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Christmas: SHEPHERD TABLEAU

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(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 listening in the hills.
The shepherds hear your message of love and peace
But do we hear your voice in the cries of our brothers?
The ears of the world are shut - apathy lies heavy
Breading indifference, insensitivity, cruelty.

'They just don't care', say the lonely, the frightened, the sick.
We just don't care?
Help us Lord to listen;
to be aware of the needs of our fellowmen.
Teach us to care, Lord, as you cared.

Leader: Live in us, God
All: And help us to love		  {mosimage}
 

Lord, there is joy in your stable.
Joy, Lord, its light has warmed the hills.
You gave the light of faith to the shepherds in their simplicity of heart.
We believe, Lord, help our unbelief.
Let us know that if we have faith
and trust
Darkness can only be the Father's gentle hand
shielding our eyes from the sting of light.


But a different darkness envelopes us, Lord:
The blackness of ignorance, error, sin and despair.
We can lift it by spreading the light you have given us;
Let us put our candles together
Flaming the world with the torch of Faith.


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.
Sharing in the work of Redemption, the work of love.

We get stuck in the mud of efficiency.
The dignity of work goes, and with it, the dignity of our humanity.
And so we have inflation, unrest, strikes, crises;

And all the while children are dying of hunger
because their fathers can find no work.

Please help us to gain a stability in our attitude to work,
which will permeate the whole world:-
seeing labour in its true perspective,
Making it sacred by bringing it into the labour of Christ.

Leader: Live in us, God
All: And help us to love
  {mosimage}
 Prayers written by Sr Elisabeth Healy, OP