Advent can be hectic so we invite you to pause and reflect on the great mystery of God’s love for creation as we pray to dis-

cern God’s traces in our busy world.

Pray as ADVENT CANDLE is Lit.

All: God of Life, Emmanuel, you breathe life into all creation and into each of your children. As you guide our path to Christmas, reignite in our life, a longing for your love, hope, joy, peace and presence. May our expectant faith radiate a welcoming beacon of your love in the darkness, hope of salvation for a thirsting world.. Amen.

+++++++++

Sing or listen to: As the Deer Pants for Water (Ps.42)

As the deer pants for the water So my soul longs after You You alone are my heart's desire And I long to worship Thee Chorus: You alone are my strength, my shield To You alone may my spirit yield You alone are my heart's desire And I long to worship Thee

ADVENT

A shoot shall come up from the

stump of Jesse; from his roots a

branch will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

SEASON of CREATION ALL: We pray to experience the consolation of Advent and the

joyous waiting in hope of all creation.

Pope Francis reflected that life is full of fear: “Fear of neigh-

bour… fear of the other… fear of violence… fear of not making

it, ...of not being accepted...fear that we cannot make a differ-

ence … fear that we cannot change the world...fear of not find-

ing work etc. Advent responds with the Gospel of anti-fear. If

fear makes you lie on the ground, the Lord invites you to get up;

if negativity pushes you to look down, Jesus invites us to turn

our gaze to heaven, from where HE will come.

ALL: We are not children of fear, but children of the living God

“...We welcome the invitation of the Gospel to stand up, to get

up...from the sofas of life: from the comfort that makes us lazy,

from the mundane that makes us sick inside, from the self-pity

that darkens. Stand up, let us all look to the sky. Open our

hands to our neighbour, and our hearts to God and experience

the consolation that we give in His name, heal our fears.”

ALL: Come Holy Spirit, Transform us to build communities of

kindness and together may we care for our common home

Leader: if time allows invite participants to share their response.

Closing Prayer. Come Holy Spirit, breathe upon our troubled world.

Enflame once more the embers of our weariness. Shake us out of

complacency. Whisper our names once more and scatter your gifts of

grace with wild abandon. Break open the prisons of our inner being,

and let God’s justice be our sign of liberty. Come Lord Jesus, Lead us

to places we would rather not go; expand the horizons of our limited

imaginations. Awaken in our souls dangerous dreams of your new to-

morrow and rekindle in our hearts the fire of prophetic enthusiasm.

Come Holy Spirit, bring your justice, light and peace to our thirsting

world. May your promise invigorate every effort to care for our com-

mon home, now and forever. All: Come Lord Jesus, Come. AMEN

I want You more than gold or silver Only You can satisfy. You alone are the real joy giver And the apple of my eye. Chorus

You’re my friend, And You are my brother Even though You are a King, I love You more than any other So much more than anything

To sing with RJM sisters visit:

https://youtu.be/Ph1P7p1Hryo

Response: Creator God, author of life,

open us once again to the journey toward

Bethlehem and teach us to joyfully wait

for you in expectant Hope.

Someone read:

Reading from Romans 8:18-26

I am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory

that will be shown to us. In fact all creation is eagerly waiting for God

to show who his children are. Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not

because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope that

creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious

freedom of his children. We know that all creation is still groaning in

pain, like a woman about to give birth.

The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now

we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his chil-

dren. This means that our bodies will also be set free. And this hope is

what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no

need to keep on hoping. However, we hope for something we have not

yet seen, and we patiently wait for it… The Spirit helps [and] intercedes

for us with sighs too deep for words.

Someone Read: (Or different people read )

The first reading in most Masses in

Advent is from Isaiah. They were

written in times of war and injustice.

They are full of realism, a deep sense of God’s presence

in the natural world, the conviction that the relationship to

God impacts the whole environment not simply our

hearts.

ALL: They are prayers of waiting and longing.

The Gospels during Advent are mostly vivid stories that

show what faith in Christ is like and what the coming of

Jesus means for us. The radical inbreaking of love itself.

ALL: They encourage us to pray for a deeper faith.

Advent reminds us Jesus entered the earth as a helpless

unborn and promised to return in glory. He came to ‘salt

of the earth’ folk yet the lowliest shepherds and the might-

iest kings recognized him. The Pope calls us to Care for

our Common Home and Advent is a time to evoke God’s

presence in the world even, perhaps especially, in times

of crisis.

ALL: We await God and God awaits us.

The new Liturgical Year begins on the 1st day of Advent.

We recall the surprising radical movement of our God to-

ward us. We are called to safeguard and spread the joy of

waiting for God who awaits us with compassion.

Advent prayer compiled from various sources by Bev McDonald. Closing prayer edited from Diarmid O’Murchu. Excerpts from Laudato Si and Pray Editor 2017.