Will you come to our world, God? And will you come with hope?
For we see too many situations we can only lament, too few that lift our spirits;
too much despair, too little resilience and respect;
too many longings and laments and limited visions, too few steps forward.
O come, O come, Emmanuel. And when you come, bring hope.
O God, it gives us hope to see news of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Strengthen our fragile hope in that decision.
On the journey to global health, we witness Japan’s donating three million doses of mpox vaccine to the Democratic Republic of the Congo when the country had no doses for children, only for adults. The negotiations over payment were worked out, though slowly. We pray for more hopeful and timely sharing of life-saving responses.
And on Monday we saw Jordan airdrop aid to northern Gaza for the first time in five months. We know that every bit of aid helps.
Will you come to our world, God? And will you come with peace?
For we have too much brokenness, not enough wholeness;
too much noise, not enough calmness;
too many easy prescriptions for others, not enough genuine mercy.
O come, O come, Emmanuel. And when you come, bring peace.
O God, bring peace to the people of Gaza, as they try to survive within their cramped space, separated from water, food, medical care, homes, schools, and family members. God, lead us on the way to peace.
O God of Peace, the voices of thousands of women around the world – from Greece to Indonesia to Ecuador to Bulgaria to Colombia — still reverberate from their protests last Monday. They call for an end to the gender-based violence that is growing in all areas of the world. Strengthen the voices of the women afraid to cry out. We pray their homes will be safe places where they can know your peaceful presence.
May we all listen to Nila Ibrahimi, who this week won The International Children’s Peace Prize for her work giving girls of Afghanistan a voice.
Will you come to our world, God? And will you come with joy?
For we have too much seriousness, not enough laughter;
too many expectations, not enough spontaneous celebrations;
too many words, too little music.
O come, O come, Emmanuel. And when you come, bring joy.
Be the joy in the song of “Hallelujah!” in any language.
Be the joy in the invitation to a meal, whether it’s
a shared sandwich on the journey or a family thanksgiving table.
Be in the gift of shared stories, unraveling between
friends when they bond in the telling and the listening.
Be the rousing blessing of “Amen.” May it be so!
Will you come to our world, God? And will you come with love?
For we have too much loneliness, not enough community;
too many speeches, not enough conversations;
too many tight schedules, not enough room for compassion.
O come, O come, Emmanuel. And when you come, bring love.
Loving God, you are where we cannot be at this hour
except through our prayers.
Wherever you are, Love is there.
Unite us in your love. May it herald the advent of your presence.
.Come, Bringer of Hope.
Come, Prince of Peace.
Come, Giver of Joy.
Come, Lover of all the people of the world.
Come, O come, Emmanuel.
Thank you for this beautiful Advent liturgy.