Category: Christmas

Happy Christmas from Growing Old Grace-fully

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Our advent journey’s end – and a new beginning

As we reach the end of Advent, we celebrate the joyous feast of Christmas.

It is a moment when we contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation, the divine becoming human, and the immense love of God manifest in the humblest of forms. In the midst of the festive decorations and the warmth of our gatherings, let us take a moment to turn our hearts toward prayer, seeking to deepen our understanding of the profound significance of this holy season.

As we pray during this Christmas season, let us ponder the miracle of the Nativity, where heaven touched earth in the form of a tiny child born in a humble manger. Christmas is a celebration of hope, peace, and love, encapsulated in the gift of God’s Son to humanity.

At this challenging time in human history and facing the challenges of our own lives, we celebrate that the darkness is pierced with the greatest light to shine for all humanity. The words of the angel to the shepherds echo through time, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10).

In our prayers, let us express gratitude for the light that Jesus brought into the world—a light that dispels darkness and offers us the path to eternal life. May we find inspiration in the Holy Family, reflecting on the obedience of Mary, the courage of Joseph, and the vulnerability of the newborn King. As we exchange Christmas greetings, perhaps give and receive gifts and share meals with loved ones, let our prayers extend to those who are lonely, marginalised, or suffering, echoing the compassionate spirit of Christ.

This Christmas, may our hearts be filled with the true meaning of the season, and may our prayers unite us in a sense of shared joy and purpose. Let us open our hearts to receive the abundant blessings that flow from the manger in Bethlehem, embracing the transformative power of God’s love and mercy. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we offer these prayers, entrusting ourselves to the grace of the Christ Child born on this holy night.

Growing Old Grace-fully, Christmas 2023

Here are three Christmas prayers:

God of Joy

Remind me to rejoice 
Wrapped up in my Christmas gifts 
Tied down in my debts 
I have forgotten   

God of peace, 
Remind me of your calm 
In my anxiety 
And in my haste 
I have forgotten   

God of all 
Remind me 
Of the true light of Christmas 
Of your gift shared

In my own wants 
And in my own needs 
I have forgotten 
Wrapped up  in my little world 
Remind me of your world 
God of joy, remind me 
To rejoice 

Amen.

Linda Jones/CAFOD

Unadorned King

In the star we see the cross;
Its points, the thorns,
The azure ring, his robe.
The light which shines on all
The arms which embrace all. 

And this despite their mockery,
Mock majesty, pageant pantomime and pomp.
All human conceptions of kingship
Border on the Vaudeville
Verge on the burlesque. 

Kings in a stable out of proportion
Distorted, like the body on the cross.
Our attempt to nail down
Divinity Racked and disjointed,
Still suffering our mock homage. 

Cast crowns, cast lots, cast off your
Tawdry kind of kingship –
So much dressing up –
Christ rides triumphant over cast-down cloaks
Every inch a king with none of the apparel. 

His crown, the star
The cross, his throne where he
Invests the cosmos with his gift of Love, unadorned.

Amen.

Sr Laurentia Johns OSB, Stanbrook Abbey

The Hope of Christmas

The hope of Christmas
God, our dayspring and our dawn,
We turn to you when we fear the dark
And all around us weep.
We pray you greet us with your shining light
That we may spread your warm embrace
And kindle the hope of Christmas
In all whose lives remain in shadow.
Come and be our strength
O Lord, our hope and our salvation.

Amen.

Annabel Shilson-Thomas/CAFOD

Prayers for Advent 2023

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Journeying with Hope – Advent prayers

Advent, a season of anticipation and preparation, invites us to pause, reflect, and open our hearts to the profound mystery of Christ’s coming at Christmas.

In this special time, we find solace in the promise of hope, the light that pierces through the darkness, illuminating our path towards spiritual renewal and transformation.

At this difficult and distressing time in history, with so much conflict, we pray with the hope of Christ for peace and for justice as we reflect on the true message of Jesus’ birth in an dirty, drafty stable, far from home and material comforts.

As we are surrounded by commercial messages and the fake Christmas of the commercial world, we instead recall and reflect on the difficult, stressful and exhausting journey made by Mary and Joseph as we prepare for true Christmas.

As another year draws to an end, we also reflect on our own lives, our successes and failures, joys and sorrows, challenges and blessings and unite them all with this journey towards the first Christmas, towards hope, joy and the light of Christ.

Here are three Advent prayers to use during December as we prepare, reflect and above all, hope.

Adventus

With expectant waiting
we anticipate your coming.
Come close to us, Lord,
come very close.   

Come, Alpha and Omega,
who is from before the ages.
Come, Son of Joseph and Son of Mary,
who went down to Nazareth to be obedient to them.   

Come, Morning Star,
who named the stars.

Come, carpenter from Nazareth, 
who knows the smell of planed wood.

Come, Beloved Son of God,
who knows the heart of God.

Come, Son of Man,
who knows the hearts of God’s people.

Come, Lord of Life and Prince of Peace.
Come, Dayspring and Rising Sun.
Come, Wonderful Counsellor.
Come Emmanuel, God with us;
God very close to us.

Amen

Ged Johnson/CAFOD

Advent litany: Lord, we look to you

Compassionate God,

As we look to you for judgement, hold out your hand of compassion
that we may be chastened by your show of mercy and reach out to others in reconciliation.

Lord, we look to you
in whom we hope

As we contemplate our end, make us mindful of your promise of a new beginning
that we may share your promise of life and bring hope to those who sit in darkness.

Lord, we look to you
in whom we hope

As we remember Elizabeth in her barrenness, fill us with longing for the birth of a new creation
that we too may be surprised with joy and labour with those who seek to make all things new.

Lord, we look to you
in whom we hope

As John leapt in his mother’s womb, help us so to recognise Christ in friend and stranger
that we may respond in love and learn to serve our neighbour with generosity not judgement.

Lord, we look to you
in whom we hope

As Mary and Elizabeth sought each other, grant us the wisdom to recognise our needs
that we too may seek each other in solidarity and offer strength to the powerless.

Lord, we look to you
in whom we hope

As Mary proclaimed the salvation of the Lord, give us courage to stand alongside the downtrodden
that we may sing of their hopes and join hands to realise their dreams.

Lord, we look to you
in whom we hope
and whom we long to see.

Annabel Shilson-Thomas/CAFOD

God of hope

God of hope,
we cling to you,
for your renew the face of the earth.
Through the gift of your Son,
our Lord Jesus,
we follow you on the path of dawn.
Enlightened by your love and wisdom,
help us to lead each other
and all creatures
back to your open arms.
Amen.

Rachel McCarthy/CAFOD

Advent: A Time of Challenge and Hope – A Reflection from Pippa Bonner

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When I was a child I was on the verge of tears when I sang the words of the carol “In the Bleak Midwinter” written by Christina G Rossetti (1830-1864.) (1) 

“In the bleak midwinter 
frosty wind made moan, 
earth stood hard as iron, 
water like a stone;” 

 It sounded bleak, hard and cold. I lived in Scotland where I could understand that ”snow had fallen, snow on snow”…. I realised that a Bethlehem birth might be cold and hard, but perhaps little snow. I knew the point was that the Son of God was born in very humble, challenging, drafty circumstances away from family and community. As I grew older, I appreciated more the challenge that Mary and Joseph faced travelling for some uncomfortable days in late pregnancy, on the orders of an occupying regime to register their names. It may be on that journey Mary did not have the understanding and support of some of her extended family. They found it difficult to find accommodation as many others had also travelled to register. The unexpected, miraculous pregnancy perhaps was not accepted by some in the couple’s families. Joseph likely saved Mary’s life from stoning, a punishment for supposed infidelity and pregnancy outside of a betrothal or marriage. Her reputation, and his, may have taken longer to be restored. 

 We know too that they became refugees when Jesus was still very young. It must have been traumatic in a regional massacre to hide their child and make a perilous journey to Egypt.  

As I write, Palestinian refugees are making a treacherous journey amidst bombs and gunfire: women, some pregnant, men, many older people, children, newborn babies are riding on carts and are walking to South Gaza adjoining the Egyptian border. Many Jews support the Palestinians but the fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas has brought death, injury, homelessness and fear. The modern refugees are taking a dangerous journey. Did Mary and Joseph find food, water and shelter along the way? Did they have to hide? How long did they have to stay before travelling back to their homeland to Nazareth? Were they welcomed or not when they got to Egypt? Many modern-day refugees encounter danger, hostility, rejection, and a great sense of trauma and loss about what they have left behind. 

The amazing belief we have in preparing for Advent is the Incarnation, the birth of the Messiah, the great hope enfleshed… 

Advent is a time of preparation and above all a time of hope! As an older woman, every year I appreciate more that Advent is a time of hope. Amidst war in the Middle East and Ukraine and around the world the Saviour, a Sign of Hope and Peace is born. 

Christina Rossetti’s poem finishes: 

” What can I give him, 
poor as I am? 
If I were a shepherd 
I would bring a lamb; 
if I were a wise man 
I would do my part; 
yet what can I give him – 
give my heart.” 

As an older woman this last verse still moves me. Whatever our situation: enough money to pay our bills or not; working or retired; living with others or alone; bereaved; with plans for a way forward or not; security, directly affected by war, trauma, grief or poverty or watching it on T.V., we all have ups and downs. During Advent we bring to God ourselves, our spiritual gifts, our time, our life experience… and our hearts. Christmas brings hope. There are hymns, prayers, online Advent Resources from the Jesuits, Franciscans and others, parish and diocesan events and numerous ways in which we can prepare for Christ’s birth, whether individually or communally.  

Christ brings Challenge AND Hope.  

May you have a Blessed Advent and a Happy, Blessed Christmas! 

Pippa Bonner, December 2023

(1) In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti.  

(Published by many including Decani Music, Suffolk 1999. No copyright holder given. Laudate Hymnal number 144.) 

Fantastic quality prayer booklets/bookmarks – ideal for sending at Christmas

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Whilst on one of my ‘journeys’ poking around the world wide web, I stumbled across this excellent organisation ‘The Prayer Trust ‘.

Started in 2000 under the leadership of Father Pat Sayles, the Trust produces a whole host of prayer booklets, bookmarks, cards and even some CDs. 

On browsing through the items on the website I found a long list of varied items all at extremely affordable prices, so I put in an order.

With bookmarks at 5p, booklets at 10p or above and notecards at 6 for £1.00, I was thinking the printing may be cheaper quality and the paper rather flimsy, but I was absolutely delighted when I opened my package to find high quality gloss booklets with excellent vibrant colours.

The picture above shows most of my haul (some items have already found their way to friends and family), for which I paid the princely sum of less than £7.00 (and that was including an optional extra donation).

The website says: ‘Having spent years in Peru as a Columban Father, Fr Pat is aware of the uplifting  power of prayer across the world,’ and the aim of the Trust is to ‘encourage the use of prayer by everyone, everywhere’. They express their passion like this:  

‘Our hope is that those who use these little books will want to share them with others – with friends and relatives, with neighbours and colleagues, with those who might be ill or suffering, or those who feel far away from the Lord’s love.’

I thought I would share some pictures of items I bought so that you can see them in more detail, and whet your appetite.

Bookmarks

There are many different bookmarks with beautiful pictures and prayers on the back.

Booklets

There are many more booklets, some longer than others, all with lovely images with the prayers.

Cards

These are Notecards, but there are also Greetings Cards including Christmas cards at 10p each.

Folding Bookmarks

These are an ingenious idea, with seven sides of prayers or quotes in one folding bookmark.

This Advent Folding Bookmark entitled ‘Come Lord Jesus’ explains the ‘O Antiphons’.

On the order list on the website there are several Advent and Christmas items available now to order.

So why not head over to their website and take a look!

Please note that not everything has a photo on the website, so use the order form to see all the available items listed. You will need to make your choices and then print off the order to send with a cheque. It may take a few days for them to process the order as some volunteers are unable to go to the building at the moment, but you will not be disappointed when they arrive!

Take a look at the website and place your order: The Prayer Trust

Download content of our recent Online Advent Service: ‘He Comes, He is Revealed’

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It was great to share with around 50 people at our short reflective Advent Service on Saturday 12th December at 4pm via Zoom.

We considered the theme of ‘He Comes, He is Revealed’, as part of this time of Advent preparing for the coming of our Lord.

Opening with a reflection brought to us from the the Chapel at The Briery Retreat Centre (Ilkley), the service included various contributions from members of the committee and recordings of our excellent Diocesan choirs kindly supplied by the Diocese of Leeds Music Service.

Order of Service and Content of Advent Service 121220Download