Here’s a
reflection on the miracles of Christmas, followed by a prayer litany. It was
written by Cheryl Lawrie.
The
Season for Miracles
(Reflection and Prayer Litany)
If we were to list the miracles of
Christmas
we’d probably talk about virgin
births
angels, perhaps
and stars that light the sky
but perhaps there’s another miracle:
one of Mary saying ‘yes’ when God
asked her to believe
and Joseph saying ‘yes’ when God
asked him to trust.
They had to change everything about
their lives
and the birth of the Christ-child
wasn’t possible until they did.
What does it mean for you to say
‘yes’ to this story?
to believe that it might be possible
for the darkness to be transformed
to light
and for peace to come in the world?
Those who know the darkest of the
world
know the fragility of light;
we hold our breath as the candles
flicker
we know they don’t always last.
the birth of Jesus doesn’t make
everything right
but it shows us that the only way
the darkness can be beaten
is to say ‘yes’ to the birth of
light.
In the silence, we pray for those we
love and miss today
and we pray for a broken world…
[Time of silence,
then invite people to take one of the candles from the side,
put it onto the worship space, and light it as we say the following
prayer:]
God,
this is the season for miracles
and we pray for one today.
Where there is sorrow,
we pray for your grace to light the
darkness.
Where is despair,
we pray for your hope to light the
darkness.
Where there is hatred,
we pray for your forgiveness to
light the darkness.
Where there is war,
we pray for your love to light the
darkness.
Where there is confusion,
we pray for your peace to light the
darkness.
Where there is injustice,
we pray for your courage to light
the darkness.
Where there is fear
we pray for your joy to light the
darkness.
It is the season for miracles
and we pray for one today:
Come, Lord Jesus, may your light
come into our world.
Amen.
— written by Cheryl Lawrie, on her blog [hold this space] http://holdthisspace.org.au/
