Nor heal be set upon the dying flame,
Love binds the wounds, and health is near at hand:
With pow’r, with justice, Love will walk this way.
Anointed with the Spirit and with pow’r,
Love comes to crown with comfort all the weak,
To show the face of justice to the poor:
With pow’r, with justice, Love will walk this way.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
PSALMODY
Antiphon
Zion is our strong city, a Savior will God appoint within her for walls and ramparts.
Open wide the gates, for God our God is with us. Alleluia
Psalm 121/122
I rejoiced when I heard them say:
“Let us go to God’s House!”
And now our feet are standing
within your gates O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built as a city–
Strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of our God.
For Israel’s law it is
there to praise God’s Holy Name.
There were set the thrones of judgment
of the house of David.
For the peace of Jerusalem pray;
“Peace be to your homes!
Safety within your walls!
in every dwelling place, peace!”
For love of my family and friends
I say: “Peace upon you!”
For love of the house of Adonai
I pray for your good.
Glory to the ONE and the WORD
and the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore, Amen.
Zion is our strong city, a Savior will God appoint within her for walls and ramparts.
Open wide the gates, for God our God is with us. Alleluia
READING: Isaiah 10:4-5
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
who comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
God comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Silent Reflection
Responsory
R. Do not weep, city of Jerusalem, for Adonai is grieved over you. *And God will take away all your troubles. V. See, Adonai is coming; and rules with a mighty arm. *And God will take away all your troubles. V. Glory to the Abba, and the Word and the Holy Breath of Love.
Canticle of Mary: Luke 1:46-55
Antiphon:
“To prove that the Human One has the power to forgive sins
I tell this man: ‘Pick up your bed and walk.'”
And the man got up and walked out in front of everyone.
It is customary to make the sign of the cross at the beginning of the Gospel Canticle.
My heart + is radiant with the Lord,
My whole being delights in God my Savior.
All people now will call me blessed
For God has loved this humble handmaid.
The Almighty has shown me great favor
Holy is the NAME,
Whose mercy embraces the faithful,
From one generation to the next.
The mighty arm of God,
Scatters the proud in their own conceit,
Pulls tyrants from their thrones
While lifting up the lowly:
Fills the famished with bounty,
And reveals the emptiness of riches.
Rescues lowly Israel,
Sharing such loving kindness,
As promised to our ancestors
To Abraham and Sarah, and their descendants forever.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen
“To prove that the Human One has the power to forgive sins
I tell this man: ‘Pick up your bed and walk.'”
And the man got up and walked out in front of everyone.
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany
Let the day come when any who suffer ~will find your compassion.
Let the day come when all poverty ~will find your riches.
Let the day come when our tears ~will find your gentle touch.
Let the day come when our many paths ~will find your welcoming embrace.
Let the day come when our work repairing the Earth, ~will find your new creation.
Let the day come when our hope and joy ~will find fulfillment in your presence.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Dear Abba…
Closing Prayer & Blessing
Prepare us, O God of Love, for the coming of Jesus Christ.
You made Saint Ambrose an outstanding teacher and gave him the courage of an apostle.
Raise up in this world more who will speak the truth to power with love and practice what they teach. We ask this through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen
May the Word of God, full of grace and truth, + bless us and keep us. ~Amen.
Let us bless Adonai.
~Thanks be to God.
Those who wish may pray the Marian Antiphon for Advent.
Marian Antiphon
Loving Mother of our Savior, holding open heaven’s only hope,
Star for steerage in this vastness, rise to help us, save the sinking.
Nature’s greatest Wonder: you have borne your own true Maker, giving human life to him. Virgin ever, before and after, that Good News from Gabriel, Word of Life for living, tell it now: mercy to all people!
The angel of the Lord brought the message to Mary.
~ And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray. We ask, O Lord, that we who have been privileged to receive the Good News of the Incarnation of Christ, you Son, may be prepared through his passion and cross to approach also the glory of his resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.