Antiphon
O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
(cf Isaiah 7.14)

Readings (Click the links to see the readings)

Malachi 3.1-4 and 4.2-3 | Psalm 25.4-10 | Luke 1.57-66 |

Birthing
By Mark Unbehagen

How does one birth peace…
in a world that seems to prefer the profits of war?
How can one birth hope…
in a time when devastation is born of poverty and pandemic?
How does one birth love…
in a world whose heart is captive to fear?
How can one birth joy…
How can one birth joy?
The plastic manger scene on the front lawn
just doesn't do it!
Birthing is so much more!
It is, and requires…
radical intimacy,
prolonged patience,
the coming together of pain and ecstasy,
the joining of our deepest hopes and fears.
Face it,
birthing is a messy business.
And yet this process occurs every moment of our lives:
as our bodies birth cell upon cell,
as our minds birth ideas and dreams into the world,
as our spirits birth…
in the midst of labor and pain…
as our spirits birth. JOY!

Be-Attitude: Blessed are the peacemakers who are the true children of God.

Prayer

Give us, O God, such love and wonder that, with the shepherds and pilgrims unknown, we may come to adore the holy Child, the promised King, and with our gifts worship him, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Justice, mercy and peace

Anglicare Foster Care helps carers to provide nurturing, therapeutic, healing care for children and young people. It promotes the ability of children and young people to recover from the effects of abuse, trauma and loss.

Refiner's fire, Gracia Wassink.
For he is like a refiner's fire (Mal. 3.2)

Benjamin Britten. A Shepherd's Carol, text W.H. Auden. Choir of Westminster Abbey, dir .Simon Preston.