Thursday
Daily Advent Prayer
"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise."
Opening Prayer:
Father,
we need your help.
Free us from sin and bring us to life.
Support us by your power.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Today's Readings
Reading: Is 26:1-6
On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah:
“A strong city have we;
he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.
Open up the gates
to let in a nation that is just,
one that keeps faith.
A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;
in peace, for its trust in you.”
Trust in the LORD forever!
For the LORD is an eternal Rock.
He humbles those in high places,
and the lofty city he brings down;
He tumbles it to the ground,
levels it with the dust.
It is trampled underfoot by the needy,
by the footsteps of the poor.
Gospel: Mt 7:21, 24-27
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
Daily Meditation:
On that day ...
The reading from Isaiah is another promise of a day of victory,
when the tables will be turned on injustice.
Today, let's turn to our God, with all our needs.
Part of our Advent journey is about learning to hope
- learning to imagine what we can't see.
Let's go through our day today, desiring freedom with a growing confidence
in our God who promises to save us.
Come and set us free, Lord, God of power and might.
Let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
Today's Daily Reflection of Creighton University's Online Ministries
by Jeanne Schuler Philosophy Department
The Footsteps of the Poor
Along the U.S. border with Mexico, a wall has been built. Deadlock over immigration gives rise to a high corrugated metal barrier that separates communities. On the U.S. side, little is said. The wall is blank and silent. Heat sensors and motion detectors keep people away. On the Mexican side, the metal surface is slowly being covered with drawings, names, epitaphs, slogans, sculpture, and murals. It is a memorial, a place of prayer, prophecy, and protest. Vivid images transform its stony gaze.
In piercing words, Isaiah warns the lofty city that ignores the poor streaming past its gates. That city will fall. John Steinbeck echoed Isaiah in describing the farmers who lost their land during the great depression and took to the highways in search of work. Economic forces tore through their lives like the tractors that knocked over their barns and houses, leaving behind big commercial operations without need for farm families. For Steinbeck, a society that pushes the poor into boxcars and shanty towns faces the wrath of judgment.
Economic forces are tearing round the world. Old ways of life are swept away by another kind of tsunami. Villages empty out as young people leave in search of work. Families break apart. Walls are built but cannot keep people safe from upheavals and trouble. We are connected in spite of mistrust or indifference. We will only make our way across this desert together.
Jesus calls us to build our lives on His lasting presence. When we hear the stories or see the faces, we have been told. It is time to take down the walls.
Intercessions:
Christ is the wisdom and power of God, and his delight is to
be with the children of men. With confidence, let us pray:
R. Draw near us, Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ, you have called us to your glorious kingdom,
- make us walk worthily, pleasing God in all we do. R.
You who stand unknown among us,
- reveal yourself to men and women. R.
You are nearer to us than we to ourselves,
- strengthen our faith and our hope of salvation. R.
You are the source of holiness,
- keep us holy and without sin now and until the day of your coming. R.
Closing Prayer:
God of strength and protection,
I turn to you because I need help.
I long to be free enough
to trust that I can lean on you.
But I become afraid.
Help me to trust in you, Lord.
Your strength and power
are a gentle place of protection.
Be a safe refuge when I am being trampled.
I long for your help, your protecting care.
Help to deliver me from the cold
loneliness of these dark nights.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.