The Saviour’s Day
Dúirt an t-aingeal leo ‘Rugabh Slanaitheoir daoibh inniu I gcathair Dháiví, is é Críost an Tiarna é.
(The angel said: ‘A saviour will be born in Bethlehem who will be Christ the Lord.’)
Blessings
Beannachtaí na Nollag agus Síocháin san Athbhlian.
(Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.)
Prayer for Open Hearts
We turn to God in prayer at the start of this new day. We ask you Lord to take care of us all and of all those we love and care about.
Help us Lord to always be loving, caring people. In the scriptures we are told:
‘O that today you would listen to his voice. Harden not your
hearts.’
From a spiritual point of view, hardness of heart is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone.
To adopt a hard-hearted attitude is to maim oneself.
A hard heart can’t feel, can’t respond, can’t love.
A hard heart can’t experience joy.
A hard heart is a closed heart.
A hard heart is a barren heart.
A soft heart, on the other hand, is a blessing.
A soft heart can receive and can respond.
It can be saddened, but it can also be deliriously happy.
Softened by the rain of God’s grace,
And warmed by the sun of his love,
The human heart can be turned from a desert into a garden.
Morning Prayer
At the start of this brand-new day we pause to pray:
Before we begin our work, we turn to you, O Lord.
For it is your work that we do, the work of your gospel.
We know this but we often lose sight of it.
We begin to rely on our own efforts only.
Or we lose sight of the vision and get absorbed in the details.
And so today, we bring to our work a lively sense that you,
Lord,
Are the ground and the goal, the inspiration of all that we do.
In this awareness may we do our work lovingly.
In this awareness may we do our work joyfully.
May we not be too quick with our judgements,
Our agenda, our interpretations.
May we pause patiently, to open up to your wisdom,
To see with your eyes.
And may we not be so absorbed in our tasks
That we forget our co-workers and those for whom we struggle.
May the way in which we carry out our work
Make for healing and reassurance for all.
Prayer for New Year’s Day:
Let’s Build a New Tomorrow
Let’s build a new tomorrow
Let’s forget about the past.
An end to hate and sorrow
Let’s build a peace that lasts.
No more pain
No more sorrow
Let’s build a new tomorrow
Let’s build a world like heaven above
Let’s build a world united in love.
No more children in tears
No more famine or fears.
Our world can resonate with new sounds
Instead of darkness, let love and beauty abound.
Let the force of peace
Silence the stormy seas
let love and laughter
Echo from the highest trees.
Prayer for Peace
We pray for peace . . . in our hearts, our homes, our country and our world.
We pray for each one in our community, especially those who are sick or troubled in any way.
Lord, we pray, help us throughout this day . . . to be a comfort to the sad . . . to be a friend to the lonely . . . to be an encouragement to those who are down . . . to be a help to those who are stressed.
Help us all through this day . . . to do nothing which would be a cause of temptation to someone else or which would make it easier for someone else to go wrong. Help us not to discourage anyone who is doing their best.
Help us not to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm or to increase anyone’s doubt.