Prayer for the Morning
Age to age proclaims God’s works:
let us acclaim him with songs of praise!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!
HYMN
The moon with borrowed light
Gives witness to the sun,
Discreetly fading with the night
When morning has begun.
John’s borrowed light was drawn
From heaven’s vibrant rays,
His life a witness to the dawn
Of Christ’s approaching blaze.
The clouds of sin yet mask
Earth’s tangled, stubbly ground,
And O how many hearts still ask
Where God’s clear path is found.
For borrowed light we pray
So we may be a sign
That points to Christ, the truth, the way,
The life, the light divine.
PSALM 14:51-7
Lo, I will send you/ Elijah, the prophet,/ Before the day of the Lord comes,/ the great and terrible day. (Mal 3:23)
Like Elijah, the fiery, uncompromising Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist announced not only that the Messiah was coming but that those who wanted to receive him must be prepared to make serious changes in their hearts and their lives. God’s demands are not always sweet to the ears.
I will give you glory, O God my King,
I will bless your name for ever.
I will bless you day after day
and praise your name for ever.
The Lord is great, highly to be praised,
his greatness cannot be measured.
Age to age shall proclaim your works,
shall declare your mighty deeds,
shall speak of your splendor and glory,
tell the tale of your wonderful works.
They will speak of your terrible deeds,
recount your greatness and might.
They will recall your abundant goodness;
age to age shall ring out your justice.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Luke 1:17)
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Cor 5:19)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
You are destined, it is written, in time to come/ to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord,/ To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons. (Sir 48:10)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet
of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father…
INTERCESSIONS
Christ comes to us daily. Let us turn our hearts to him in prayer:
R/Yours is splendor and glory, power and might!
Lord, by your coming, you call us to reconciliation with God:
– grant us a true spirit of contrition and a deep desire for conversion. R/
Lord, by your coming, you call us to reconciliation with family and friends:
– grant us the humility to seek and to bestow pardon. R/
Lord, by your coming, you call us to reconciliation with all those who make up our world:
– grant us the willingness to abandon prejudice, injustice, and disrespect for others. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
Lord our God, you sent your prophets to call all people to abandon their unfaithful pursuits and to return to you with all their hearts in preparation for the day of your coming. As we prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ the Lord, recall us to the Gospel and grant us true conversion, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
