A Prayer for Advent, Week 1

I have come to bring you peace.

I found this prayer (hyperlinked) on Catholic.org.  The website has a weekly Advent prayer, and while I wasn't too inspired by their selection, I really liked this one.  Isn't that a wonderful idea?  When has someone said that to you?  Ever?  "Hey, how's it going?  I've come to bring you peace, just wanted you to know that you're loved, and that it's on a level so deep that you can't really even begin to fathom what it really means...."

My favorite- absolute favorite part of this prayer is the third phrase- maybe it's because I have the absolute hardest time with self-acceptance, self-love, self-worth... But I'm workin' on it!  I have good days and bad days, and those good days are starting to out number the bad- amen. 

As we enter into this Advent Season, prepare yourself to welcome and accept Love! 

I have come to bring you peace.

Not the peace of the season, for it is too fleeting,
Not the peace of the carol, for it is nostalgic,
Not the peace of the greeting card, for it is too slick,
Not the peace of the crib, for it is too wistful.


Rather, I have come to bring you peace,
Peace of the ordinary, the daily, the homely,
Peace for the worker, the driver, the student,
Peace in the office, the kitchen, the farm.


I have come to bring you peace,
The peace of accepting yourself as I fashioned you.
The peace of knowing yourself as I know you,
The peace of loving yourself as I love you,
The peace of being yourself as I am who I am.

I have come to bring you peace,
The peace that warms you at the completion of a task,
The peace that invades you at the close of the day,
The peace that sustains you at the beginning of the day,
The peace that reinforces you when you are reconciled with one another.
The peace that touches you when your family is in order.

Without peace, my coming is unfulfilled.
Without peace, my birth is forgettable.
Without peace, Christmas is a contradiction.
I have come to bring you peace.

© Liguori Publications
Excerpt from Advent - A Quality Storecupboard The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

---