PRAYER FOR THE 2^nd WEEK OF ADVENT

      A SEASON OF LONGING AND EXPECTATION

LEADER        Arise Jerusalem; stand tall. Prepare the way of the Lord. 

SONG             Tune:   “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” 

                        This holy season teaches us that we
                        who now, with Christ, share one humanity,
                        must do our best to bring this fragile earth
                        into the peace that heralds a new birth.
                        Rejoice, rejoice! Our freedom is at hand.
                        The Dawn of Justice shines upon the land. 

LEADER       The prophet is a person who suffers the harms done to others. Whenever a crime is committed, it is as if the prophet were the victim and the prey. The prophet’s angry words cry. The wrath of God is a lamentation.       (Abraham Joshua Heschel) 

RACHEL’S STORY

Rachel, a 12 year old Albanian girl from Korea, a city near the Greek border, believed her new husband, Stephan, when he vowed to love and care for her.  She had just dropped out of school and was working in a cigarette factory.  When Stephan, who was 29, suggested that they move abroad for a better life, they got married and moved to Italy.

Soon after they arrived, Stephan asked Rachel to work on the street as a prostitute.  “I didn’t know what prostitution meant,” says Rachel, now 15. “I thought it was only a job. I didn’t know what kind of job it was.” 

Her husband became her pimp, and she worked on a highway, seeing up to 10 clients a night to earn $250.  “ If I didn’t earn that money, he would beat me,” she recalls. 

SILENT REFLECTION 

RESPONSE              Prepare the way of the Lord.
            Daughter Of Sion, throw off the harness that keeps you prisoner.
                               -   Prepare the way of the Lord
           Stand tall; throw off the harness that keeps you prisoner.
                               -   Prepare the way of the Lord 

SLOWLY READ ALOUD AND PRAY PSALM 126 as if you were Rachel.

ANTIPHON    Rejoice, rejoice, our freedom is at hand. 

SILENT REFLECTION 

FAITH SHARING 
As Rachel, share what thoughts and feelings you are experiencing? 

SLOWLY REREAD ALOUD PSALM 126, this time as yourself. 

SILENT REFLECTION 

FAITH SHARING
What thoughts and feelings are you experiencing?  

SLOWLY REREAD PSALM 126, this time with Rachel. 

SILENT REFLECTION  

FAITH SHARING
What thoughts and feelings are you now experiencing?  Has there been any movement or change? 

INTERCESSIONS 

RESPONSE  The glory of God is dawning on you. Lift up your eyes.
                      Holy Wisdom, You conquer callousness and judge humankind in righteousness,
                                come and liberate all peoples from oppression……..
                       O Word of God, you  suffered the harms done to others, grant us the gift of compassion,
                               and help us welcome the stranger in our midst………
                       Holy Spirit, You that cleanse deep hurt, open our minds and hearts to hear your prophetic
                               voice in speech and in silence……….. 

Additional prayers….. 

SONG OF HANNAH   1 Samuel 2:1-2, 5, 7-9 

ANTIPHON    Shadow me with your wings until all danger passes.
                        Extend to me, O God, Your love that never fails.
                        My heart exults in the Lord,
                        my strength is exalted in my God.
                        My mouth derides my enemies,
                        because I rejoice in my victory.

                      There is no Holy One like the Lord,
                      no one besides you;
                      there is no Rock like our God. 

                      Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
                       but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
                       The barren has borne seven,
                       but she who has many children is forlorn. 

                       The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
                       God brings low but also exalts.
                       The Most High raises up the poor from the dust,
                        lifts the needy from the ash heap,
                        to make them sit with princes
                       and inherit a seat of honor.

                       For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s
                       and on them God has set the world.
                       The most High will guard the feet of the faithful ones,
                       but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
                       for not by might does one prevail. 

CLOSING PRAYER
O God whose will is justice for the poor
and peace for the afflicted,
let your herald’s urgent voice
pierce our hardened hearts
and announce the dawn of your kingdom.
Before the advent of the one who baptizes
with the fire of the Holy Spirit,
let our complacency give way to conversion,
oppression to justice and conflict to acceptance of one another in Christ.
We ask this through him whose coming is certain,
whose day draws near; Your son
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever., our Lord Jesus Christ,