Mary
Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Liturgy, First Sunday of Lent,
March 9, 2019, Presiders: Kathryn Shea, ARCWP, and Mary Theresa Streck, ARCWP and John Dominic Crossan,
Music Minister: Janet Blakeley, ARCWP
Theme:
Like Jesus, through struggles and adversity, we can journey more deeply into
the mystery of divine love that is always with us.
Welcome
and Greeting
Presider:
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 all to share the prayers of the
community and the words of Consecration in the Eucharistic Prayer.
We welcome our newcomers at the announcement time after
Communion. All are invited to join us for supper after liturgy.
Opening Song: We
Are Called by David Haas
Opening Prayer
Presider: Holy One, as St. Paul reminds us,
your word is on our lips and in our hearts. Like Jesus, we embrace our
struggles with the domination systems of power and control in our world and in
our Church. We trust in the power of your Spirit moving within us to make wise
choices to liberate, heal and empower all as we work for justice and equality. Amen.
Communal Reconciliation Rite
Presider: We
pause now to remember the times we have not asked for forgiveness for our
failures to love one another.
(Pause
briefly. Then Extend arm over community)
All: Please forgive
me, I am sorry, I love you, I thank you.
LITURGY
OF THE WORD
First Reading: Deuteronomy
26: 1-10
Moses told this to the
people: Once you enter the land that our God is giving you as an inheritance
and take it over and settle down, you are to take some of all the first fruits
of what you grow in the land that our God is giving you, put them in a basket
and go to the place set apart for you to pray.
The priest will take the
basket from you and place it on the altar of our God. And there, in the
Presence of the Holy One, you will recite the following:
“A wandering Aramean was my father, he went
down to Egypt and sojourned there, he and just a handful of his brothers at
first, but soon they became a great nation, mighty and many.
The Egyptians abused
and battered us, in a cruel and savage slavery. We cried out to our God
who listened to our voice, and saw our destitution, our trouble, our cruel
plight.
And our GOD took us out of
Egypt with signs and miracle-wonders, brought us to this place, and gave us
this land flowing with milk and honey.
So here I am. I’ve brought
the first fruits of what I’ve grown on this ground you gave me, O Holy One.”
Then place it in the presence
of our God, and bow low and rejoice!
These are the inspired words
of Moses, leader and liberator of our ancestors, the Israelites, and we affirm
them by saying, Amen.
Responsorial Psalm: 91
Response:
Amen. Truly I say to you, gather in my name, I am with you.
https://youtu.be/2mTVGj0jVRY
Those who dwell in the shelter of infinite light,
who abide in the wings of infinite love,
Will raise their voices in praise:
“My refuge and my strength;
In you alone will I trust.
Response: Amen. Truly I say to you, gather in my name, I am with you.
Those who dwell in the shelter of infinite light,
who abide in the wings of infinite love,
Will raise their voices in praise:
“My refuge and my strength;
In you alone will I trust.
For you deliver me from the webs of fear and
allusion,
From all that separates and divide;
You protect me as an eagle shield its young,
Your faithfulness is sure, like an arrow set upon the mark.
Response: Amen. Truly I say to you, gather in my name, I am with you.
I will not fear of the shadow of the night,
Nor the confusion that comes by day,
nor the dreams that awaken me from sleep,
Nor the daily changes that life brings.
For you have sent your angels to watch over me,
To guide me in all my ways.
Response: Amen. Truly I say to you, gather in my name, I am with you.
From all that separates and divide;
You protect me as an eagle shield its young,
Your faithfulness is sure, like an arrow set upon the mark.
Response: Amen. Truly I say to you, gather in my name, I am with you.
I will not fear of the shadow of the night,
Nor the confusion that comes by day,
nor the dreams that awaken me from sleep,
Nor the daily changes that life brings.
For you have sent your angels to watch over me,
To guide me in all my ways.
Response: Amen. Truly I say to you, gather in my name, I am with you.
Second Reading: Romans
10:8-13
Brothers and sisters:
What does Scripture say?
The word is right here,
on your lips and in your heart
What does Scripture say?
The word is right here,
on your lips and in your heart
That is, the
word of faith that we preach.
You will be saved if you confess with your mouth belief in Jesus,
You will be saved if you confess with your mouth belief in Jesus,
embracing, body and soul,
God’s work of doing in us what he did in
raising Jesus from the dead.
Faith in the heart leads to justification,
Faith in the heart leads to justification,
Confession on the lips to
salvation.
For the Scripture says,
No one who believes in the Holy One will ever regret it.
For the Scripture says,
No one who believes in the Holy One will ever regret it.
It is exactly the same no
matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us
acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help.
These are the inspired words
of Paul, disciple of Jesus, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Gospel Acclamation:
Spirit of the Living God by Michael Crawford
Gospel: Luke
4:1-15
Now Jesus, full of the Holy
Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty
wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil. He ate nothing during
those days, and when the time was up he was hungry.
The Devil, playing on his
hunger, gave the first test: “Since you’re God’s Son, command this stone to
turn into a loaf of bread.”
Jesus answered by quoting
Scripture: “It takes more than bread to really live.”
Then the Devil took Jesus up
higher and spread out all the kingdoms of the earth on display at once. Then
the Devil said, “They’re yours in all their splendor to serve your pleasure.
I’m in charge of them all and can turn them over to whomever I wish. Worship me
and they’re yours, the whole works.”
Jesus refused, again backing
his refusal with Scripture: “You will do homage to God alone; God alone
will you serve with absolute single-heartedness.”
For the third test the Devil
took Jesus to Jerusalem and put him on top of the Temple. He said, “If you are
God’s Son, jump. It’s written, isn’t it, that ‘God has placed you in the care
of angels to protect you; they will catch you; you won’t so much as stub your
toe on a stone’?”
“Yes,” said Jesus, “and it’s also written,
‘Don’t you dare put our God to the test.’”
That completed the testing.
The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity.
Jesus returned to Galilee
powerful in the Spirit.
These are the inspired words
of Luke, disciple of Jesus, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Gospel Acclamation:
Spirit of the Living God by Michael Crawford
Statement
of Faith
Presider: Let us pray together our Statement of
Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
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 vehicle of divine love,
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.
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
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 vehicle of divine love,
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.
Prayers of The
Community
Presider: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring
to this table our blessings, cares and concerns.
Our response is: Holy One, You
hear us.
At the end of prayers:
Presider: We
pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.
Procession of Gifts and Song
Blest are They by David Haas
(Presiders lift up the bread and wine)
Presider:
Blessed are you, God of all life, through your goodness we have bread, wine,
all creation, and our own lives to offer. 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:
All are welcome to join us around the table.
LITURGY
OF THE EUCHARIST
Presider: God is within you, blessing the world through you.
All: And also within you.
Presider: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up in the Holy One.
Presider: O Holy One, the first passion of Jesus was
his passion for you and his passion for justice, namely, to incarnate your
justice by demanding for all, a fair share of a world belonging to and ruled by
your covenant with Israel. In solidarity with the unnamed woman who anointed
Jesus, the first to recognize the cost of his fidelity to you, and with all believers who have gone before us, we lift up
our hearts and sing:
All: We are holy, holy, holy by Karen Drucker
Voice
1: Holy One, we
celebrate the life of your son and our brother, Jesus. He lived his life and
walked forward to his death knowing that you were leading him. We walk forward
in his pathway and follow his teaching.
Voice
2: We pray for the
grace to let go of money, possessions, pride and privilege, to become
vulnerable and open to you, to accept poverty of spirit and reliance on you.
Voice
3: We pray for
compassion for all human beings, to feel empathy and love for everyone,
especially the poor, oppressed, and mournful. We remember all those who suffer
and die each year from war, poverty and unjust disease. We mourn for them, and
for all creatures we destroy, and for the earth itself.
Voice 4: We pray to be gentle, nonviolent, courageous and
humble, like your saints. We pray to grow in awareness of our unity with all of
creation and co-create with You our earth as a sanctuary of peace.
Voice 5: We pray for a heart that hungers and thirsts for
justice for all people who live in poverty, imprisonment and war. We pray for the courage to carry on your
struggle for justice for the world’s oppressed as we challenge the world’s
domination systems.
Voice 6: We pray to be
merciful, especially toward those whom the culture deems unworthy of your mercy
and care. We embrace everyone with compassion and respect.
Voice 7: We pray for a pure
heart, inner peace and holiness so that everything that comes from within us
might be loving and holy. Opening ourselves up to your Spirit, may we see You
everywhere, especially in every human being.
Voice 8: We pray to be Your
peacemakers, to renounce violence and to serve your movement for the
abolition of war and all oppression. We pray to make peace everywhere.
Voice 9: We thank you for
your presence within, around and among us. We arise and walk forward even when rejected
and persecuted while working for justice and peace. With you we will not
retaliate but respond with love and compassion.
Voice 10: We rejoice, O Holy
One, and we are glad as we join the lineage of Your prophets of justice and
peace. We, Your daughters and sons, continue to work with your grace as we arise
and walk forward in the footsteps of our brother, the nonviolent Jesus.
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: (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: (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)
All: 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 11: 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, O
Holy One, to continue to share with us your Spirit, the Spirit that filled
Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, his loving and healing all
honor and glory is yours forever and ever.
All sing:
Amen.
Presider: Let
us pray as Jesus taught us:
All: Our Father and Mother ….
Sign of Peace
Presider:
Let us hold hands and 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: Please
join in the prayer for the breaking of the bread:
(Presiders break 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.
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:
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 Song: Instrumental
Communion Meditation: Standing on
the Shoulders by
Joyce Johnson Rouse
Presider:
Prayers of Gratitude, Introductions and Announcements
Blessing
Presider: Let
us raise our hands and bless each other.
All: May
you be blessed with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths, and
superficial relationships.
May you seek truth boldly and love deeply within your heart.
May you continue to be the face of the Holy One to all you meet.
May your name be a blessing in our time.
Closing
Song: Sing a New Church by
Michelle Sherliza and Delores Dufner
(Liturgy written by Bridget Mary Meehan and Mary
Theresa Streck.The Eucharistic Prayer was adapted from Beatitudes for Peace by
John Dear.)
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