Christmas Blessings

As we begin this Christmas Season, I offer the Christmas Day prayer from the Advent Prayer Booklet of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem:

Verse of the Day

‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ (John 13:35)

Prayer by Archbishop Hosam Naoum:

Lord Jesus Christ, who in the fullness of time became incarnate as the Light of the world, who came as a small child carrying in your weakness the power of heaven, entering our troubled world to teach us one language—the language of love that never fails:

In this holy season, we stand before your humble manger to learn anew the lesson of your birth: that the way to you passes through the path of eternal love, and that the true mark of discipleship is not speech nor knowledge, but the love that becomes mercy, forgiveness, and generosity.

Lord, teach us to love as you have loved; to see in every person your divine image; and to break down the walls of division and strife, that we may make your peace present in our homes, our parishes, and our community.

O Child of the Manger, make us faithful disciples in the school of your Nativity—carrying the warmth of your heart to the cold, comforting the sorrowful, strengthening the weak, and opening the doors of hope to all who seek your light. Let your Nativity be a new birth of love within us, that we may live your commandment by which the world will know we belong to you: that we have love for one another. Amen.

Christmas Blessings,

Judy Q +