Advent 5

Song

Psalm

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.

My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on God’s word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than those who watch for daybreak.

Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption.
Israel indeed God will redeem
from all its iniquity.

Reading

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

or

Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Song

Silence

Litany of praise

God our Father, you sent your only Son in order to reconcile all things in him.
—See, God is coming to my aid.

Son of the living God, you shared our humanity and you gave your life for the salvation of the world.
—See, God is coming to my aid.

Holy Spirit, you came down upon Christ and you pour out the Father’s love upon all human beings.
—See, God is coming to my aid.

O Christ, may your incarnation and your birth make us love our human condition.
—See, God is coming to my aid.

May your faithfulness on earth make each of us faithful in our commitment.
—See, God is coming to my aid.

Our Father

Prayer

Christ Jesus, you were a human being; you know how humans aspire to inner peace. Our soul asks you: give us peace within. And in our darkness, you kindle the fire of your forgiveness and your compassion, a fire which never dies away.

or

Jesus our peace, where the trusting of faith has been shaken you make us bearers of your Gospel, and you keep us close to those who are paralyzed by doubt.

Songs