Scripture readings:
Psalm 139:1-18
Isaiah 40:28-31
Luke 1:39-58
Romans 8:38-39
Affirmations:
2 Samuel 22:33
Isaiah 41:10
Psalm 46:1
Philippians 4:13
Music:
Hymns based on the Magnificat or Advent songs:
My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, 251)
Canticle of the Turning (ELW, 723)
Unexpected and Mysterious (ELW, 258)
Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song) by Amy Grant (Home for Christmas, Myrrh/A&M, 1992).
Songs about women:
For All the Faithful Women (ELW, 419)
Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth (ELW, 735)
Meditative songs:
Wait for the Lord from Taizé (ELW, 262)
Come and Fill Our Hearts from Taizé (ELW, 528)
Here I Am, Lord (ELW, 574)
Take My Life, That I May Be (ELW, 685)
We Are an Offering (ELW, 692)
For the Fruit of All Creation (ELW, 679)
Suggested prayers:
Prayer for the birth of a child (ELW, page 81)
Prayers from the New Zealand Prayer Book (Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia, U.K.: William Collins Publishers, 1989)
Annunciation Day, page 647
Mothering Sunday, page 690
Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child, page 754
Blessing of a Home, page 762
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (ELW, pages 304 and 317).
During my Advent pregnancy I was struck by the lack of images of Mary as a pregnant woman. We go straight from the virgin getting the good news to the blissful mother — with none of the ankle-swelling, nausea or backaches in between. At six months pregnant and three weeks into Advent, I looked far more ready to be delivering a child than Mary.
Pregnancy and labor are frequently used as symbols for the spiritual life, but their actual experiences are left to the care of medical practitioners rather than spiritual ones. And though churches often excel at baby showers, flowers and meals, other opportunities for ministry during this time abound.
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© 2013 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
