I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

As You Sent Your Son--Dec. 24, 2021


O Loving God, as you looked at the earth

and sent your Son to be born of Mary,

now send the Spirit of your Son

into our hearts to free us

from our sin.

 

Then we shall see and be radiant; 

our hearts shall thrill and rejoice.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 102; 148; 130; 16

Isaiah 60:1-6

Gal. 3:23-4:7

Matt. 1:18-25

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 102:19-20

…that he looked down from his holy height,
          from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
          to set free those who were doomed to die…

 

Isaiah 60:5a

Then you shall see and be radiant;

          your heart shall thrill and rejoice…

 

Gal. 3:6

And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

 

Matt. 1:21

“…[Mary] will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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