Go to home page - diocesan shield

The Anglican Church in Tasmania                                                             Search

a healthy church...transformingLIFE

spirituality...        Christmas reflections...

 

 

 

 


Greg Mitchell http://www.prayertoons.com

A prayer

Pray that those who come into your home this Christmas may be touched by the light of Christ - maybe through your crib or candle, Advent calendar or candle - or because you yourself are aglow with a quiet joy that communicates in a way that you will never understand.

At this feast of the Nativity
Let each person
Wreathe the door of his heart
So that the Holy Spirit
May delight in his door,
Enter in
And take up residence there;
Then by the Spirit
He will be made holy.

(From Joy to the World by Joyce Huggett pages 81 - 84, reprinted with the kind permission of the author.)

For reflection

This Christmas, can you think of a way of communicating without words the kind of joy that St Francis communicated to the villagers among whom he lived? Perhaps you could place in your home a crib or a card with a nativity scene on it, an Advent candle or calendar or some other visual centre-piece that helps you and others to enter into the awesomeness of the good news that God spells out so joyfully through the prophet Isaiah:

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
They lived in a land of shadows
but now light is shining on them.
You have given them great joy, Lord;
You have made them happy.
They rejoice in what you have done,
as people rejoice when they harvest
For a child is born to us!
A son is given to us!
He will be called, 'Wonderful Counsellor',
'Mighty God,'
'Eternal Father,'
Prince of Peace. '
His royal power will continue to grow.
(Isaiah 9:2, 3, 6,7a GNB)