One: Holy God,
who chose to be among us rather than beyond us—
We pray differently this night,
this night when we remember you came for each of us and all of us—
We pray for those with a prophet’s voice, who remind us of your justice
Many: For William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign
One: For the voices of Black Lives Matter and Me Too
Many: For Millard and Linda Fuller and Habitat for Humanity
One: For those like Margaret Sanger, who fight for equal rights for women
Many: For churches everywhere who provide more than seven billion dollars in aid in the United States alone
One: We pray for the people whose story is like the story of the Holy Family
Many: For the people who fled the violence of their homelands and wait at the border
One: For the parents and children who wait apart from each other
Many: For the many who live with violence
in Sudan, in Yemen, in Detroit, in St. Louis, in so many places near and far.
One: For those who wonder if they could care for a child, those for whom hope and fear are intermingled
Many: For those who cannot find someone willing to make room for them
One: We pray for our neighbors like the shepherds
Many: for those who work difficult, smelly jobs for too little pay
One: for those who sleep in the cold, on the dirt, in the street
Many: for those who labor so others may eat
One: for those who live close enough to the edge that angels find them
Many: for the people whose words we are never privileged enough to hear
One: We pray for those who rule, as the Magi did
Many: for those who make laws and decisions about healthcare
One: for those who regulate and legislate our food
Many: for those who decide wages
One: for those who determine the futures of the our LGBT friends and family
Many: for those who have people entrusted to their care.
One: We pray in the hope of the Christ child
Who transformed the world by coming in vulnerability rather than power
There is a light that shines in the darkness
Many: and the darkness could not overcome it.
Let us walk in the Light. Amen.
