(Make the sign of the cross with your right thumb on your lips, saying:)

Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

INVITATORY: Come, let us worship the Lord.
He is the King who is to come.

Psalm 36 (35)
Sin whispers to the sinner in the depths of his heart.
There is no fear of God before his eyes.

He so flatters himselve in his mind
that he knows not his guilt.
In his mouth is mischief and deceit.
All wisdom is gone.

He plots the defeat of goodness
as he lies in bed.
He has set his feet on evil ways,
hy clings to what is evil.

Your love, Lord, reaches to heaven, your truth to the skies.
Your justice is like God's mountain,
your judgments like the deep.

To mortals and beasts you give protection.
O Lord, how precious is your love.
My God, the children of the earth
find refuge in the shelter of your wings.

They feast on the riches of your house;
they drink from the stream of your delight.
In you is the source of life
and in your light we see light.

Keep on loving those who know you,
doing justice for upright hearts.
Let the foot of the proud not crush me
nor the hand of the wicked cast me out.

See how the evildoers fall!
Flung down, they shall never arise.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen

Come, let us worship the Lord.
He is the King who is to come.

ANT: Exult in the presence of God. Sing hymns of praise to him.

Psalm 47 (46)
All peoples, clap your hands,
cry to God with shouts of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,
great king over all the earth.

He subdues peoples under us
and nations under our feet.
Our inheritance, our glory, is from him,
given to Jacob out of love.

God goes up with shouts of joy;
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Sing praise for God, sing praise,
sing praise to our king, sing praise.

God is king of all the earth,
sing praise with all your skill.
God is king over the nations;
God reigns on his holy throne.

The leaders of the people are assembled
with the people of Abraham's God.
The rulers of the earth belong to God,
to God who reigns over all.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen

ANT: Exult in the presence of God. Sing hymns of praise to him.

READING (Isaiah 7:14b-15)
The virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall be living on curds and honey by the time he learns to reject the bad and choose the good.

[Reflect on the Reading, applying it to your life today.]

ANT: The One who is coming after me is greater than I; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH (Luke 1:68-79)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham;
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen

ANT: The One who is coming after me is greater than I; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals.

INTERCESSIONS

Oh Word of God, you humbled yourself to live with us so that you can lead us to your glory. Let us be filled with the hope of one day living in your glory. We pray to the Lord.

You come as King of peace, turn our hatred into love and our grievances into forgiveness. We pray to the Lord.

You do not judge by appearance, help us to accept all people regardless of their standing in society. We pray to the Lord.

When you come at the end of time, may we be found worthy to stand before you without shame. We pray to the Lord.

(Pray for your special intentions.)

OUR FATHER
And now we pray to God the Father in the words that Jesus taught us.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen

PRAYER
Lord our God, grant that we may be ready to receive Christ when he comes in glory and to share in the banquet of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen