Patrick Comerford
This has been the shortest possible Advent in the Church Calendar and we have come to the end of the countdown to Christmas. Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve (24 December 2023).
Later this morning, I plan to be at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford, and tonight I hope to be at the Midnight Eucharist in Saint George’s Church, Wolverton. But, before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer, reflection and reading this morning.
Throughout Advent this year, my reading and reflection each day include a poem or song by Leonard Cohen. These Advent reflections are following this pattern:
1, A reflection on a poem or song by Leonard Cohen;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
Leonard Cohen with Jennifer Warnes, ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ (Brighton)
The Songs and Poems of Leonard Cohen: 22, ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’:
Just ten days before Christmas in 1979, Leonard Cohen and Jennifer Warnes performed ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ with Raffi Hakopian on the violin, in the Dome Theatre, Brighton, on 15 December 1979.
I had been at one of Leonard Cohen’s two back-to-back concerts in Dublin a day earlier (14 December) in the National Stadium on the South Circular Road.
These three concerts, two in Dublin and the one in Brighton at which he sang ‘Silent Night,’ came at the end of a two-month demanding and even gruelling tour of Europe that year. Beginning on 13 October, it included 51 concerts in England, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland.
The programme in Brighton that night shortly before Christmas 44 years ago included: Bird on the Wire; Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye; Memories; Suzanne; Billy Sunday (The Blues by the Jews); Joan of Arc; I Tried to Leave You; and, to end the evening, Silent Night, Holy Night.
There is a sound recording of it HERE
Luke 1: 26-38 (NRSVA):
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34 Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35 The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38 Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 24 December 2023):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Love at Advent and Christmas.’ This theme is introduced today:
This week we centre our thoughts on love, particularly God’s love for us and His call to us to love one another.
Read 1 John 4: 7-17
The Bible talks often about love. We are told in this passage that ‘God is love’ and that it was this love that propelled him to send his Son to be our Saviour. Love is at the heart of the Christmas story, and it is the foundation of our Christian faith.
It is important to remember that the Christmas story is connected to God’s bigger story of love and redemption traced through the Bible. As we look back and remember the first advent this week, we can see God’s promise of redemption fulfilled and we know that a new era of God’s restoration has been ushered in. What can we do now as we wait for the second Advent of Christ? The answer is beautifully simple: we are to do what he does – love.
When he was asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus answered, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’” (Matthew 22: 37-40). And so, this Advent, let us ask how we can love God and love our neighbour more fully.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (24 December 2023, Advent IV, Christmas Eve) invites us to pray in these words:
May the joy of the angels,
the eagerness of the shepherds,
the perseverance of the wise men,
the obedience of Joseph and Mary
and the peace of the Christ-child be yours this Christmas
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
The Collect:
God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
who chose the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of the promised saviour:
fill us your servants with your grace,
that in all things we may embrace your holy will
and with her rejoice in your salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Eternal God,
as Mary waited for the birth of your Son,
so we wait for his coming in glory;
bring us through the birth pangs of this present age
to see, with her, our great salvation
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Collect on Christmas Eve:
Almighty God,
you make us glad with the yearly remembrance
of the birth of your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as we joyfully receive him as our redeemer,
so we may with sure confidence behold him
when he shall come to be our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
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
No comments:
Post a Comment