Blessed be You, Lord our God, for gathering us together to listen to Your Word.
Grant us the grace to empty ourselves, to come to You in poverty,like so many watchers before us, like Mary and the people of expectation.
Let us hear, amid our noise and worn-out words, the Word that brings peace, that comforts the afflicted, that feeds the hungry and frees the prisoner.
To hear your Word, open the ears of our hearts and prepare us to meet you in Jesus, your Word who comes into the world.
Maranatha! Come, Lord!