Advent Resources for 2024
A reading, prayers, a hymn text, and communion
Reading - A Kind of Magnificat - by Micah Bucey
Our souls are meant to magnify divinity, So why do we settle for staying so small? We are meant to be saved by joint joy, So why do we tear ourselves apart with apartheid? We are chosen to uplift the next generations, So why do we instead choose the weight of hate? We are born to balance our strength with sanctuary, So why do bombs overshadow our benevolence? We are blessed to inherit abundant bubbles of vision, So why do we scatter them amongst the mounting rubble? We are able to root the future in both history and hope, So why does dishonesty strangle our growth? We are equipped to embody a love beyond the local, So why do we build borders of inward-facing apathy? We are pushed toward peace by every faithful fiber of our frames, So may we listen for ourselves over the saddest sounds of ourselves and Magnify a ceasefire on our souls. Amen
Prayer for Advent 1 - Loren McGrail
"Let us set forth, carrying one another. Let us keep hope alive, knowing that peace is possible. It will be difficult, but we remember that we once lived together in this land as Muslims, Jews and Christians. There will be many moments when the way appears blocked. But together we will carve out a path forward, rooted in God’s hope, and “hope does not disappoint us.” (Romans 5:5). Our hope is in God, in ourselves and in every human being upon whom God bestows some of His goodness."
Keeping Hope Alive—A Christian Reflection from Jerusalem, October 7, 2024 Reflection Group + Michel Sabbah, Patriarch Emeritus
Hope is the first victim in a genocide
hard to find it in the rubble and ruins yet
if God and the Palestinians
can keep it alive then
so must we even when our anguish
guilt and pain
blocks us from talking about it
even imagining it
Prophet Isaiah calls us to build a road through the desert
in preparation for the One coming
Patriarch Michael Sabbah calls us to “carve out a path forward”
for a hope that will not disappoint
because it is attached to God’s peace
Beloveds, we have road work to do
Let us pray and pick up our shovels
to make hope possible
to make it soPrayer for Advent 2 - by Micah Bucey
May you be more than a mirage, more than an untouchable intention, may you burrow beneath our skin, may you hug our hearts and jostle our cores, may you enter our most desolate spaces and bloom brazenly, reminding us all that you are not a slippery concept but a concrete commitment, not abstract but active, if we will only incorporate your continuing call into every individual and collective move we make, embodying accountability for our leaders and ourselves, incarnating equity, especially for the most marginalized, demanding a ceasefire so that we can birth a new kind of fire, igniting visions beyond our violent myopia, spreading light beyond our deadly status quos, transforming our perspectives until we transform the world. Amen.
Prayer for Advent 3 - by Sara Ofner-Seals
Gracious God, so often during the so-called happiest season, we feel bereft of joy. The news is filled, not with glad tidings, but with tidings of war, destruction, corruption, hatred, and division. And yet, you call us to resist despair by practicing joy. You call us to resist the temptation towards hopelessness, which lulls us into apathy and complacency when we should be seeking liberation for ourselves and our world. Help us to resist the oppressive powers in our world by finding ways to practice joy-- celebrating your ongoing Advent into the world through our singing, our praying, our giving, our serving, and our loving. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Prayer for Advent 4 - by Linda Noonan
Spirit of Love and of Life, Holy One that Burns with Justice and Compassion, be with us in this place. In this time. We yearn for more belonging, more hope, more peace, more joy. More love.
But how can we speak of love in the midst of a broken world? How do we pray from under the rubble of Empire, the rubble of fractured systems, and the rubble of our own hearts?
God, into the brokenness, you sent a child. And now, you send us. Each of us – carrying what we carry. Holding what we hold. Offering our gifts, weaving ourselves into the fabric of love and justice. Longing for the world you dream of for us all. Leaning into not only the brokenness, but also the beauty. Remind us of our belovedness in you. Give to us your wisdom. Open us to your grace. Make us strong to grow and bold to love. Amen.
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” alt. lyrics: Linda Noonan, Advent 2024 tune: Veni Emmanuel, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” O come, O come, Emmanuel, Our hearts are full with more than we can tell. We mourn for those in exile here, And notice all the ways that God appears. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel. God’s with us in the places where we dwell. O come, O Wisdom from within, We’re weary and it’s so hard to begin. But here, collective knowledge shows, and teaches us the way to go. O come, O Cosmic Unity, We find you in community, In land, in creatures, galaxies, In children, and in our own beauty. O from the rubble, Come in Clarity, Teach us to love in solidarity. Bring tender buds of hope to flower, With joy and peace, come rise with us in power. O come, O Shelter, Sanctuary Home, Stir us, that none will find themselves alone. Call us to sacred spaces of rest. Bring liberation to all those oppressed. O come, O Weaver of New Schemes, As we create, imagine, build, and dream. In play and protest, prayer and song, A tapestry of justice that is strong.
Christmas Eve Communion - Sara Ofner-Seals
God be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to God. Let us give thanks to God. It is right to give God thanks and praise.
God of the traveler, the refugee, the wanderer, you first called Abraham to leave his home with the promise of a great nation to come. Since then, your children have often been travelers, sometimes by choice, often by necessity, but always with faith in your presence and guidance. By necessity, you called Moses to lead your people out of slavery in Egypt. Under duress, many of the prophets and elders of Israel were forced into exile. By imperial decree, Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a long and difficult journey 2000 years ago, and perhaps even more difficult today.
If Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem today, they would first have to apply for a permit to cross from Israel into the West Bank. If they managed to get approved for a permit, they would then cross through the Jalamah checkpoint and make their way to the city of Nablus, near the settlement of Yitzhar, home to some of the most radical and violent settlers who routinely terrorize nearby Palestinian communities.
If they made it past Yitzhar unscathed, they would then have to pass through three more checkpoints—the Huwwarah checkpoint, the Qalandiya checkpoint, and the Bethlehem checkpoint—each one taking several hours to get through. At each checkpoint they could be challenged, bullied, harassed, or even turned away. The odds of making it safe to their destination would be low.
This would be a near impossible journey today, but with you, O God, all things are possible, and you faithfully guide and sustain us through all our journeys—whether they be physical, emotional, or spiritual. You sustain us through difficult journeys of loss, sickness, and the changing landscape of our world. You sustain your children through the terrors of war and abuse. You are born under the rubble and in the hospital room. You are present with us at this table, and throughout every season of our lives, no matter who we are, and no matter where we are on life’s journey.
You are present at this table of grace, as we remember the last night that Jesus spent with his disciples before his betrayal and arrest. You are present as we remember his words to them as he blessed and broke the bread, saying, “each time you eat this bread, do so in remembrance of me,” and as he blessed and shared the cup, saying, “each time you drink from this cup, do so in remembrance of me.”
Let us pray…
Gracious God, pour out your blessing this night upon this bread and upon this cup, and upon all your children gathered near and far. Pour an extra portion of grace upon those who gather in fear, in the midst of war, surrounded by rubble, unsure of whether they will survive the night. May all your children know your abiding presence, and may it sustain them through whatever journey they may be on in this season of their lives. May all know you as Emmanuel, God with us, made flesh once more through our own acts of mercy and love in the world. Nourish us with this sacred meal and prepare us to go forth from this place as bearers of your light. We pray this in the name of your son, born to us this night, Amen.
Come, now, all who are hungry, for the table has been prepared. This is not our table, but Christ’s table, therefore it is open to all.