Antiphon
O Adonai

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
(cf Exodus 3.2, 24.12)

Readings (Click the links to see the readings)

Jeremiah 23.5-8 | Ps 72.15-19 | Matthew 1.18-24

(Click the links to see the readings)

Advent
Thomas Merton

Charm with your stainlessness these winter nights,
Skies, and be perfect! Fly, vivider in the fiery dark, you quiet meteors,
And disappear.
You moon, be slow to go down,
This is your full!

The four white roads make off in silence
Towards the four parts of the starry universe.
Time falls like manna at the corners of the wintry earth.
We have become more humble than the rocks,
More wakeful than the patient hills.

Charm with your stainlessness these nights in Advent,
holy spheres,
While minds, as meek as beasts,
Stay close at home in the sweet hay;
And intellects are quieter than the flocks that feed by starlight.

Oh pour your darkness and your brightness over all our
solemn valleys,
You skies: and travel like the gentle Virgin,
Toward the planets' stately setting,
Oh white full moon as quiet as Bethlehem!

Be-Attitude: Blessed are those who mourn who wail, lament and cry out loud.

Prayer

Jesus,
how clearly we see you at Christmas-time,
cradled by Mary,
protected by Joseph,
worshipped by shepherds,
honoured by kings,
enshrined on the altar,
and loved by the world.

But, oh Lord,
help us look for you, too,
among the taxes of life,
and the wanderings of rootless travellers.
In the world's smelly stables,
and in makeshift mangers.
In sweat-like drops of blood
and rough-hewn crosses, humanly fashioned.
Help us look, Lord —
and help us find!

Not only at Christmas,
but throughout a new year that it might become indeed
'the year of our Lord.
— Mary Sue H Rosenberger, Sacraments in a refrigerator, Brethren Press, 1979.

Justice, mercy and peace

Today is International Migrants Day. "When their rights are violated, when they are marginalized and excluded, migrants will be unable to contribute either economically or socially to the societies they have left behind or those they enter. However, when supported by the right policies and human rights protections, migration can be a force for good for individuals as well as for countries of origin, transit and destination." Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Message for International Migrants Day, 2011.

"An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit'." (Matthew 1.20).

Title song from album All that is within me, by vocalist Bart Millard.

All that is within me cries for You alone be glorified. Emmanuel … God With Us! My heart sings a brand new song. The debt is paid, these chains are gone. Emmanuel … God with us