Christmas – I Am There

(from “,The Eternal Year”, Karl Rahner, S.J., 1904-84)

Now God says to us
What He has already said to the earth as a whole
Through His grace-filled birth:

I am there. I am with you.
I am your life. I am your time.
I am the gloom of your daily routine. Why will you not hear it?
I weep your tears – pour yours out to me.
I am your joy.
Do not be afraid to be happy; ever since I wept, joy is the standard of living
That is really more suitable than the anxiety and grief of those who have no hope.

I am the blind alley of all your paths,
For when you no longer know how to go any farther,
Then you have reached me,
Though you are not aware of it.

I am in your anxiety, for I have shared it.
I am in the prison of your finiteness,
For my love has made me your prisoner.

I am in your death,
For today I began to die with you, because I was born,
And I have not let myself be spared any real part of this experience.

I am present in your needs;
I have suffered them and they are now transformed.

I am there.
I no longer go away from this world.
Even if you do not see me now, I am there.

My love is unconquerable.
I am there.
It is Christmas.
Light the Candles! They have more right to exist then all the darkness.
It is Christmas.
Christmas that lasts forever.

Christmas Eve – Within our reach is Joy!

(Fra Giovanni, Christmas Eve, 1513 A.D.)

There is nothing I can give you which you have not;
But there is much, very much, that while I cannot give,
You can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.
Take heaven!
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant.
Take peace!
The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our
Reach is joy.
Take joy!
There is a radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see,
And to see we have only to look.
I beseech you to look!
Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by the covering,
Cast them away as ugly, or heavy, or hard.
Remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor,
Woven of love, by wisdom, with power.
Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand
That brings it to you.
Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty
Believe me, that angel’s hand is there, the gift is there,
And the wonder of an overshadowing presence.
Our joys, too, be not content with them as joys.
They, too, conceal diviner gifts.
Life is so full of meaning and purpose,
So full of beauty beneath its covering-
That you will find earth but cloaks your heaven.
And so, at this time, I greet you.
Not quite as the world sends greetings,
But with profound esteem
And with the prayer that for you, now and forever,
The day breaks, and all the shadows flee away.

Christmas Peace Prayer

(from Worship Now)

O God, we thank you for the message of peace
that Christmas brings to our distracted world.
Give peace among nations,
peace in our land,
peace in our homes,
and peace in our hearts,
as we remember the birth at Bethlehem
of the Prince of peace,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Christmas Prayer

(Attr. St. Bernard of Clairvaux)

Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us, that we,
made in your image, may conform ourselves to it.
In our own strength we cannot image
your majesty, power and wonder;
nor is it fitting for us to try.

But your mercy reaches from the heavens,
through the clouds, to the earth below.
You have come to us as a small child,
but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts,
the gift of your eternal love.

Caress us with your tiny hands,
embrace us with your tiny arms,
and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries.

Amwn.

Christmas Prayer (Moonless darkness stands between)

(Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., 1844 – 89)

Moonless darkness stands between.
Past, the Past, no more be seen!
But the Bethlehem star may lead me
To the sight of Him who freed me
From the self that I have been.
Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy;
Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly;
Now beginning, and always,
Now begin, on Christmas day.

Nativity Prayer

(St. Augustine of Hippo, AD 354-440)

Let the just rejoice,
for their justifier is born.

Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their saviour is born.

Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.

Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.

Let free men rejoice,
For their Liberator is born.

Let All Christians rejoice,
For Jesus Christ is born.

Amen.

Read more: http://www.lords-prayer-words.com/times/christmas_prayer.html#ixzz48xBWB52m

O sweet Child of Bethlehem (Pope John XXIII)

O sweet Child of Bethlehem,
grant that we may share with all the hearts
in this profound mystery of Christmas.
Put into the hearts of men this peace
for which they sometimes seek so desperately
and which you alone can give them.
Help them to know one another better,
and to live as brothers,
children of the same Father.
Reveal to them also your beauty, holiness and purity.
Awaken in their hearts
love and gratitude for your infinite goodness.
Join them all together in your love.
And give us your heavenly peace.
Amen, Amen.

Prayer for Christmas or Epiphany (Orthodox Liturgy)

What shall we present to you, O Christ,
for your coming to earth for us?
Each of your creatures brings you a thank-offering:
the angels – singing;
the heavens – a star;
the wise men – treasures;
the shepherds – devotion;
the earth – a cave;
the desert – a manger:
but we offer you the virgin-mother.
O eternal God, have mercy upon us.

Amen.