Maranatha,
Maranatha, O come to us Emmanuel.
OPENING PRAYER:
O King of the Nations and their
Desired One, and Cornerstone of the House of God, come and
save us whom you formed out of dust.
Come, Lord, come to save us.
O Immanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected One of the
Nations and their Savior, come to save us O Lord our God.
Come, Lord, come to save us.
The Spirit of the Lord moved over the darkness of earth and there was light and life. May the burning of these candles remind us of the Lord's coming.
Amen.
Light the
four candles of the Advent Wreath.
Lord God, fill our hearts with
your Holy Spirit, and as you revealed your Son through his
coming as one of us, so lead us through his suffering and
death to the glory of his resurrection. We ask this through
our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
RITE OF
RECONCILIATION
OPENING PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, the giver of
all gifts, You give us on Christmas your greatest Gift,
your only Son to be among us. Through Jesus, the Word, we
experience your unconditional love. Through Jesus, we
receive your gift of forgiveness and salvation. We ask this
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Examination
of
Conscience:
Response to each
- "Lord, we
ask your forgiveness."
For
the gift of freedom to worship . . .
For the times I
failed to be present to my God because of laziness and
negligence . . . (Pause) R/
For the gift of life . . . For the times I failed to take
care of my health or threatened life wth hatred or violence
. . . (Pause) R/
For the gift of speech . . . For the times I misused the
gift of speech through slander or angry and harsh words . .
. (Pause) R/
For the gift of possessions . . . For the times I became greedy .
. . (Pause) R/
For the gift of pleasure . . . For the times I was
undisciplined and abused God's gift of pleasure in whatever
way . . . (Pause) R/
For the gift of faith . . . For the times I neglected my
faith life, not nourishing it with the sacraments . . .
(Pause) R/
For the gift of the Eucharist . . .
For the times I
have neglected Eucharist or failed to bring Eucharist to
the world . . . (Pause) R/
PAUSE
Make
an act of sorrow together
Lord, all is gift — the faith to believe in your
forgiveness and the forgiveness itself. We come to You with
humility as we prepare for the great feast and gift of your
Incarnation - one among us - to acknowledge to each other
that we have sinned by abusing your gifts or by refusing
them. We ask mercy, healing and forgiveness. We ask You,
Lord, to give us this day the wisdom and courage to begin
anew. Amen.
Receiving The Symbol of Reconciliation:
A
member of the community removes the open Bible from the
gospel stand and places it over the head of a brother and
says:
"Christ
be with you, before you, behind you and within you. Go in
peace to love and serve the Lord and his people. Amen."
That brother in turn blesses the next and so on.
TABLE OF
THE WORD
FIRST
READING:
1 Samuel 1:24-28
Hannah,
the OT figure of Mary.
Then she took him up to Shiloh,
bringing also the makings of a generous sacrificial meal--a
prize bull, flour, and wine. The child was so young to be
sent off!
They first butchered the bull, then brought the child to
Eli. Hannah said, "Excuse me, sir. Would you believe that
I'm the very woman who was standing before you at this very
spot, praying to GOD? I prayed for this child, and GOD gave
me what I asked for. And now I have dedicated him to GOD.
He's dedicated to GOD for life."
Then and there, they worshipped GOD.
SECOND
READING:
The
eternal springtime will surely come
A reading from John Henry
Newman, Parochial
and Plain Sermons
Once only in the year, yet
once, does the world which we see show forth its hidden
powers, and in a manner manifest itself. Then the leaves
come out, and the blossoms on the fruit trees and flowers;
and the grass and corn spring up. There is a sudden rush
and burst outwardly of that hidden life which God has
lodged in the material world. Well, that shows you, as by a
sample, what it can do at God's command, when he gives the
word. Who would think, except from his experience of former
springs all through his life, who could conceive two or
three months before, that it was possible that the face of
nature, which then seemed so lifeless, should become so
splendid and varied? . . .
Shine forth, O Lord, as when on thy Nativity thy angels visited the shepherds; let thy glory blossom forth as bloom and foliage on the trees. Bright as is the sun, and the sky, and the clouds; green as are the leaves and the fields; sweet as is the singing of the birds; we know that they are not all, and we will not take up with a part for the whole. They proceed from a centre of love and goodness, which is God himself; but they are not his fulness; they speak of heaven, but they are not heaven; they are but as stray beams and dim reflections of his image; they are but the crumbs from the table.
RESPONSE:
The
Magnificat - music that can be sung or
listened to
PAUSE FOR REFLECTION AND SHARING
PETITIONS AND INTENTIONS
(coming from the
community)
R/ Come,
Lord Jesus, Come to Help Us.
OFFERTORY
AND TABLE OF EUCHARIST
(Instructions:
The "O" antiphons are recited by various ones in turn; the
sections in bold are read by the prayer leader.)
O
WISDOM, who came from the mouth of the
Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things
mightily and sweetly:
ALL:
COME,
and teach us the way of prudence. Amen.
It is now the
final days of our preparation to commemorate the
incarnation of the Emmanuel - ‘God with
us’.
As we gather
here as a community this morning, we gather also as signs
of your earth, O God, and as signs of our
labour.
O
LORD AND RULER of the House of Israel, who
appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave
him the law on Sinai:
All:
COME,
and redeem us with outstretched arms. Amen.
The
plate of bread is raised by one member of community
standing.
This
bread is fruit of your creation from the earth, and has
been made through the work of ordinary people. God and man
co-creating the bread that sustains life. This we offer to
you, Creator God, this day.
The
glass of wine is raised by one member of community
standing.
Grapes
become wine through a process that involves again the link
of God’s earth and our labour. What was the
earth’s bounty in one form, needed to be crushed and
broken in order to create the gift of wine that we offer
this day.
O ROOT OF JESSE, that stands for an ensign of the people, before whom the kings keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication:
All: COME, to deliver us, and tarry not. Amen.
The empty basket is raised by one member of community standing.
And we offer this empty basket symbolically as the most basic of gifts - namely, ourselves. Let us take a few moments and consider what - of ourselves - we would wish to fill up this basket.
PAUSE
With all your wondrous works we now joyfully proclaim the
words of your prophet Isaiah: Holy, holy, holy Lord
...
O
KEY OF DAVID, and Sceptre of the House of Israel, who opens
and no one shuts, who shuts and no one
opens:
All:
COME, and bring forth the captive from prison, the one who
sits in darkness and in the shadow of death. Amen.
Now,
having filled the basket through our act of desire, we
offer this basket as ourselves, and we call upon you,
Creator, to bless this bread, this wine, and ourselves this
morning.
As we have entered into the mystery of these past weeks of
Advent, we have lived as the anawin, ‘the little ones
of Yahweh’, who lived their whole lives in
expectation of the fulfilment of the Promise you made to
our ancestors.
O
DAWN OF THE EAST, brightness of light eternal, and Sun of
Justice:
All:
COME, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death. Amen.
We know
the great events that you caused to happen beginning with
the marvel of creation itself to your constant forgiveness
when we, you people, turned our backs on you again and
again.
Yet, you kept your word, and sent us Your presence in
Jesus, the Incarnate one, the Christ, your Son.
Jesus is the fulfilment of that Promise made to the
ancients and prophets long ago. He was born like us, grow
up in age and wisdom, and was like us in all things, except
in our sinfulness.
He suffered death for us but gave us at that fateful last
supper a way for us to remember and to continue his work.
O KING OF
THE GENTILES and their desired One, the Cornerstone that
makes both one:
COME, and
deliver us, whom you formed out of the dust of the earth.
Amen.
At that
last supper, Jesus took bread and blessed You his almighty
Lord, broke the bread and shared it.
Then Jesus took a cup of wine, said another blessing: and
shared it.
Whenever
you share this meal, do it in memory of Jesus.
O
EMMANUEL, God with us, Our King and Lawgiver, the expected
of the nations and their Saviour:
COME to
save us, O Lord our God. Amen.
And so, I
invite each of you to share this sacred meal as a sign of
our brotherhood, our union with Christ.
PAUSE FOR
SHARING THE BREAD AND WINE
THANKSGIVING
PRAYER: Since the focus in this week of Advent is on
Mary, some traditional prayer to Mary can be used by the
whole community as a community thanksgiving.
CLOSING SONG: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Words:
Latin: c. 9th Century Tr. by John M. Neale Tr. by Henry S.
Coffin
O come, o come, Emmanuel,
And
ransom captive Israel,
That
mourns in lonely exile here,
Until
the Son of God appear.
CHORUS: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O
Israel!
O come, O
Wisdom from on high,
who
orders all things mightily,
to
us the path of knowledge show,
and
teach us in her ways to go.
CHORUS
O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
Who
to Thy tribes on Sinai's height
In
ancient times didst give the law
In
cloud and majesty, and awe.
CHORUS