You are the Christ Light

 In the Christmas Season, we celebrate the presence of the Christ Light. Let us welcome and acknowledge that light within, around and among us.

Open Song: May the Christ Light Shine in You by Kathy Sherman

https://youtu.be/tY0Rj9Yd2lk

A Christmas Prayer

O Holy One, during this Christmas season, help us see Your light
–radiating in the tiniest grain of sand,
In the fungi that grows beneath our feet, in the wildflowers and trees,
–and in every living creature.
For You are love, and love is the energy that ignites and enkindles.
To live in Your love is to realize that darkness is simply differing
–degrees of light,
And light pervades our universe!
 

Dispel our fears, and awaken the hope that lies within us,
For justice, for peace, for unity, for a sustainable earth,
Knowing that with You, all things are possible, and that living in You
All fear surrenders to joy.
 

As we celebrate Your birth;
–help us to know that it is our birth as well.
Help us to know that without us,
You have no place to dwell, to call ‘home.’
Without us You cannot come to birth,
And if You cannot be born in us, then what do we live for?
 

Help us to see that, like You, we are undergoing the pangs of new birth,
–like You, we are not finished,
Our work together, You and I, is to become whole and complete,
You in me and I in You.
 

Christmas is the feast of the whole person,
–the whole creation,
–the whole cosmos
-celebrating the wonder of new birth.
The universe is Theotokos,
–God-bearing.
Everything alive is seeking You,
–longing for You.
 

Christmas is the celebration of love:
In love with love and through love, You and me and all fragile creatures
-are being born
–into a new future together, a new reality.
This new reality is the Christ; the humanity of Jesus is our humanity.

Awaken in me the truth of Christmas: You and I are bound together in love.
Together, You and I and all creation, we are the Christ;
And only through us can your dream for the earth be realized.
Joy to the future fullness of love!

These are the inspired words of Ilia Delio, OSF, a light of Christ, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.

Prayers for the Community:

 (light a candle for each of the following)

We light a candle and pray for all who are marginalized, dispossessed, vulnerable, hungry for good nutrition, thirsty for good drinkable water, desperate to know that they are not forgotten. 

We light a candle and pray for all who have asked for our prayers. 

We light a candle and pray for the Word Made Flesh in us. Let our hearts glow with that light so that we become candles through which the Holy One shines. 

Closing Song: I’ll Light a Candle by Karen Drucker

https://youtu.be/vqM1_u_aUR8