"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise."
Entrance Antiphon:
To you, my God, I lift my soul,
I trust in you; let me never come to shame.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
No one who waits for you is ever put to shame.
| Opening
Prayer: Let us pray that we may take Christ's coming seriously All-powerful God,
|
Alternative
Opening Prayer: Let us pray in Advent time with longing and waiting for the coming of the Lord. Father in heaven,
Increase our longing
for Christ our Savior We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. |
Today's ReadingsDaily Meditation:
We are the clay and you the potter.
We begin Advent candidly coming before the Potter who made us. We cry out for help:"Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!"
Let's begin this week with a deeply felt prayer.
Even if we don't know exactly what we need or long for,
today, let's try to express our desire for God's help and assistance.Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways,
and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? Is. 63Lord, make us turn to you;
let us see your face and we shall be saved. Ps.80
Intercessions:
To God our Father, who has given us the grace
to wait in graceful hope for the revelation of
our Lord Jesus Christ, let us make our prayer:
Show us your mercy, Lord.
Sanctify us in mind and body,
- keep us without sin until the coming of your Son.
Make us walk this day in holiness,
- and live upright and devout lives in this world.
May we be clothed in our Lord Jesus Christ,
- and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Lord, help us to stand watchful and ready,
- until your Son is revealed in all his glory.
Closing Prayer:
Lord God,
I sense your power, your might
and I stand in awe, painfully aware
of how poor and weak I am before you.As I begin this Advent journey,
teach me to turn to you in my fear and sorrow.
I don’t want to keep making my heart hard against you
turning a deaf ear to your invitation.Only you can help me to soften,
to be like the clay in your gentle potter’s hands.May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Praying Advent Home
"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise."
Opening Prayer:
Lord our God,
help us to prepare
for the coming of Christ your Son.
May he find us waiting,
eager in joyful prayer.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.Daily Meditation:
That He may instruct us in His ways.
Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!We want to begin this journey by rallying ourselves
to turn to the Lord with great hope.
In the midst of many discouraging challenges in our lives
and the violence in the world around us,
we desire to spend this day in anticipation of the graces
our God desires to give us.They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again. Is. 2Lord, I am not worthy to receive you;
but say only the word and my soul will be healed.
Intercessions:
Christ the Lord, Son of the living God, light f rom light,
leads us into the light and reveals his holiness.
With confidence, let us make our prayer:
Come, Lord Jesus!
Light that never fades, dispel the mists about us,
- awaken our faith from sleep.
Guard us from all harm today,
- may your glory fill us with joy.
Give us unfailing gentleness at all times,
- toward everyone we meet.
Come to create a new earth for us,
- where there will be justice and peace.
Closing Prayer:
Loving God,
I sense that all is your creation
and everything, and all of us,
are being drawn back toward your loving heart.Help me to be a person of peace,
To speak about it in an uneasy world,
And to live it among the people
you have put into my life every day.Light in me a desire to prepare for your coming
to stand in the darkness, waiting, eager and filled with joy.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise."
Opening Prayer:
God of mercy and consolation,
help us in our weakness and free us from sin.
Hear our prayers
that we may rejoice at the coming of your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.Daily Meditation:
A shoot shall sprout from the stump.
Our God can transform our weakness, our sin, all conflict and all division.
From every life-less stump - where any future hope has been cut off
- a shoot of new life can sprout.
He shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land's afflicted.We need to really hear this "good news" so that our hearts can begin to be softened
to hear how profoundly our God desires to help us
and to make things right with all of creation.
Throughout the day today, we can lighten our spirits
as we turn to God and pray:
Let me rejoice at the coming of your Son, for me!Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever. Ps. 72
Intercessions:
To the eternal Word who became man
to reveal to us the new and living way.
Let us make our humble prayer:
Come, Lord, and save us!
God in whom we live and move and have our being,
- come teach us that you ahve made us your own.
You are not far from each of us,
- show yourself to all who search for you.
Father of the poor and consoler of the afflicted,
- set captives free, give joy to those who mourn.
You hate death and love life,
- free all mankind from eternal death.Closing Prayer:
God of forgiveness,
I turn to you in my great weakness
and beg for your help.
Let me feel the joy growing in my heart
as I anticipate your coming.I hear the message of the prophets of old
and know that the Messiah will bring
new life and new ways of living.From the humbleness of my life,
help me to grow and bloom
and hear the words
that will change the world.May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Praying Advent Home
"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise."
Opening Prayer:
Lord our God,
grant that we may be ready
to receive Christ when he comes in glory
and to share in the banquet of heaven,
where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.Daily Meditation:
We pause, in the beginning of our Advent journey,
to remember one of the first of our Lord's apostles.
Watching the brother of Peter leave his fishing nets and follow Jesus
can help us on our journey to ask for the grace to be free
to respond to whatever the Lord is offering us in these precious days
of preparation and anticipation.When my Lord comes to me, let me be ready and free to follow!
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. Romans 10Intercessions:
The Word of God humbled himself to dwell with us so
that we might see his glory. Rejoicing in hope, let us call
upon him:
Emmanuel, be with us.
Ruler, just and righteous,
- bring justice to the poor and the oppressed.
King of peace, you beat swords into plowshares and spears
into pruning hooks,
- turn hatred into love and our grievances into forgiveness.
You do not judge by appearances,
- recognize those who are your own.
When you come with power and might upon the clouds,
- grant that we may come before you without shame.
Closing Prayer:
Lord of all,
you seek me out and ask me to go with you.
As I begin these early days of Advent
help me to listen for your call in my life.
Give me the courage to listen to your voice
and the freedom
to leave my fishing boats and my nets
and follow you.I want to draw strength from your friend, Andrew,
and from your presence in my life,
always befriending me and offering me your love.May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Praying Advent Home
"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise."
Opening Prayer:
Father,
we need your help.
Free us from sin and bring us to life.
Support us by your power.Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.Daily Meditation:
On that day ...The reading from Isaiah is another promise of a day of victory,
when the tables will be turned on injustice.
Today, let's turn to our God, with all our needs.Part of our Advent journey is about learning to hope
- learning to imagine what we can't see.
Let's go through our day today, desiring freedom with a growing confidence
in our God who promises to save us.Come and set us free, Lord, God of power and might.
Let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.Intercessions:
Christ is the wisdom and power of God, and his delight is to
be with the children of men. With confidence, let us pray:
Draw near us, Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ, you have called us to your glorious kingdom,
- make us walk worthily, pleasing God in all we do.
You who stand unknown among us,
- reveal yourself to men and women.
You are nearer to us than we to ourselves,
- strengthen our faith and our hope of salvation.
You are the source of holiness,
- keep us holy and without sin now and until the day
of your coming.
Closing Prayer:
God of strength and protection,
I turn to you because I need help.
I long to be free enough
to trust that I can lean on you.But I become afraid.
Help me to trust in you, Lord.
Your strength and power
are a gentle place of protection.Be a safe refuge when I am being trampled.
I long for your help, your protecting care.
Help to deliver me from the cold
loneliness of these dark nights.May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise."
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Opening Prayer:
Let us pray,
[That through the prayers of the sinless Virgin Mary,
God will free us from our sins.]
Father,
You prepared the Virgin Mary
to be the worthy mother of your son.
You let her share beforehand
in the salvation Christ would bring by his death,
and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception.Help us by her prayers to live in your presence without sin.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.Alternate Opening Prayer:
Let us pray,
[on this feast of Mary, who experienced the perfection of God's saving power.]Father,
the image of the Virgin is found in the Church.
Mary had a faith that your Spirit prepared
and a love that never knew sin,
for you kept her sinless
from the moment of her conception.Trace in our actions the lines of her love,
in our hearts her readiness of faith.
Prepare once again a world for your Son
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
one God forever and ever.Daily Meditation:
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous deeds.Today we want to let this feast be part of our Advent journey.
While we are listening to the prophesies and promises,
we pause to give thanks for God's love for us.
We thank God for the inspiring role of Mary,
for the way she completely says "yes,"
that we might know God's love more completely.
No matter our faith tradition, we can pause today
to say, with great meaning, our prayer to Mary:Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.Today's Daily Reflection
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now, and at the hour of our death.Intercessions
Let us praise God, our almighty Father,
who wished that Mary, his son's mother,
be celebrated by each generation.
Now in need we ask:
Mary, full of grace, intercede for us.O, God, worker of miracles,
you made the immaculate Virgin Mary share,
body and soul, in your Son's glory in heaven,
- Direct the hearts of your children to that same glory.
You made Mary our mother.
Through her intercession, grant strength to the weak,
comfort to the sorrowing, pardon to the sinners,
- Salvation and peace to all.
You made Mary the mother of mercy,
- May all who are faced with trials, feel her motherly love.
You wished Mary to be the mother of the family
in the home of Jesus and Joseph,
- May all mothers of families foster love and holiness
through her intercession.
You crowned Mary Queen of Heaven,
- May all the dead rejoice in your kingdom
with the saints forever.Closing Prayer:
God of us all,
Thank you for the gift of Mary in my life.
I rely on her to intercede for me with her son,
and to guide me, especially in my family.Help me to learn the grace of humility,
and give me the courage to say "yes" to you
without always knowing where it will lead.Release me from the fears that grip me,
the pride and stubbornness
that keep me from you and others.Let me turn to Mary, so human,
for an example of how I might live my own life
more freely, more loving and more aware of you.May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise."
Opening Prayer:
God our Father,
you loved the world so much
you gave your only Son to free us
from the ancient power of sin and death.
Help us who wait for his coming,
and lead us to true liberty.Daily Meditation:
Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
No more will you weep.The prophetic promise is so great.
What our God has done is so complete a victory over sin and death.
In the midst of my day today, can I let myself imagining that salvation
touching and transforming me?
And can I patiently wait for God's work to take effect in me
- letting him open my heart, day by day?
Imagining "true liberty" today, let us walk in his ways.No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left. Is. 30
Intercessions:
Let us pray to God our Father, who from of old has called
his people to salvation:
Lord, protect your people.
You promised to plant the seed of justice among your people,
- protect the holiness of your Church.
Lord, teach all men and women to listen to your word,
- and help believers to perserve in holiness.
Keep us in the love of your Spirit,
- that we may receive the mercy of your Son who is to come.
Father most merciful, strengthen us to the last,
- until the day of the coming of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Closing Prayer:
Lord of Hope,
Dare I? Can I really hope?
From out of the darkness
I sense a dim light ahead,
the light of your coming into the world.I so long for the time
when you are no longer hidden from me
and my deepest desire is
to trust in your warm voice I hear behind me,
guiding me along a hidden path I do not know.Dry my tears,
heal my wounds
and help me
to wait for the dawning of the dim light ahead,
with a brighter vision
of healing and freedom.
