Friday 16 December
Antiphon: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.
Azaria Mbatha (South Africa, 1941-), The Birth of Christ, 1964. Linocut, University of Zululand Art Gallery, KwaDlangezwa, South Africa.
There are several attitudes towards Christmas,
Some of which we may disregard:
The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,
The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),
And the childish—which is not that of the child
For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel
Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree
Is not only a decoration, but an angel.
The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:
Let him continue in the spirit of wonder
At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;
So that the glittering rapture, the amazement
Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree,
So that the surprises, delight in new possessions
(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell),
The expectation of the goose or turkey
And the expected awe on its appearance,
So that the reverence and the gaiety
May not be forgotten in later experience,
In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium,
The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure,
Or in the piety of the convert
Which may be tainted with a self-conceit
Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children
(And here I remember also with gratitude
St.Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire):
So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas
(By "eightieth" meaning whichever is last)
The accumulated memories of annual emotion
May be concentrated into a great joy
Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion
When fear came upon every soul:
Because the beginning shall remind us of the end
And the first coming of the second coming.
Isaiah 56:1-8
Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil.
Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’; and do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree.’ For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.
Psalm 67
1. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2. that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.
3. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
4. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
6. The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.
7 May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.
John 5:33-36
You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.
O Lord,
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.
Edvard Evers and Gustaf Nordqvist (Sweden, 1921). Jul, jul, strålande jul.
Zero8 Chorus, Stockholm.
Jul, jul, strålande jul
Glans över vita skogar
Himmelens kronor med gnistrande ljus
Glimmande bågar i alla Guds hus
Psalm som är sjungen från tid till tid
Eviga längtan till ljus och frid
Jul, jul, strålande jul
Glans över vita skogar.
Kom, kom, signade jul
Sänk dina vita vingar
Över stridernas blod och larm
Över all suckan ur människobarm
Över de släkten som gå till ro
Över de ungas dagande bo
Kom, kom, signade jul
Sänk dina vita vingar.
Christmas, Christmas, glorious Christmas
Gloss over white forests
The crowns of the sky with sparkling light
Shining arches in all houses of God
Hymns that are sung from time to time
Eternal desire for light and peace
Christmas, Christmas, brilliant Christmas
Gloss over white forests.
Come, come, special Christmas
Lower your white wings
Over the blood and alarm of the battles
Over cry for human mercy
Over the families that go to rest
Over the days of when young people
Come, come, special Christmas
Lower your white wings.
May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting. Amen.