Christmas Eve 2021: Morning Praise

 O God, open my lips,/and my mouth will declare your praise.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Antiphon:  No ear has heard, no eye has seen any other good act like this for those who trust.

Psalm 51

Have mercy, tender God,

forget that I defied you.

Wash away my sin,

cleanse me from my guilt.

I know my evil well,

it stares me in the face,

evil done to you alone

before your very eyes.

How right your condemnation!

Your verdict clearly just!

You see me for what I am,

a sinner before my birth.

You love those centered in truth;

teach me your hidden wisdom.

Wash me with fresh water,

wash me bright as snow.

Fill me with happy songs,

let the bones you bruised now dance.

Shut my eyes on my sin,

make my guilt disappear.

Creator, reshape my heart,

God, steady my spirit.

Do not cast me aside

stripped of your holy spirit.

Save me, bring back my joy,

support me, strenghten my will.

Then I will teach your way

and sinners will turn to you.

Help me, stop my tears,

and I will sing your goodness.

Lord, give me words

and I will shout your praise.

When I offer a holocaust,

the gift does not please you.

So I offer my shattered spirit;

a changed heart you welcome.

In your love make Zion lovely,

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Then sacrifice will please you,

young bulls upon your altar.

[silent reflection]

Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

    the world, and all who live in it;

for he founded it on the seas

    and established it on the waters.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?

    Who may stand in his holy place?

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,

    who does not trust in an idol

    or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the Lord

    and vindication from God their Savior.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

    who seek your face, God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, you gates;

    be lifted up, you ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

    The Lord strong and mighty,

    the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, you gates;

    lift them up, you ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory?

    The Lord Almighty—

    he is the King of glory.

[silent reflection]

Psalm 92

How good to thank you, Lord

to praise your name, Most High,

to sing your love at dawn,

your faithfulness at dusk

with sound of lyre and harp,

with music of the lute.

For your work brings delight,

your deeds invite song.

I marvel at what you do.

Lord, how deep your thought!

Fools do no grasp this

nor the senseless understand.

Scoundrels spring up like grass,

flourish and quickly wither.

You, Lord, stand firm for ever.

See your your enemies perish,

scattered to the winds,

while you give me brute strength

pouring rich oil upon me.

I have faced my enemies,

heard them plot against me.

The just grow tall like palm trees,

majestic like the cedars of Lebanon.

They are planted in the temple's courts

and flourish in God's house,

green and heavy with fruit

even in old age.

Proclaim that God is just,

my rock without a fault.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Antiphon:  No ear has heard, no eye has seen any other good act like this for those who trust.

Reading                                                                                      Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Of course you can't help thinking of my being in prison over Christmas, and it is bound to throw a shadow over the few hours of happiness which still await you in these times. All I can do to help is to assure you that I know you will keep it in the same spirit as I do, for we are agreed on how Christmas ought to be kept.  How could it be otherwise when my attitude to Christmas is a heritage I owe to you? I need not tell you how much I long to be released and to see you all again.  But for years you have given us such lovely Christmases, that our grateful memories are strong enough to cast their rays over a darker one.  In times like these we learn as never before what it means to possess a past and a spiritual heritage untrammeled by the changes and chances of the present.  A spiritual heritage reaching back for centuries is a wonderful support and comfort in face of all temporary stresses and strains. I believe that the man who is aware of such reserves of power need not be ashamed of the tender feelings evoked by the memory of a rich and noble past, for such feelings belong in  my opinion to the better and nobler part of humankind.  They will not overwhelm those who hold fast to values of which no one can deprive them.

For a Christian there is nothing peculiarly difficult about Christmas in a prison cell.  I daresay it will have more meaning and will be observed with greater sincerity here in this prison than in places where all that survives of the feast is its name. That misery, suffering, poverty, loneliness, helplessness and guilt look very different to the eyes of God from what they do to man, that God should come down to the very place which men usually abhor, that Christ was born in a stable because there was no room for him in the inn--these are things which a prisoner can understand better than anyone else. For the prisoner the Christmas story is glad tidings in a very real sense. And that faith gives the prisoner a part in the communion of saints, a fellowship transcending the bounds of time and space and reducing the months to confinement here to insignificance.

On Christmas Eve I shall be thinking of you all very much, and I want you to believe that I too shall have a few hours of real joy and that I am not allowing my troubles to get the better of me....

It will certainly be a quiet Christmas for everybody, and the children will look back on it for long afterwards.  But for the first time, perhaps, many will learn the true meaning of Christmas.

Letter to his parents, December 17, 1943

[silent reflection]

Benedictus Antiphon

God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

BENEDICTUS

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

who shepherds the people and sets them free.

God raises from David's house

a child with power to save.

Through the holy prophets

God promised in ages past

to save us from enemy hands,

from the grip of all who hate us.

The Lord favored our ancestors

recalling the sacred covenant,

the pledge to our ancestor Abraham,

to free us from our enemies,

so we might worship without fear

and be holy and just all our days.

And you, child, will be called

Prophet of the Most High,

for you will come to prepare

a pathway for the Lord

by teaching the people salvation

through forgiveness of their sin.

Out of God's deepest mercy

a dawn will come from on hight,

light for those shadowed by death,

a guide for our feet on the way to peace.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

[Repeat Benedictus antiphon]

Our Father....

Source of mercy, the life and death of your Son are our hope of salvation.  Pour the refreshing waters of your love over us.  Cleanse our hearts, forgive our failings, and renew our zeal for you as we continue in our conversion throughout our lives.  We ask this through Christ our Savior and your Holy Spirit.  Amen.

May God bless us and keep us. May God smile upon us and be gracious to us. May God look upon us kindly, and give us peace. Amen.

Let us bless God/and give thanks.