Gracious God, tonight is the night when heavenly hosts sing “Alleluia!” and shepherds hear first the good news of great joy for all people. Tonight, heaven and earth meet, the majestic and the lowly collide and all creation resounds with your glorious, grace-filled Word. Tonight, the pain and joy of birth begins, and we tremble at the beauty and vulnerability, the tenacity and fragility of nascent life emerging in our midst.
As we abide with the holy family, watching, waiting, listening and longing for the cries of infant Jesus to resound through the darkness of our world, overshadow us with your divine hope that spurs us to justice, your inexplicable peace that quells violence, your complete joy that shatters despair and your perfect love that casts out fear.
Tonight, we rest in the sure and certain knowledge that no matter where we are or what we face, no matter the state of our hearts or the anxieties on our minds, no matter the headlines or the undercurrents, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God, is with us. Amen.
