(These prayers could be used in a meditative way by one person, or could be used as part of group prayer or carol services)

Lord, there is stillness in your stable. Stillness, Lord, they are working in the hills. Hearing, Lord, the wise respond. Seeing your will in the star They obeyed your call. That's what obedience is, Lord: Responding with generosity to you, everywhere. You are calling for our response in all men and women; In the mentally sick, the retarded, the hungry, the delinquent. Response brings involvement, and that brings suffering: We must give ourselves but look for no reward. In obedience to your example let us go out to those who suffer, Take their troubles into our hearts And you, Lord, will give us strength to bear them. Leader: Live in us, God All: And help us to love
Lord, there is joy in your stable Joy, Lord, its light has warmed the hills - Fired them, Lord, led the wise to worship the majesty of a child. Please give us the awe of the kings: For we worship, too; but not God. Money, sex, power, ourselves and the ending is emptiness. Emptiness which can only be filled by you. Bring all of us into the happiness and consecration of true worship. Leader: Live in us, God All: And help us to love
Lord, there is a family in your stable, a family for work. They work in the hills, Lord, watching for you. Watching a child the wise are fulfilled. They realise themselves in loving self surrender to that child. Fulfillment is humility - self-acceptance, self-giving. The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility - Humility in endless: How can we accept ourselves if we discriminate against others? Look around and you'll see how we fail you: Racial segregation, religious prejudice, Peace comes when we accept you Lord - You, ourselves, and each other. Seeing in all the person of Christ, the plan of the Father. Leader: Live in us, God All: And help us to love
Prayers written by Sr Elisabeth Healy, OP