December 16
Write the vision;make it plain upon tablets,so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its time;it hastens to the end it will not lie. If it seem slow,wait for it;it will surely come,it will not delay. Habakkuk, 2:2-3
It is of absolute necessity for our peace that we surrender ourselves wholly to God. Most people want to do this, but they do not because the are afraid. If, in their rasher moments of fervour, they have made heroic self offerings, they go about their business afterwards distinctly uneasy, fearful that some catastrophe will overtake them in order to detach them from the earthly affections which they suppose to be hindering their perfection...these anxieties can be put to rest by a little thought about God’s approach to us, His way with human beings. It is not a way of detachment but attachment; not a way of indifference but of love. He approaches not by catastrophes, but by gentleness; not demanding our surrender but winning it, if we put no obstacle, almost before we realize who it is that sues for our love... “Behold!” Our Lord says, “I stand at the door and knock.” An obstacle to surrender to Him would simply be not to open the door. If we opened it and saw who it was that knocked, we should not find it a difficult or frightening thing to give Him what He asked of us. Caryll Houselander
HYMN
O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
MAGNIFICAT
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.
PRAYER
Lord, I watch for your coming;
and I long for the peace you have promised;
but as a woman fears the pain of labor
as her time of deliverance approaches,
so do I fear what your coming will require of me;
In your merciful patience, grant me the grace
of a hope that conquers fear,
so that I will open the door of my heart
when I hear you knocking
and surrender myself to the peace
your reign will bring.
