Readings

Song of Songs 2:8-14 or Zephaniah 3:14-18 | Psalm 33:17-21 | Luke 1:39-45

Antiphon
O Oriens

O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death.
(cf Malachi 4.2)

Arvo Pärt (1935): Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen (1988). V – O Morgenstern. Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, cond. Toni Kaljuste.

The God We Hardly Knew
Oscar Romero

No one can celebrate
a genuine Christmas
without being truly poor.
The self-sufficient, the proud,
those who, because they have
everything, look down on others,
those who have no need
even of God—for them there
will be no Christmas.
Only the poor, the hungry,
those who need someone
to come on their behalf,
will have that someone.
That someone is God.
Emmanuel. God-with-us.
Without poverty of spirit
there can be no abundance of God.

Prayer

As we wait for the coming of Jesus Christ,
kindle your light in our hearts
to keep us watchful and hopeful,
to open our lives to Christ's coming in many ways through all our days
—even in the least expected ways,
to witness to Christ's ministry and love to our neighbours,
to work together for peace and reconciliation with our neighbours,
to pray for our concerns in this congregation and in our lives.
In the name of Christ.

Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice." Song of Songs 2:9

James Tissot (1836 – 1902) Jesus Looking through a Lattice, 1886-94, Brooklyn Museum, New York

21 December — The Feast of St Thomas

John Granville Gregory. Still doubting (1990s) in Bangor Cathedral, North Wales, after Caravaggio's, The incredulity of St. Thomas. (1601).