Fourth Sunday of Advent (Sunday, December 22nd, 2024)

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(please note—due to copyright, versions of songs on the playlist may differ from those used here)


Words of Reflection

Once again, on this last Sunday of Advent t we sit with an instrumental version of a popular carol. There is no written devotional for the day, just an invitation to ponder the words of the carol (found after the video) in a spirit of prayer and listening. What is God’s invitation for you in these words? How do they fill you with hope, with peace, with joy, or with love? What words or phrases in this carol move you to prayer and worship?

Song: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Carol Lyrics

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace of earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th'unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.