Readings (Click the links to see the readings)

Isaiah 30:19-26 | Psalm 147:1-6 | Matthew 9:35-10:8

Too Much To Ask
Luci Shaw

It seemed too much to ask
of one small virgin
that she should stake shame
against the will of God.
All she had to hold to
were those soft, inward
flutterings
and the remembered sting
of a brief junction—spirit
with flesh.
who would think it
more than a dream wish?
an implausible, laughable
defence.

And it seems much
too much to ask me
to be part of the
different thing—
God's shocking, unorthodox,
unheard of Thing
to further heaven's hopes
and summon God's glory.

Prayer

Almighty God,
as we prepare with joy
to celebrate the gift of the Christ-child,
embrace the earth with your glory
and be for us a living hope
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

"your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" Isaiah 30:21

Psalm 147, from the Scottish Psalter