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Please note: This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

ANTHEM: Thomas Weelkes: Hosanna to the Son of David听

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And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.听听

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Good morning. My name is Ally Barrett, and this Advent Sunday鈥檚 act of worship comes from the chapel of St Catharine鈥檚 College in Cambridge, where I am chaplain; our Chapel is an 18th century building which replaced an older structure now lost somewhere beneath our front court. In this, our 550th anniversary year, and surrounded by buildings old and new, the community at St Catharine鈥檚 looks back and forward, to its history and to our responsibilities to the future.听 Our current students will be amongst those who will, in their careers, be required to engage in dealing with the moral and practical challenges of social and environmental change; and this morning we gather some of these thoughts into the context of worship.听

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Advent is a season of expectation as the church prepares to celebrate the first coming of Christ and looks forward to his return.听听听

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Sunday Worship during Advent will explore the theme of God鈥檚 justice.听 Today, we take an environmental perspective, justice towards the earth. Never has such a theme been more pertinent to a world torn apart by the violence of war not only in the Middle East and Ukraine but in so many other places.听

听And so we begin in prayer:听听

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,听听

Who still brings light from darkness, and order from chaos, 听
and who gives that peace which the world cannot give;听

As we seek the signs of your presence in our midst, 听
keep us attentive to the beauty and brokenness of your world听
and strengthen our hearts and minds, and hands and voices听
that we may work for your justice, show your mercy听
and walk with humility and confidence 听
in the paths of righteousness and peace, 听
that the whole creation may rejoice and sing your praise.听 听
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 听
Blessed be God for ever. 听
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We鈥檝e already heard singing from the two choirs at St Catharine鈥檚: the College Choir, comprising students from the College, and our children鈥檚 Girls鈥� Choir.听 Now the Girls Choir sings Piers Maxim鈥檚 setting of the Advent carol People Look East:听

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Anthem: 听
People look East: Arr. Piers Maxim听

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Many of our students are deeply committed to environmental responsibility.听 Emilia is a third year classics undergraduate who last year was one of the College ethical and environmental officers. She will now share some of the ways that her faith is connected with her passion for caring for creation.听

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鈥業f I really wanted to pray I鈥檒l tell you what I鈥檇 do. I鈥檇 go out into a great big field all alone or into the deep, deep woods and I鈥檇 look up into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness and then I鈥檇 just feel a prayer.鈥� That鈥檚 a quote from Anne of Green Gables talking to Marilla.听

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In the midst of a busy term Chapel and nature both help to keep me grounded, to remind myself that there is so much more to life than deadlines and essays. At this time of year, it鈥檚 particularly calming seeing the burnished reds and orange leaves on trees walking through the Fens from the sports fields, and the Boston ivy on Hobson鈥檚 building, seeing dew drops on spiderwebs or the light dappling on the river on the bridge by Trinity Hall[ and the sound of the geese in the evening while sitting on a bench in Sherlock Court. In moments like this I always feel closest to God and I鈥檓 reminded how much natural beauty there is around us that we have a duty to protect and look after.鈥澨�

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As the year turns, and the colours of autumn fade, here in the northern hemisphere the shorter and colder days and longer nights provide the backdrop for a deeper longing that the world鈥檚 darkness and difficulty might be transformed by the dawning light of God鈥檚 justice and mercy.听 One of the many traditional names for Jesus is the 鈥楧ayspring鈥� - the one who will bring in the everlasting day.听 Meanwhile in the darkness of this early morning, we, too, long for the warmth and light of God to embrace a cold, dark earth, not just in eternity, but here and now.听 Our next hymn explores this sense of longing and hope.听

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Longing for a hope filled morning (Ally Barrett/t:Picardy)听

Scripture reading: 听
Romans 8.18-25听

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AB:

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St Paul鈥檚 words offer a powerful and poetic picture of the longing experienced by all creation: longing for peace and justice, for healing and redemption, for freedom and for the fulfilment of God's promises.听听听

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Approaching Advent with the question of God鈥檚 justice for the earth on our hearts and minds gives rise to other questions about the relationship between heaven and earth, time and eternity, between humanity and the rest of creation and between divine and human agency in our hope for the healing of the world. St Paul, in this enigmatic passage from Romans 8 poses some similar questions, and they are at least as pressing now as they were when he penned the letter.听听听

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Advent draws attention both to the estrangement between heaven and earth, and the promise that this state of estrangement is not forever.听 The incarnation itself, the coming of Christ into the world, is a lovingly-sewed stitch that starts to bring together the edges of this great wound, and in these 鈥榩enultimate鈥� times we need to recognise that to participate in God鈥檚 justice for the world means participating in God鈥檚 love for the world.听听

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As the writer Ben Okri puts it, 鈥淲hat is called for is a special kind of love for the world, the love of those who discover the sublime value of life because they are about to lose it.鈥澨�听

Almost every aspect of the ecological crisis that we face has been caused by what one might term 鈥榤aterialism鈥�: the relentless and careless consumption of the precious gifts that earth brings forth, and the commodification and exploitation of people and planet. We can even see this in the Genesis account of the fall of humanity, the taking and consuming of something that was not given to us to consume. Reflecting on the way that many civilisations have oppressed their fellow human beings through war and colonialism, some would argue that that first sin has gathered momentum and run like a wildfire through the world with industrialisation, and the development of modern economic patterns, beneficial though these have been in lifting vast swathes of humanity out of poverty.听 But in some ways we are actually not material enough: We have not loved the world and all that is in it as fiercely and as totally as God loves it and for too long we have failed to acknowledge the real dignity and value of all that God has made. We are part of creation, not separate from it, but perhaps the most significant symptom of human fallenness is the estrangement we experience from God, from each other and from the earth itself. No wonder we have been slow to wonder what God鈥檚 justice for the earth might mean, and how we can be part of it.听听

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about humanity, but the whole of creation; even the root of the word 鈥榟umble鈥� comes from our connection to the earth. So creation groans as if in labour pains, because it is longing for us to finally grow into the vocation given to us by God to be good stewards of the earth, so that the whole created order can experience the liberation that God promises.听听

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The ancient Advent Prose, Rorate Caeli, gives voice to this same hope using words from the prophet Isaiah: Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open and bring forth a Saviour.听听

Isaiah鈥檚 words, and William Byrd鈥檚 musical setting of them were both written in times of tumult, of longing for the liberating justice of God, and they still speak to us today.听听

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Song: William Byrd: Rorate coeli听

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The promise of justice and healing and renewal is God鈥檚 promise, but we are still part of how that promise will be enacted in practice 鈥� this is what it means to live in the penultimate age, as agents of God鈥檚 love and justice in the world. Advent calls us to watch and wait, but our readiness is not passive, and fulfilling our vocation as a species means admitting our agency, alongside the divine agency upon which our hope is based.听听

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Increasingly scientists and social scientists are recognising that the earth has entered a new geological period, the Anthropocene. It鈥檚 a term intended to capture the reality that humanity鈥檚 impact on the planet is epoch-defining in its breadth and depth. This power, while enabling so much destructiveness, also invites us to consider our capacity for positive impact. A humble and realistic anthropocentricism, which seems also to be what Paul is advocating, can help us avoid some of the psychological and theological barriers to taking action about the climate: the idea that we cannot make any difference, and the idea that we do not have to, because God will sort it out.听听

Instead, we need a vision of ourselves that goes beyond our power to consume and destroy, and embraces our capacity to heal, to renew, to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly, loving the world as God does.听听听

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In Romans 8, Paul recognises the power of humanity to shape the future of the whole of creation, and offers us an oblique but still compelling vision of how humanity might finally grow into our vocation of planetary stewardship. From this passage we also see that catching a vision of our true vocation requires poetry.听 We clearly need scientists and economists to help us face the climate crisis, but our needs are all encompassing, around the whole orbit of human creativity. So we also need our poets, film makers, artists, visionaries, musicians, and game developers, our theologians, philosophers, activists, politicians and prophets - we need every source of wisdom and imagination to help us glimpse how things could be other than they are, to nourish and refresh us as we labour in our own way towards a world in which human beings can live as beloved children of God, as part of a beloved creation.听听

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Sometimes it is artists and poets who compel us most urgently to hear the world鈥檚 lament, to listen to creation鈥檚 groaning, even as they draw our attention to its value, dignity, and beauty. They can also lead us in letting that lament move us through despair and into a new state of active hope in which we can finally grow into our God given vocation within the created order.听

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In the words and music of this service, I pray that there may be something that offers a glimpse of hope for the things we cannot yet see, and for which we pray as part of a whole creation that longs for justice. Our next hymn reassures us of that Advent promise, that the Lord will come, and not be slow.听

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Hymn: The Lord will come, and not be slow听听

Milton/Jones Tune: St Stephen

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Ally: Our prayers are led by members of the St Catharine鈥檚 College community: our director of Music, Edward Wickham, ordinand/ministry student Olivia Davies, post/undergraduate student or Fellow NN, and Eleanor Alban, a member of our Girls鈥� choir.听听

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Let us pray for God鈥檚 peace, justice and mercy to fill the earth.听听

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As we look upon the oppression and exploitation听
that denies human dignity 听
and violates the integrity of creation,听
let us offer to God our hunger for justice.听

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Loving God, may justice flow like a mighty river through every aspect of human society;听

May your promise that the last shall be first be made real in the world today;听

May humanity鈥檚 inhumanity be challenged and transformed in word and deed;听

And may the earth itself know freedom from the consequences of human greed and carelessness.听

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Lord, in your mercy听
hear our prayer.听听

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Olivia:听

As we look upon a world torn apart by conflict and violence, especially in the Middle East and Ukraine,听
let us offer to God our longing for that peace 听
which the world cannot give.听
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Loving God, may there be peace and justice听
between nations and within nations, and in the hearts and minds of all whose decisions shape the course of history;听

May there be peace and understanding between those of different worldviews;听

May there be peace and love in our communities,听
in our homes and in our hearts;听

May there be healing for the wounds of history rubbed raw by present conflicts;听

May your promise of blessing for the peacemakers protect and empower all who work for peace and for the relief of suffering in the world鈥檚 troubled places.听

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Lord, in your mercy听
hear our prayer.听

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Student/Fellow:听

As we look at the brokenness of the world,听
and hear afresh the groaning of creation听

let us offer to God our sorrow and despair.听

Loving God, keep us attentive to the lament of the oceans, land and air, the cry of endangered and mistreated animal life, and the silence of extinction;听听

Rekindle in us the light of hope, that the voices of lament may inspire energy for action;听

Grant us wisdom as we seek to live well in a complex world, that the development, curation and sharing of new knowledge may reflect your justice and hope;听听

Renew and heal our hearts and minds,听
that we may glimpse your vision 听
for your beloved creation, and tread lightly on the holy ground of this world.听

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Lord, in your mercy听
hear our prayer.听

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Girls鈥� Choir member:听

As we wait for the coming of Christ, 听
and look for signs of God鈥檚 presence among us this Advent,听
let us offer to God our faith and the life of the church:听

Loving God, may we, and your whole church shine as a light in the world, and witness to your justice and mercy in this and every place;听

May all people have the freedom to worship without fear;听

May we discern your image in all people, and may your image be renewed in each of us;听

May we cherish the holiness of all that you have made, seeking your kingdom in ordinary and unexpected places;听

May we witness to the hope of our calling, both in time and in eternity.听听

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Lord, in your mercy听
hear our prayer.听

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Ally:听听

A prayer based on words from the Talmud:听听

Almighty God, let us not be overwhelmed 听
by the enormity of the world鈥檚 suffering: 听
Let us do justly now, walk humbly now, and love mercy now,听
for we are not expected to complete this work,听
but neither are we free to abandon it.听听

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Transform our fear, anger, sorrow, and shame into prayers, 听
and fill those prayers with wisdom and courage, 听
turn this wisdom and courage into compassion 听
that inspires works of love,听
so that your ways of justice, peace and mercy 听
may be known in our lives and in the life of the world.听

Amen.听

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God be in my head (Welland)听

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In a troubled world let us pray with confidence 听
for the coming of God鈥檚 kingdom of justice and peace: 听
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Our Father, which art in heaven 听
hallowed be thy name.听
Thy kingdom come, 听
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. 听
Give us this day our daily bread,听
and forgive us our trespasses 听
as we forgive them that trespass against us.听

And lead us not into temptation听
But deliver us from evil.听
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory听
for ever and ever. Amen.听听

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Our final hymn springs from the prophet Isaiah鈥檚 vision of global peace, in which all the children of God are gathered and sing together a hymn in praise of the creator of all things.听听听

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Final hymn: Hills of the North (t.Little Cornard)听

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May the God of love听
who holds both heaven and earth in a single peace,听
shine the light of justice, mercy and hope 听
on the wastelands of our fear and sorrow, 听
that there might be peace for the earth, 听
between nations, in our homes, and in our hearts;听
and may the blessing of God almighty, 听
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, 听
be with us all and remain with us now and always. Amen.听听听

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Voluntary: Cecilia McDowall: O Clavis David听听

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