Hellebore ~ Christmas Rose (Buttercup, not Rose family)
Saint Hildegard of Bingen wrote:/ "Rivers of living water are to be poured out over the whole world, to ensure that people can be restored to wholeness."/ We ask for the patience,/ strength,/ courage and resolve we need./ We pray to the Lord.
Speaking to refugees and migrants,/ during a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos,/ Pope Francis recalled the words of Patriarch Bartholomew,/ "Those who are afraid of you have not looked into your eyes,/ they have not seen your faces,/ not seen your children./ They have forgotten that dignity and freedom transcend fear and division./ They have forgotten that migration is not an issue for the Middle East and North Africa/ for Europe and Greece./ It is an issue for the world."/ May the world not look the other way./ We pray to the Lord.
Recently four young people were shot dead in yet another high school shooting,/ others were wounded./ We pray for their traumatized classmates/ and all who are grieving./ We pray for those in our country who don't feel the seriousness of this other epidemic — so many hundreds of young people dying by gun violence./ May God heal our nation and cover our shame./ We pray to the Lord.
Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe,/ the Virgin Mary appearing in 1531 to Juan Diego/ a conquered and reduced man./ We pray for the homeless,/ the exploited,/ sex-trafficked and enslaved persons/ those who are lonely,/ sick,/ dismissed and ignored./ We pray to the Lord.
The liturgical color of this Sunday is rose,/ a color taken from the dawn sky./ As we anticipate Christmas,/ may we eschew greed,/ materialism,/ selfishness and superficiality./ May we understand and practice in some new way the saying we often hear,/ Keep Christ in Christmas./ We pray to the Lord.
