Welcome and Greeting
Presider 1: Welcome to Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community
where all are welcome to share Eucharist at the Banquet Table. We use inclusive
language in our scripture readings and prayers. We invite sharing at the homily
and prayers of intercession. Everyone prays the words of Consecration in the
Eucharistic Prayer. We welcome our newcomers at announcement time after
Communion. All are invited to join us for supper after liturgy at a local
restaurant.
Presider 2 - Today we walk with the Samaritan woman to
share the Good News of the All-Embracing Love of the Divine in us and in all.
Jesus’ ministry was inclusive of men and women who were disciples and
companions in proclaiming the Gospel. Today in preparation for Seth’s baptism at the
Easter Vigil, we present him to our community as he gets ready for his baptism.
Like the Samaritan woman, who recognized Jesus in her life and shared him with
her whole town, we celebrate Seth’s inner light and journey to share his brother
Jesus’ love with joy and enthusiasm with our world.
Presider 3 - Seth, your “God-family” is so proud of
you and loves you very much. We are happy that you have chosen to be baptized
and confirmed into the Christian community, and we recognize that you are and
have been a significant member of the Mary Mother of Jesus Community for a
number of years.
Invitation to Silent Prayer and Laying on of Hands
Bridget Mary: Seth, please come forward with your
parents and representatives of the MMOJ “Godfamily.”
(pause)
I invite Seth’s parents
and the representatives from our Godfamily to lay hands on Seth’s head and
shoulders.
(pause)
Seth, We, your community are praying for you
as you prepare for your baptism and confirmation. I ask everyone here now to
offer a silent prayer of thanksgiving for you and your family.
(pause)
In preparation
for your baptism we present you with this prayer shawl, similar to the one worn
by your brother Jesus, and we present you with this water from the River
Jordan, where Jesus was baptized.
Blessing
for Seth
Mary Theresa: Please raise your hands and join in
blessing Seth.
All: May you continue to learn more every day about
our God who loves you so much.
May you continue to learn more about your
brother, Jesus, who taught us to love one another.
Opening Song: “This
Little Light of Mine” (words on song sheet attached)
Opening Prayer
Presider 1: Please join in praying our opening prayer:
ALL: Loving God, You call each of us, by
name to serve our sisters and brothers with our unique gifts. Like the
Samaritan woman you call us this day to be your disciples, committed to
reflecting your loving presence everywhere we go.
Rite of Communal Reconciliation
Presider 2: Before we bring our gifts to share at the Banquet of Love, we
ask for forgiveness for our failures to love one another and care for God’s
creation.
ALL: In your love, we open our hearts to personal growth and healing.
Presider 3: We give thanks for Divine Love that fills our souls and makes
us one family.
General Absolution
Presider 1: Please extend your hands in mutual
blessing.
ALL: God, Father and Mother of Mercy, through his living, dying and rising,
Jesus has revealed that nothing can separate us from your infinite love. Grant
us your pardon and peace and move us to forgive each other our failures to care
for one another and our earth. We ask this in the name of Jesus our brother and
of Holy Spirit our Wisdom. Amen
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: Jn. 15
16-17
Responsorial: O my Beloved, my strength, my joy!
Second Reading: A Reading from This Little
Light by Michael McGrath (read by Mary
Theresa)
Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me
Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me.
Melt me mold me
Fill me use me
Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me.
Gospel: John 4: 6-42
Homily Reflection (Bridget Mary, Kathryn, Mary
Theresa)
Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP: The Good News today is each of us is the face of God in our world. The story of the Samaritan woman at the well records the longest conversation between Jesus and anyone in the Gospels. The Jews and the Samaritans despised each other and no Rabbi would ever speak to a woman at a well or anywhere. This story depicts a conversation between Jesus and the ultimate outsider, a gutsy Samaritan woman, contrary to the customs of the times. Jesus is comfortable breaking through taboos that exclude women who asked questions. It was her questions that led to the beautiful insight about true worship is always free and not restricted to Temple or Church. So too, today, our questions and conversations can lead us to deeper wisdom and understanding of Divinity in our midst.
Like Jesus who broke through religious rules of his times,MMOJ violates church law today by welcoming everyone to the Banquet Table.
Like the Samaritan woman whose enthusiastic witness spread throughout her town like wildfire we, at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community, proclaim: All people are loved and blessed by God. The Spirit dwells within each of us and speaks through all of us.
All that is required is that we worship God in spirit and truth by living fully, loving tenderly and doing justice.
Like the Samaritan woman, like Seth, each of us is called to be an evangelist to spread the good news of divine love in everyone and in all creation with faith, joy and enthusiasm.
Kathryn Shea,
ARCWP, reflection:
Our dear Seth, dad and I and your whole family are so proud of you. Our Mary Mother of Jesus community is proud
of you. You are preparing for you
upcoming Baptism and Confirmation in such an inspiring and holy way. You’re asking deep questions about God and
Jesus and prayer. You have come so far
and we have had the great pleasure of walking this Earth with you on your
journey back to God.
Dad and I will never forget that one very hot day in June, 1989 when we
traveled on a train from Albany to New York City to pick you up from Harlem
Hospital where you had been for 41/2 months.
We were stunned at how small you were and how blank and lifeless your
face was. You could not hold your head
up. You could not roll over. You had no eye contact. You had no expression at all. But in a relatively short period of time, you
became alive. You started smiling and
looking at our face and responding. Your
light, that was always there, starting shining.
And each day, we saw more and more of your light. You inspired us from the very beginning. You were so curious about everything, and you
still are. As you responded to our deep
love for you, it was so exciting to watch your light glow brighter and
brighter. Your light healed you and then
your light began to spread to others and their world became brighter as a
result. And as the years unfolded, we
watched you accomplish things they told us you never would; walk, talk (Yes. We were told he many never talk!), cut with
scissors, build unbelievable boats with Legos and K’NEX, and read. And we watched your soul evolve at rapid
speed. You showed compassion at such a
young age, even before developmentally expected.
You are pure joy, Seth, and you fill everyone with joy that encounters
you. You have a heart of gold that comes
directly from Jesus, your brother by name.
You are so divinely connected to the Holy One, that we all just watch
and listen in awe. The deep connection
to All That Is, is what has brought you to this place today and the desire to
be baptized. And you will continue to
let your light shine bright for all the world, for those with eyes to see and
ears to hear. You truly are a miracle and
we all love you so much.
Mary Theresa's reflection
This morning I read, "If God is the Ground of our Being, then what does it mean to enhance the being of another?"
From the time I met Seth when he was 4 1/2 months old, I witnessed what it meant to enhance the being of another. Filled with God's spirit, Kathryn and Stephen loved Seth into wholeness. Their light and love enlivened a fragile child whose light and love now shines for all to see.
Seth, I love you very much, you are blessing!
Statement of Faith
ALL: We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding, in whose infinite love all
creation exists and evolves.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Presence,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One’s
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that we are called to follow Jesus
as a reflection of divine compassion and healing
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
General Intercessions
Presider 2: As we prepare
for the sacred meal, we pray for the needs of the people of God in our community
and around the world.
Our response is: Holy One, you hear our prayers.
Please share your spontaneous prayers.
Presider 3: We give thanks for all whom we held in the circle of grace and
will continue to pray for and use our talents to serve our sisters and brothers
with joyful hearts in the coming weeks. Amen.
Offertory: “Jesus Met the Woman” – Peter, Paul, & Mary (words on song sheet)
Presider 2: Please join us around God’s table
Preparation of the Gifts
Presider 1: Blessed are you, God of
all life, through your goodness we have bread, wine, all creation, and our own
lives to offer.
Presider 2: Through this sacred meal may we become your new creation as we
respond to your call to use our gifts in loving service to our sisters and
brothers.
ALL: Blessed be God forever.
Presider 3: All are
welcome to join us around God’s table.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Presider 3: God is with you.
ALL: And also with you.
Presider 3: Lift up your hearts.
ALL: We lift them up to God.
All: O God of Seth, Oh God of our
brother Theo, and of each of us, we praise you with our names and rejoice that
You call us to be your disciples in our world today. We give thanks for the rich
diversity of talents we have in this community. We open this circle of grace to
remember the angels and saints and all who have gone before us. Joined with all
creation, we lift up our hearts and sing:
We are holy, holy, holy by Karen Drucker
Voice 1: We thank you for Jesus, our brother, who called women and men to
be disciples and equals to proclaim the Good News of divine love for all
creation. He lifted up the lowly, and revealed your abundant tenderness toward
each of us especially those who are sick and suffering, lonely and grieving,
lost and excluded.
Voice 2: We celebrate our call to use our talents to reflect the One Who
Embraces All with love in our relationships and actions each day.
(raise hands toward bread and wine for Invocation of the Holy Spirit)
All: Now, as we share the bread of life
and lift the cup of joy, we pray come Holy Spirit deepen your Presence within
us and in these gifts of bread and wine.
All: On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for the Seder supper with the
people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their
feet, so that they would re-member him.
Presider 1: (lifts bread
as community prays the following:)
All: When he returned to his place at the
table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and
offered it to them saying:
Take and eat of the Bread of Life
Given to strengthen you
Whenever you remember me like this
I am among you. (pause)
Presider 2: (lifts the
cup as community prays the following )
All: Jesus then raised a cup of blessing,
spoke the grace saying:
Take and drink of the covenant
Made new again through my life in you.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you. (pause)
Let us share this bread and cup, and welcome everyone to the Banquet as we
live the gospel of justice and peace in our world.
Voice 3: We are called
to do everything Jesus did, to be the living presence of a love that does
justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates
laughter, of a light that illumines right choices and confronts the darkness of
every injustice and inequity.
All: So, we trust you to continue to share with us your own spirit, the Spirit
that filled Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, his loving and healing
all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. All sing: Amen.
Presider 3: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
All: Sing -Prayer of Jesus:-Our Father and Mother
Presider 1: Sign of Peace: Let us
hold hands sing “Peace is flowing like a River” as we pray for peace and
justice to spread through our world.
Prayer for the Breaking of Bread
Presider 1: Please join
in the prayer for the breaking of the bread:
All: O God of Courage, You call us to
live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.
O God of Compassion, You call us to be Your presence in the world. We will love
tenderly.
O God of Truth, You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with
integrity in your presence.
(Presiders hold up bread and wine)
Presider 2: “This is the
bread of life and the cup of blessing. Through it we are nourished and we
nourish each other. All are welcome to the Feast.
All: What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives; as we share
communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s
challenge.
Communion: Instrumental
Communion Meditation: “Down to the River to Pray” – Alison
Krauss –Sung my Mindy
Prayers of
Gratitude, Introductions and Announcements
Presider 3: Let us
raise our hands in blessing and pray together:
All: May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we call each
other to extravagant generosity by sharing our talents with all. May we walk
with an awareness of our call as companions on the journey, knowing we are not
alone. May we, like Jesus, be a shining light and a blessing in our time!
All: Amen.
Closing
Song: “We Are Marching in the Light of God”
(Verses: Singing/Dancing/ Serving)
(This liturgy was written by Bridget
Mary Meehan and Mary Theresa Streck)
The woman, issue facing the Pontifical Commission Latin America 
