Praying at Home Today: Thursday 24 December 2020
Praying at home today: wait for the Lord, whose day is near
A warm welcome to PrayingAtHome.com, where you can find worship resources for praying at home today or wherever you are.
We hope these readings, prayers, music and the short reflection will help you stay in touch with the Church and to sustain you on your journey through life.
If this is your first visit to this website, then you might like to read about the common elements and the suggested structure for each day’s prayer.
Everything’s optional!
Opening to the Word
You can spend a few moments in silence,
focussing on your breathing
to become more mindful of the present moment
and to open yourself more fully
to God’s presence within you.
In the name of the living God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Short reading
According to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros,
Abraham et semini ejus in saecula.Comme il l’avait dit à nos ancêtres –
en faveur d’Abraham et de sa descendance pour toujours.
Luke 1:55
The Liturgy of the Word *
Here are today’s Bible readings.
You can read just one, or all three if you have time.
One link to all three readings
Separate links to each reading
Short Reflection
Advent hope: Waiting
And now we wait.
And now we wait.
This repeated line, from JK Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ comes at a vital point in the story, as Hermione and Harry keep vigil awaiting a significant moment.
They can do nothing but wait.
In some ways, today is a bit like that for us.
We know that at midnight (or thereabouts) we will again celebrate the birth of the One who came to us to redeem humanity.
And although this event happened around 2,000 years ago, it is still happening.
And we are still awaiting that event, in our lives and in the life of our world.
Wait for the Lord,
whose day is near.
Wait for the Lord,
be strong, take heart.
TS Eliot
Earlier in Advent, I said that we would revisit Little Gidding.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
We wait in silence for the Lord to save.
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Music for reflection *
Prayer Suggestions
On this Christmas Eve, as we wait, we pray at home today, bringing before God the needs of our world:
- that our waiting may be real, yet hope-filled
- for the Brexit negotiators
- for all who are worried and fearful at this time.
(In Holy Trinity, Stirling, we invite you to wait and pray tonight
that we all listen for and hear the Angels sing this Holy Night.)
For all who have asked for our prayers.
a moment of silence
Pray for us all
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
We can say the Lord’s Prayer in any language or version we choose.
Here it is, in English, Latin and French.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen.
Pater noster, qui es in cælis;
sanctificatur nomen tuum:
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie:
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris:
et ne nos inducas in tentationem:
sed libera nos a malo.
Quia tuum est regnum,
et potestas, et gloria, in saecula.
Amen.
Notre Père qui es aux cieux,
que ton nom soit sanctifié.
Que ton règne vienne.
Que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel.
Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour.
Pardonne-nous nos offences
comme nous pardonnons aussi
à ceux qui nous ont offensés.
Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation,
mais délivre-nous du mal.
Car c’est à toi qu’appartiennent le règne,
la puissance et la gloire
pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.
Concluding prayer
Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus,
and do not delay,
that those who trust in your compassion
may find solace and relief in your coming.
Who live and reign with God the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Returning to the world
Maranatha!
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Thank you for joining us in praying at home.
Oremus pro invicem.
In these strange times, we are called to trust
* You can find more organ music from Holy Trinity Church, Stirling
on Alistair Warwick‘s website and on SoundCloud
There are several books by Brother Roger of the Taizé Community from many booksellers.
You can buy The Complete Chronicles of Narnia at Bookshop.org
Other worship resources
Praying at Home Today: Acknowledgements
The lectionary for weekdays is taken from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.
In that lectionary, the readings are in the following order: Old Testament reading, Psalm, New Testament reading; we have changed the order to the more usual OT, Psalm and NT.
English Bible texts are usually from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Latin Bible texts are from Biblia Sacra Vulgata, and are in the Public Domain.
French Bible texts are usually from Version Segond 21, copyright © 2007 Société Biblique de Genève by Société Biblique de Genève.
Images, unless otherwise stated, are from lockdown in Scotland, by Alistair Warwick.
Descriptions for the Advent art images can be found at the Art in the Christian Tradition image library, a service of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. All of these images are available via Creative Commons 3.0 License.
Music engraved by The Art of Music.
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