Christmas 2019
Sure on This Shining Night – Concordia Choir
Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.
The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.
Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder
Wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.
-Poem by James Agee; musical setting by Morten Lauridsen (click on link above)
Sure on this shining night, when tenderness descends among us,
may the unexpected advent of God among us as a tiny child
disturb our complacency, even as it fills us with wonder.
Sure on this shining night, when joy fills the stars,
may the promise of God always beside us
sustain and strengthen our hope through the years to come.
Sure on this shining night, when our hearts rise up singing,
may the delight of welcoming the new-born Son
renew us to cherish every human being as Christ himself.
Sure on this shining night, when our hearts yearn to receive Him,
may the assurance of God’s Love
commit us to making this world, these nations, these seas and skies and lands,
into a home fit for God’s own self.
And the blessing of God be upon us, this day and always.
As is our custom on Christmas, we pause in naming the pressing concerns of the world to invite your prayers upon all those in every nation on earth:
A – C
Afghanistan … Albania … Algeria … Andorra … Angola … Antigua and Barbuda … Argentina … Armenia … Australia … Austria … Azerbaijan … The Bahamas … Bahrain … Bangladesh … Barbados … Belarus … Belgium … Belize … Benin … Bhutan … Bolivia … Bosnia and Herzegovina … Botswana … Brazil … Brunei … Bulgaria … Burkina Faso … Burundi … Cabo Verde … Cambodia … Cameroon … Canada … Central African Republic … Chad … Chile … China … Colombia … Comoros … Congo, Democratic Republic of the … Congo, Republic of the … Costa Rica … Côte d’Ivoire … Croatia … Cuba … Cyprus … Czech Republic
D – J
Denmark … Djibouti … Dominica … Dominican Republic … East Timor (Timor-Leste) … Ecuador … Egypt … El Salvador … Equatorial Guinea … Eritrea … Estonia … Eswatini … Ethiopia … Fiji … Finland … France … Gabon … The Gambia … Georgia … Germany … Ghana … Greece … Grenada … Guatemala … Guinea … Guinea-Bissau … Guyana … Haiti … Honduras … Hungary … Iceland … India … Indonesia … Iran … Iraq … Ireland … Israel … Italy … Jamaica … Japan … Jordan
K – M
Kazakhstan … Kenya … Kiribati … Korea, North … Korea, South … Kosovo … Kuwait … Kyrgyzstan … Laos … Latvia … Lebanon … Lesotho … Liberia … Libya … Liechtenstein … Lithuania … Luxembourg … Madagascar … Malawi … Malaysia … Maldives … Mali … Malta … Marshall Islands … Mauritania … Mauritius … Mexico … Micronesia, Federated States of … Moldova … Monaco … Mongolia … Montenegro … Morocco … Mozambique … Myanmar (Burma)
N – S
Namibia … Nauru … Nepal … Netherlands … New Zealand … Nicaragua … Niger … Nigeria … North Macedonia … Norway … Oman … Pakistan … Palau … Panama … Papua New Guinea … Paraguay … Peru … Philippines … Poland … Portugal … Qatar … Romania … Russia … Rwanda … Saint Kitts and Nevis … Saint Lucia … Saint Vincent and the Grenadines … Samoa … San Marino … Sao Tome and Principe … Saudi Arabia … Senegal … Serbia … Seychelles … Sierra Leone … Singapore … Slovakia … Slovenia … Solomon Islands … Somalia … South Africa … Spain … Sri Lanka … Sudan … Sudan, South … Suriname … Sweden … Switzerland … Syria
T-Z
Taiwan … Tajikistan … Tanzania … Thailand … Togo … Tonga … Trinidad and Tobago … Tunisia … Turkey … Turkmenistan … Tuvalu … Uganda … Ukraine … United Arab Emirates … United Kingdom … United States … Uruguay … Uzbekistan … Vanuatu … Vatican City … Venezuela … Vietnam … Yemen … Zambia … Zimbabwe
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