PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27)

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Prayer for the Morning

Jesus Christ is true God of true God

and true man of true man:

come, let us adore him, alleluia!

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

Is it not joy to sing his royal birthday,

That Son begotten of the highest Father,

And House of David with the names ennobling

That ancient kindred?

Back from the borders of the Nile’s far limits

Led by an angel, swift the Boy returning

Bears many hardships; then with foster-father

Finds home and safety.

There humbly learning Joseph’s trade so lowly,

Jesus grows up, his life completely hidden;

Willingly joins the carpenter at labor,

Helping at woodcraft.

There the kind mother sits by Son beloved,

There the good wife too sits beside her husband:

Happy in easing cares and weary burdens

By loving service.

You three who know so well both toil and labor,

You suffered hardship: help the poor and needy

Whom while they struggle poverty oppresses

With sharp affliction!

So to you, Jesus, glory be and power,

Who give us holy life’s most perfect model,

With highest Father and life-giving Spirit

Reigning for ever.

PSALM 128

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. (Lk 2:33)

This feast reminds us that Jesus lived a real human life among real people of flesh and blood. The Son of God became the obedient son of a foster father and a Mother who, together, accepted him and walked obediently in God’s mysterious ways, like the faith-filled family extolled in this psalm. But their Child’s children, destined for the heavenly Jerusalem, fill the whole world!

O blessed are those who fear the Lord

and walk in his ways!

By the labor of your hands you shall eat.

You will be happy and prosper;

your wife like a fruitful vine

in the heart of your house;

your children like shoots of the olive,

around your table.

Indeed thus shall be blessed

the man who fears the Lord.

May the Lord bless you from Zion

all the days of your life!

May you see your children’s children

in a happy Jerusalem!

On Israel, peace!

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Ephesians 6:1-4)

Children, obey your parents [in the Lord], for this is right. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise, “that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.

For all of you are children of the light

and children of the day. (1 Thes 5:5)

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Be imitators of God, as beloved children. (Eph 5:1)

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

Let us adore the Son of the living God and beg him:

R/Sanctify us, Lord Jesus, by your obedience!

Son of God and Son of Man, you were born into a human family:

– strengthen the bonds of love and reverence in every family. R/

Eternal Word of the Father, you subjected yourself to Mary and Joseph:

– teach us humility. R/

Creator of the universe, you were known as the son of a carpenter:

– teach us to value the gift of work. R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

God and Father of all, you gave us the Holy Family to serve as an example of love and obedience. Grant to all people, in family homes or alone, the grace to hold in honor the bonds of love and respect which bind the human race chosen for adoption as your children, through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.