Here’s a prayer of thanksgiving at the Table suitable for use on the first Sunday of Advent, Year B. It was written by Moira Laidlaw and posted on her Liturgies Online website.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
for the First Sunday of Advent, Year B
The God of glory be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts in thanksgiving. We lift them towards God. Let us offer our thanks to God. It is right to give God our thanks and praise.
It is right that we give you our thanks and praise, O God, creator of all things, visible and invisible. You revealed your glory in the wonders of your creation and in the way you lovingly formed people - male and female - in your image and entrusted them with the ongoing task of revealing your glory in the world.
When they failed and turned from your ways you did not abandon them but spoke tenderly to them through the prophets such as Isaiah. You shaped the conviction in Isaiah's mind that the crushed and broken of the world were invited to shelter close to your heart and be comforted, like lambs by a shepherd; that the oppressed of the world would be liberated by your gracious and loving acts towards them.
Did Isaiah catch a glimpse of a light penetrating every nook and cranny of the world until no more darkness was left? A light which shaped itself into a star . A light which startled shepherds and led the wise to a child lying in the straw of a manger and warmed by the breath of wondering animals. The child in whom the light of your glory is eternally revealed. And so, with all the company of heaven and earth we praise your holy name saying:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he whose coming we await with joy. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed are you O God, and forever blessed are the people of this world since you chose to break into our history in the person of Jesus Christ. He made your extravagant love so visible in and through all he said and did, especially on the night when he washed his disciples' feet and sat down at a table to share the meal with them. On that night - the night of his betrayal - he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for everyone. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, O God, and upon these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be for us the life of Christ and that we may make that life visible through serving as he served, comforting as he comforted, and loving as he loved. This we pray in his name. Amen
It is right that we give you our thanks and praise, O God, creator of all things, visible and invisible. You revealed your glory in the wonders of your creation and in the way you lovingly formed people - male and female - in your image and entrusted them with the ongoing task of revealing your glory in the world.
When they failed and turned from your ways you did not abandon them but spoke tenderly to them through the prophets such as Isaiah. You shaped the conviction in Isaiah's mind that the crushed and broken of the world were invited to shelter close to your heart and be comforted, like lambs by a shepherd; that the oppressed of the world would be liberated by your gracious and loving acts towards them.
Did Isaiah catch a glimpse of a light penetrating every nook and cranny of the world until no more darkness was left? A light which shaped itself into a star . A light which startled shepherds and led the wise to a child lying in the straw of a manger and warmed by the breath of wondering animals. The child in whom the light of your glory is eternally revealed. And so, with all the company of heaven and earth we praise your holy name saying:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he whose coming we await with joy. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed are you O God, and forever blessed are the people of this world since you chose to break into our history in the person of Jesus Christ. He made your extravagant love so visible in and through all he said and did, especially on the night when he washed his disciples' feet and sat down at a table to share the meal with them. On that night - the night of his betrayal - he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for everyone. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, O God, and upon these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be for us the life of Christ and that we may make that life visible through serving as he served, comforting as he comforted, and loving as he loved. This we pray in his name. Amen
— Copyright © Moira Laidlaw, posted on her Liturgies Online website. Visit that site for other great lectionary-based resources.
