Third Sunday of Advent Meeting Emmanuel

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For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.    from Isaiah 65

We worship a God who approaches us -- not as a distant deity, but in the birth of child -- a child born to poverty, to exile, to oppression, and to the daily threat of violence from a government that exploited the people it governed and a political leader who held absolute power over peoples lives. If we ask where God is today, the anticipation of Advent, the expectation of Emmanuel/God With Us, born today, leads us into the midst of all our brokenness and suffering.

Emmanuel/God With Us, invites us into the places of pain and struggle -- to meet our neighbors and to encounter the healing presence of God. Emmanuel/God With Us invites us to act with expectancy, to live and to love as though Gods new creation is now -- doing justice and loving kindness, that we might taste and share the beauty and the joy and the peace of being with God.   -excerpt from "Meeting Emmanuel" by Rev. Dr.Teresa Chávez Sauceda, Program Manager for Advanced Pastoral Studies, San Francisco Theological Seminary

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Interfaith Procession and Candlelight Prayer for UN Climate Meeting Scheduled for Monday November 30 in Albuquerque

11:24 PM in 30, albuquerque, and, Aqua, candlelight, climate, for, in, interfaith, meeting, monday, november, prayer, procession, scheduled, un

The Interfaith community in Albuquerque is coming together on Monday, Nov. 30, for a procession and candlelight vigil ahead of the upcoming UN Climate Talks in Paris. The vigil begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Federal Building, Gold and 6th SW, and ends at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 619 Copper Ave. NW  Here is a map (Note: The exact route will be announced later. The map just shows the starting and ending locations)

Even as the world is reeling from the violence in Paris, World Leaders from more than 150 nations prepare for the UN Climate Change meeting in Paris, November 30-December 11. An unprecedented number of leaders of religious traditions, including Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama and Muslim and Jewish world leaders are calling all people to act for climate justice. They will offer a moral voice to public officials as they meet to agree to an international agreement.
 

You are invited to participate in a special prayer for the meeting and to bless those from Albuquerque who will be traveling to Paris for this important gathering.

Order of evening:
*Procession calling to mind the many climate refugees
*Candle light prayer in Immaculate Conception with music, sacred dance, prayers by major religious tradition representatives, blessing of those going to Paris and blessing of those representing organizations that will be in Paris, call to action.

Co-sponsors: New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, New Mexico Conference of Churches, New Mexico Oxfam Action Corps, Bread for the World-New Mexico, Catholic Charities of Central New Mexico, Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, and others.

For more information contact Sister Joan Brown (joan@nm-ipl.org).

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A Powerful Prayer to Open a City Council Meeting in Boise Idaho

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“We come before you to confess we seek peace through violence and find security in weapons. And we abandon the hungry and the sick and the homeless, and we pursue wealth at all costs. We mistreat the creation you have entrusted to our care. Forgive us, Holy One for our hubris and our short-sighted behavior. Even so, you love us.” 

-Rev. Marci Auld Glass, Pastor,Southminster Presbyterian Church, in Boise, Idaho, Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the start of a city coucil meeting. (Read more this srticle in Idaho Statesman).

Rev. Glass is a member the governing board of  Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico

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