Morning Reading: Psalm Ps 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17

Psalm Ps 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17

baby jesusO God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; He shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment.

The mountains shall yield peace for the people, and the hills justice. He shall defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the poor.

Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

May his name be blessed forever; as long as the sun his name shall remain. In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.

Advent Song: “Mary did you know?” – Kathy Mattea

Henry Ossawa Tanner - The Annunciation, oil on canvas, 57 x 71.25 in., Philadelphia Museum of Art
Henry Ossawa Tanner – The Annunciation, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Mary, Did You Know – Kathy Mattea

Mary did you know that your baby boy would some day walk on water
Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new
This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you

Please click on audio file – “Mary, Did You Know” – Kathy Mattea

Mary did you know that your baby boy would give sight to a blind man
Mary did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with his hand

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod
And when your kiss your little baby, then you’ve kissed the face of God

Mary did you know? Mary did you know

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the Lamb

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb
This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I Am

Christmas Carol: “As with Gladness, Men of Old” – from English Cathedrals (YouTube)

As with Gladness, Men of Old

Detail of Rubens 'The Adoration of the Magi' in St Janskerk in Mechelen.
Detail of Rubens ‘The Adoration of the Magi’ in St Janskerk in Mechelen.
As with gladness men of old
did the guiding star behold;
as with joy they hailed its light,
leading onward, beaming bright,
so, most gracious Lord, may we
evermore your splendor see.

As with joyful steps they sped
to that lowly manger bed,
there to bend the knee before
him whom heaven and earth adore,
so, may we with willing feet
ever seek the mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
at that manger rude and bare,
so may we with holy joy,
pure and free from sin’s alloy,
all our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to you, our heavenly King.

Holy Jesus, every day
keep us in the narrow way;
and when earthly things are past,
bring our ransomed lives at last
where they need no star to guide,
where no clouds thy glory hide.

Morning Reading: Isaiah 25.6-9 ESV – no more tears

Isaiah 25.6-9 ESV

TearsOn this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Christmas Carol: “Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming”

Rose_Bud_Red1Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright, she bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.