In this edition:

1. Liturgy Committee Mission
2. Advent Table Prayers
3. Christmas Table Prayers
4. Blessing of the Advent Wreath, Christmas Crèche, and Christmas Tree
5. Liturgical News
6. Advent Reflections
7. Advent/Christmas Liturgies at St. Tom's 2008

Liturgy Committee Mission

The mission of the liturgy team is to provide education, understanding and enrichment of liturgical prayer for the assembly, including members and guests of St. Tom's through the liturgical year. The team seeks to promote full and active participation in the liturgy.

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Advent Table Prayers

Break Bread / Baking Biscuits:
linking the altar table with the kitchen table

The following table prayers have been written with inspiration from the Sacramentary and Scripture Readings for the Liturgical Cycle B Season of Advent / Christmas. Pray these prayers at meal time so that our individual dining tables will be ever more closely connected to our community altar table at St. Toms.

Week One:
We lift our hearts to you, O God! During this season of Advent, we especially call to mind your son coming among us as a man. We wait and watch for the day when he will come to us again to fulfill the plan of salvation you began so long ago. We ask your blessings upon this food. May it nourish those around this table so that “you might meet us doing right as we are mindful of you in our ways” (Is 64: 4).
We give you thanks as we ask you to hear our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Week Two:
We lift our hearts to you, O God! As we await a new heaven and a new earth during this season of Advent, we ask that the valleys of hunger be filled with our donations to the food bank. We ask that the mountain of plenty be leveled by gifts to those most in need. Help us to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts as we humbly give you thanks and praise through Christ our Lord for the meal you have placed before us. Amen.

Week Three:
We lift our hearts to you, O God. You sent John the Baptist to ready us for Jesus. Our hearts are eager to be filled with wonder and praise. Bless the food before us to give us the strength “to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners” (Is 61: 1b). We ask this through Christ who has filled us with joy. Amen.

Week Four:
O God of the living, through the prophets, you remind us to be persistent in our prayer. When Mary said “yes” to your request, she set in motion your loving promise of our salvation. Help us to say “yes” to your presence in our lives.
Keep us close to you and obedient in faith as we make final preparations in our hearts to celebrate, once again the birth of your beloved son. We ask your blessing upon those gathered here and bless also this food lovingly prepared for this family. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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Christmas Table Prayers

Christmas Day and Feast of the Holy Family:
We give you thanks in all things, O God. With awe and wonder we bask in the light of your Son who is born anew into our hearts. May the food you place before us, nourish us so that we may become a new light to those who still wander in darkness. Let the Holy Family inspire our family to live a life of holiness. We ask this through the One born to die for our salvation, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Mary, Mother of God:
We give you thanks in all things, O God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary gave birth to your Son, our Lord Jesus. Inspired by Mary’s faith, may we too be gifted with the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to guide us to be true disciples of your Son. Bless our time together around this table as we enjoy the fruits of the earth that will nourish and sustain us. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Epiphany of the Lord:
We give you thanks in all things, O God. The star of Bethlehem continues to guide all nations and races to the King of Kings. We ask that you bless the food that has been lovingly prepared to sustain us on our journey toward the Babe in the manger. We ask this through the One who is Light for all people, Christ our Lord. Amen.

Baptism of the Lord:
We give you thanks in all things, O God. Your voice was heard over the waters of the Jordan as your Son surrendered himself for baptism. May we be open to hear your voice as it continues to awaken our faith and call us to action for the needs of the world. We give you thanks for this meal and may it strengthen us to work to end hunger in the world. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the One to whom we have been united through baptism. Amen.

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Blessing of the Advent Wreath, Christmas Crèche, and Christmas Tree

Blessing of Advent Wreath:
Lord God, your church joyfully awaits
the coming of its Savior,
who enlightens our hearts and dispels the darkness of ignorance and sin.

Pour forth your blessings upon us as we light
the candles of this wreath;
may their light reflect the splendor of Christ who is Lord,
forever and ever, Amen.

Blessing of Christmas Crèche:
God of every nation and people, from the very beginning of creation you have made manifest your love: when our need for a Savior was great you sent your Son to be born of the Virgin Mary. To our lives he brings joy and peace, justice, mercy and love.

Lord, bless all who look upon this manger; may it remind us of the humble birth of Jesus, and raise up our thoughts to him, who is God-with-us and Savior of all, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessing of Christmas Tree:
Lord our God, we praise you for the light of creation: the sun, the moon and the stars of the night. We praise you for the light of Israel; the Law, the prophets and the wisdom of the Scriptures. We praise you for Jesus Christ, your Son: he is 'Emmanuel, God'-with-us, the Prince of Peace, who fills us with the wonder of your love.

Lord God, let your blessing come upon us as we illumine this tree. May the light and cheer it gives be a sign of the joy that fills our hearts. May all who delight in this tree come to the knowledge and joy of salvation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Liturgical News

Advent
The word Advent derives from the Latin word meaning coming. The Lord is coming. We may reflect that every year at this time we celebrate his coming , so that in a sense we can lose the feeling of expectancy and joyful anticipation, because at the end of the season, everything seems to return to pretty much the same routine. If that is the case, then our preparation may have been lacking and we have therefore been robbed of much of the true meaning of this season.
During Advent we recall the history of God's people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled. This gives us a background for the present. Today we can reflect on the past track record of God and so begin to understand what it means to us now for the sake of what is to come, in our own future and that of our world.

© Liguori Publications Excerpt from Advent - A Quality Storecupboard The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

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Advent Reflections

When I was younger, my parents, as part of the Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving, would put out the nativity scene. I remember the humble stable, with Mary and Joseph, sheep and cows present. Ours even had an angel with a flashlight to shine the light on the baby Jesus. But until Christmas Day, there was no baby Jesus in the scene.

Where Jesus’ manger was to be, instead, was an empty space yearning to be filled. My brother and I were charged with filling that space with hay for the baby Jesus by doing good deeds, not fighting with each another, and generally being good. The more good we did, the more hay there was in the stable, and the softer Jesus’ bed would be. Every night when we would pray as a family around our Advent wreath, my brother and I would share what we did that day that we felt would allow us to further prepare a space for Jesus. We then placed a piece of hay in the manger and rejoiced in the fact that we were going to make Jesus a little more comfortable when He arrived. Little did we know that through preparing a bed of hay in a nativity set we were actually preparing our hearts for the arrival of Christ into our lives.

The word “Advent” actually means “arrival” and during Advent we sing songs about making a highway in the desert, of waiting in stillness, of looking East in earnest for the coming of the Lord. We will sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel, a song that is rooted in Isaiah’s prophecies of the coming of Christ and in the names given to Jesus – O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Dayspring, O Desire of Nations, and O Emmanuel – the final here and the first in the song actually meaning “God is with us.” But is He really? Have we allowed Him into our hearts? Have we prepared a space for Him – be it hay in the manger or room in our day to acknowledge His presence? Even if we have prepared the space, made straight the highway, and opened our hearts to God, has the world done the same?

We usually get through three or four verses of O Come, O Come Emmanuel in mass – sometimes even five verses are sung before the opening prayer. This year, I invite you to look at the sixth and seventh verses of the song. As we look at the troubling times around us and in our world – the poor in our midst, the wars in the Middle East, the economic and food shortage problems across the world – the entire song, but particularly these last two verses, bring us hope that there is a brighter day on the horizon. The sixth verse calls for the Dayspring to dawn and disperse the “gloomy clouds of night/And death’s dark shadow put to flight.” The seventh verse calls for Christ as the “Desire of Nations” to “bid our sad divisions cease/And be for us our King of Peace.” And we end each verse with “Rejoice!” as we pray that Emmanuel will truly be God with us. We live in a world where joy is sometimes hard to have, where Christ’s presence is truly needed, where our actions during Advent, and, indeed, year round, can bring Christ to those around us, to those most in need right where we are now.

I remember on Christmas Eve reveling in just how much hay my brother and I had managed to accumulate and place in the stable for the baby Jesus, how soft we thought we had made it for him. I remember on Christmas morning not only rejoicing in the presents under the tree, but also in the fact that Jesus had arrived in the stable on the pile of hay we had amassed. Today I wonder now how much hay I’m laying in the stable, how comfortable I am making Jesus’ home in my heart.

This Advent, and every Advent, provides us the opportunity to welcome Christ into our lives anew and to share Him with those around us. We are invited to rejoice in the fact that God is with us, and that His presence can bring peace and joy to all the world. Let us work to invite Christ into our hearts, our minds, our beings, and to truly prepare a space for Him in our daily lives. May this Advent be the one where our preparations for the coming of the Lord not only prepare a space for Him in our nativity, but also in our lives, our families, our world.

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Advent/Christmas Liturgies at St. Tom's 2008

1st Weekend of Advent November 29/30

Masses: Saturday 5:30pm; Sunday 9am, 11am, 7pm, and 9pm

2nd Weekend of Advent December 6/7

Masses: Saturday 5:30pm; Sunday 9am, 11am, 7pm, and 9pm

* Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception December 8

Masses at 11:30am and 7pm

3rd Weekend of Advent December 13/14

Finals and Grad Blessing at all of the Masses

Masses: Saturday 5:30pm; Sunday 9am, 11am, 7pm, and 9pm

4th Weekend of Advent December 20/21

Masses: Saturday 5:30pm; Sunday 9am, 11am

Join the Art and Environment team in setting up worship space for Christmas after the 11am Mass

* Christmas Eve Liturgies December 24

5:30pm Mass

11:30pm Carols/Concert with Mass at Midnight

* Christmas Day Liturgy December 25

11:00am Mass

Feast of the Holy Family December 27/28

Masses: Saturday 5:30pm; Sunday 9am and 11am

* Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God January 1

11:00am Mass

* Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord January 3/4

Masses: Saturday 5:30pm; Sunday 9am and 11am

Baptism of the Lord January 10/11

Masses: Saturday 5:30pm; Sunday 9am, 11am, 7pm, and 9pm

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