Call to Prayer
Leader Let Us gather in the welcome of our Triune God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit.
 Gathered: Lord, it is good for us to be here.
Lighting the Christ candle
Leader Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. Gathered: The Light no darkness can overcome
Invitation Song to Lectio Divina, written and gifted by music minister John Penoyar of Hinesburg, Vermont
Were not our hearts burning as He spoke Were not His words words we longed to hear Were not our eyes opened in the breaking of the bread Were not our hearts burn -ing as He spoke
Our God is here He walks among us When two or three of us are gathered in his name Our God is here and he surrounds us And all creation sings the glory of his name
And we shall rise, as he is risen And though he promised us we did not understand Yes we shall rise as he is risen And we will know him when he calls to us by name.
Lectio Divina Guidelines
Leader: - During the first reading, listen for the overall sense of the passage. Select a word or phrase that captures your attention, as though the Holy Spirit were flashing a light from the text to your heart, asking you to notice it. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, allow your eyes to be opened and your heart to be warmed as God speaks to you.
Leader: During the second reading let us listen for the feelings, sensations and connections that God's Word stirs in us. What message might God be speaking into your life now?. Leader: - During the final reading let us attend to our own hearts for a response to God’s love. What response will you carry forth from this encounter with the Living Word into the world? Leader: Let us now rest in the silence and attend once more to the presence of Christ among us. We hold a quiet space to hear God speaking in our hearts. |
Elegant Madonna, Frank Wesley, 1950
John, 1:1-5, 9-14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.
Lord's Prayer
Leader: In gratitude for Jesus’ presence among u let us speak aloud the prayer he taught us to say to the God who loves us:
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Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, .
as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. for thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
God of glory,
your splendor shines from a manger in Bethlehem,
where the Light of the world is humbly born
into the darkness of human night.
Open our eyes to Christ’s presence in the shadows of our world,
so that we, like him, may become beacons of your justice,
and defenders of all for whom there is no room. Amen.
