PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17)
Prayer for the Morning
The Lord comes! Come, let us pray.
Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!
HYMN
Come, quickly come, dread Judge of all;
For, awful though thine advent be,
All shadows from the truth will fall,
And falsehood die, in sight of thee:
Come, quickly come: for doubt and fear
Like clouds dissolve when thou are near.
Come, quickly come, great King of all;
Reign all around us, and within;
Let sin no more our souls enthrall,
Let pain and sorrow die with sin;
Come, quickly come: for thou alone
Can make thy scattered people one.
PSALM 50:1-6
The coastlands see, and fear;/ the ends of the earth tremble:/ these things are near, they come to pass. (Is 41:5)
The time grows short, the messenger’s cry urgent: the Lord is very near! Those who hope to delay his coming until “later, when I have time to get ready” find this late Advent cry disconcerting. Those who look for him not only in the past but in the present and the future rejoice at the news: God’s promises are kept within the boundaries of time.
The God of gods, the Lord,
has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion’s perfect beauty he shines.
Our God comes, he keeps silence no longer.
Before him fire devours,
around him tempest rages.
He calls on the heavens and the earth
to witness his judgment of his people.
“Summon before me my people
who made covenant with me by sacrifice.”
The heavens proclaim his justice,
for God himself is the judge.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (1 Chronicles 16:33-36)
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult/ before the Lord, for he comes:/ he comes to rule the earth.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,/ for his kindness endures forever;/ And say, “Save us, O God, our savior,/ gather us and deliver us from the nations,/ That we may give thanks to your holy name/ and glory in praising you.”
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,/ through all eternity!/ Let all the people say, Amen! Alleluia.
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near. (Phil 4:5)
Canticle of Zechariah
Near is the great day of the Lord,/ near and very swiftly coming. (Zep 1:14)
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
As we enter into the final stages of Advent, let us pray with eager hearts for the coming of the Lord:
R/Come, O Lord, in beauty!
To those who have lost hope:
– come in faithfulness to your promises. R/
To those who have lost sight of any goal but material gain:
– come bearing the gift of true life. R/
To those who think you long ago and far away:
– come in the experience of the present. R/
Personal intentions
Our Father….
God of promises given and promises kept, you said long ago that you would send us one who would be both King and Messiah. Come to meet us in our preparation for the celebration of his birth, that we may see you in him who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
