Praying at Home Today: Wednesday 6 January 2021
Praying at home today
Epiphany
revealing Christ to the world
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
To bring to light the plan of the mystery
hidden for ages in God who created all things.Et illuminare omnes, quae sit dispensatio sacramenti
absconditi a saeculis in Deo, qui omnia creavit.Et de mettre en lumière [pour tous les hommes] comment se réalise le mystère
caché de toute éternité en Dieu, qui a tout créé [par Jésus-Christ].
Ephesians 3:9
The Liturgy of the Word *
Here are today’s Bible readings.
You can read just one, or all four if you have time.
One link to all four readings
Separate links to each reading
Short Reflection
Shedding light on a mystery
What a richness of readings for today!
(Even if some of us heard them only on Sunday.)
As well as the traditional story of the wise men from the East, we have Isaiah’s prophesy and Paul’s theological reflection on the revelation of God’s purpose.
The initial verses of Isaiah 60 are very familiar, especially for those who have heard or sung in Handel’s Messiah, which portrays these texts profoundly.
We’ve used the alternative version of the English text in the Short Reading – “to bring to light” in place of “to make everyone see”, which might convey an element of compulsion – this also appears in the Latin and French versions.
And this bringing to light is what Paul is referring to in the letter to the Ephesians.
The Latin word for mystery is sacramentum. The classic definition of a sacrament, as defined by St Augustine, is “the visible form of an invisible grace”. Thus it isn’t a mystery in the sense that it’s unknowable; rather it can be known.
And this mystery has been revealed to us so that the world may come to know and cherish God’s love for us.
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Music for reflection *
A prelude on the hymn ‘Bethlehem, of noblest cities’
Prayer Suggestions
We pray at home today, bringing before God the needs of our world:
- with gratitude
- with joy
- with hope.
(In Holy Trinity, Stirling, we invite you to pray today
that despite Covid-19 we “worship in the beauty of holiness”
and for our young people, HT Kidz & leaders Sarah, Gen & Alistair.)
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
O God,
who, by the guidance of a star,
revealed your only-begotten Son to the nations:
Grant that we, who know you now by faith,
may at the last be led to see your glory face to face;
through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
Amen.
Returning to the world
Verbum caro factum est.
Et habitavit in nobis. Alleluia!
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.
Music engraved by The Art of Music.
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