09 December 2022

Praying in Advent with Lichfield Cathedral
and USPG: Friday 9 December 2022

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn’ (Matthew 11: 17) … traditional musicians in Nevşehir in Turkey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are coming to the end of the second week of Advent. Before today gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.

During Advent, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, The reading suggested in the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar produced by Lichfield Cathedral this year;

2, praying with the Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn’ (Matthew 11: 17) … ‘Τα κάλαντα’ (‘Carols’), Νικηφόρος Λύτρας (Nikiphoros Lytras)

Matthew 11: 16-19 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 16 ‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,

17 “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.”

18 ‘For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’

Marc Chagall’s painting ‘The Fiddler’ (1913) … inspired the title of the film ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (1971)

The Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar:

Reflect on how easy it is to miss the point and the deep treasure in what has become familiar to us, how we’re easily manipulated by public opinion. Pray for true insight.

Collect:

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succour us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Father in heaven,
who sent your Son to redeem the world
and will send him again to be our judge:
give us grace so to imitate him
in the humility and purity of his first coming
that, when he comes again,
we may be ready to greet him
with joyful love and firm faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God, purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again
as judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.

USPG Prayer Diary:

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘Human Rights in the Philippines.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with an excerpt from the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church) human rights report by USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Let us pray for the indigenous people of the Philippines. May their voice be heard, their rights safeguarded and their land protected.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘Reflect on how easy it is to miss … the deep treasure in what has become familiar to us’ (Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar) … a folded cross was one of the few religious items found in the Staffordshire Hoard near Lichfield

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

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