December 19
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor; and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. Isaiah 11:1-5
Christ came, and comes now, that we should have life and have it in its fullness, that we should be wholly human, wholly natural, wholly supernatural, that in all our loves He should be our life. If our mind and heart and eye are fixed not on self, but on the Christ-life in us, we shall realize the wonder of truth in His words; “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Caryll Houselander
HYMN
O come thou Root of Jesse’s tree, and ensign of thy people be;
before thee rulers silent fall; all peoples on thy mercy call.
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
All my longing Lord, is for you.
The lost dreams of my youth for a world made new;
The futile hopes I cherished for myself and my own;
The desire so deep and ancient I no longer know its name--
Take and receive these broken gifts, O Holy One of God,
Give in exchange Your vision of what might be.
Come quickly, Lord, and lighten our darkness
Come quickly, Lord. We perish.
Mirror of Justice, pray for us.
