A GIFT OF HOPE
An Advent Prayer by Joyce Rupp
God of all those who yearn for a glimmer
of assurance on the long journey to you, come!
Come with the vast storehouse of renewed dreams,
hopes and peacefulness!
GOD OF HOPE,
Enter into my memory and remind me often
of the yearning of the people of history.
Stir up stories of how the ancestors
hung on your promises,
how they stole hope from tiny glimmers
about you, passed on from age to age.
Help me to hear the loud, crying voices of the prophets who proclaimed that a new age would dawn.
GOD OF HOPE,
Enter into this heart of mine
which often loses itself in self,
missing the message of your encouragement
because I am so entangled in the web of my own whirl of life.
Enable me to not lose sight of the power of your presence or the truth of your consolation.
GOD OF HOPE,
Enter into the lives of all those I hold dear,
the ones whose lives are marked with pain,
struggle, and deep anxiety,
those whose lives bear ongoing heartaches,
those whose difficulties threaten to overwhelm
them with helplessness and despair.
Come and gift them with a deep belief about you
and your never-ending faithfulness and companionship.
GOD OF HOPE,
Come into every human heart
that cries out for a glimpse of your love,
for a sign of your welcoming presence,
for a taste of happiness.
Be the one who calms the restless
and gentles the ache of the human journey.
GOD OF HOPE,
Enter into this Advent Season
with the grace of joy and laughter.
Fill faces with smiles of delight and voices
with sounds of pleasure.
Let this gift come from deep within.
Replenish all with the joyful blessings that only your peace can bring.
GOD OF HOPE,
Be the Morning Star in our Midst,
the Light that can never go out,
the Beacon of Hope guiding our way to you.
Come into our midst and make of our lives a home,
where your everlasting goodness resonates with assuring love and vigorous hope.
May the Light of Christ
that has come into our world
fill all of our hearts with Joy and Peace!
Join me in fathoming the depths of this liturgical season of the year by immersing ourselves in a profound spiritual prayer that I have found so powerful to enter into
during this Advent Season.
A BLESSED ADVENT TO EVERYONE!
