Prayers of the People, Advent 4A

​God of Mystery,
you looked with favor
upon a woman born of humble circumstance
and chose her
to bear your Son to the world.
Hear the cries of women everywhere,
whose past has dictated their present
and threatens their futures.
Open the ears of men around the world
to hear the songs of justice
sung by mothers,
desperate for righteousness to reign
for the world in which their children
live in the hope of freedom.
Send your messengers to speak words of comfort,
healing,
and grace,
to those who are feeling betrayed
abandoned,
and alone ...
to those who fear the worst
and those who are living it.
Make your presence known to us, we pray,
in dreams
and visions,
in thoughtful conversation
and patient listening,
in pondering
and in a peace that passes all understanding.
Grant that we may be transformed
into a people of patient perseverance
as we seek to live according to your Word,
living and relevant
in every time and place.