Thursday December 24 Christmas Eve
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Psalm 45
A poem about King David, using the imagery of an ancient oriental king, describing his personal and public magnificence and the glory of his relationship with the queen. Note that his prime duty is to serve truth and justice.
We can read this poem as a description of our own fulfilled self and relationships which have been made possible for us in union with Christ’s resurrection.
Psalm 46
Neither storms on water or storms of war will shake me because I know that God is behind all the world. Like a river flowing through the city, God is always in our midst.
Isaiah 35: 1-10
The people are enslaved across the impassible Syrian desert a thousand kilometres from Jerusalem. Isaiah asks the people to imagine that God will make that desert like a fruitful field with a highway running straight to Jerusalem on which they can return in safety, health and fulfilment.
Early Christians used this image of a great highway across the desert to explain John the Baptist’s role in preparing for the arrival of Christ.
Luke 1: 67-80
Like Mary, John the Baptist’s father sings a song of praise to God who had not forgotten the covenant made with Abraham to rescue the people. What would a discovery that God still acts to rescue us mean in our time?
This week’s collect:
Eternal God,
this holy night is radiant
with the brilliance of your one true light.
As we have known
the revelation of that light on earth,
bring us to see the splendour of your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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