Office of Theology and Worship Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) tls 9
“You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace."
Let us pray:
God of hope, Prince of Peace,
You speak peace into the world
in the Way of the Christ child.
Help us embody your peace
and live as peacemakers
that we may called children of God.
God of hope, God of peace,
into our darkness come.
One verse of the O Antiphons may be sung or recited each Sunday. A sung version is the hymn
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
And/Or
You may want to sing the Cameroonian/Iona “He Came Down” #2085 in Sing the Faith, #137
in Glory to God. In the spirit of the folk song, you may wish to add “hope” as the first verse.
Third Sunday in Advent: Joy
This Sunday’s Advent wreath candle lighting varies because it is Gaudette (=”rejoice!”)
Sunday. As a break from the heaviness of Advent’s penitential preparations, this Sunday
offers a reprise from our dark longings to offer joy’s glimmer of light. The Latin word
Gaudette is grammatically imperative, reminding us that even in the midst of darkness, we are
called to rejoice. This is also why we light a pink candle—the color of joy in the penitential
season of blue/purple. Only the Christ candle is white, also a color signifying joy in many
cultures, because the fullness of joy is in the Lord.
After the greeting in the name of the Lord, the pastor says the following:
Watch and wait for Christ’s coming!
Light candles of hope, peace, joy, and love,
remembering the promises of God with prayer.
We light this candle in hope. Light the first candle.
We light this candle for peace. Light the second candle.
We light this candle in joy! Light the third (pink, if used) candle.
To those who live as exiles from home in a dark time, to those enslaved as exiles due to others’
oppression, to those who are sin’s exiles from their best God-promised selves, the Lord speaks
the joy of good news. A reading from Zephaniah 3:14-20.