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| MMOJ Community prays Eucharistic Prayer at Pentecost Liturgy. All wear red stoles for this special feast day celebration |
Welcome
Welcome to Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community where everyone is welcome to participate in our Eucharistic Celebrations. We use inclusive language in all our scripture readings and prayers. We also invite your respectful and related comments when we share the homily and, a little later in the liturgy, everyone will have an opportunity to share their own personal intentions in the Prayers of the Community. Everyone, with no exceptions, will be invited to gather around the altar table and take part in praying the Consecration and sharing the Communion. We are delighted to see everyone here today - both the “old timers” and the newcomers - and we are pleased that we can all join together in the Pentecost liturgy this afternoon. Lastly, all will be invited to join us for supper at a local restaurant after the liturgy.
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| Lee Breyer and Kathryn Shea ARCWP co-preside at Pentecost Liturgy |
Gathering Song: Send Us Your Spirit #454 all verses
After the song, there will be the entrance of the Spirit, in the presence of the Pascal Candle.
Presider (at the rear of the sanctuary) proclaims: We Are A Pentecost People.
All: Come, Holy Spirit, and make us Pentecost people.
Let your wisdom and right judgement guide our decisions and temper our impulses.
Let knowledge and understanding increase our capacities for empathy and compassion.
Let reverence and awe fill us with gratitude and respect for all your creation.
And strengthen us with courage to witness boldly to our faith in our words and deeds.
It is through our brother Jesus and our sister Spirit that we make these prayers. Amen.
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| Michael Rigdon carries Paschal Candle |
Then Michael will bring the Pascal Candle up the main aisle to the front. Lee will put it on its stand. And the regular liturgy procedure will follow.
Opening Prayer
All: Holy One, you have created everything that exists in our ever-expanding universe. You have done so out of the kindness of your very being…your love - your unconditional and unending love - that leads us to our love and peace for one another.
Help us to recognize the roles of your Spirit in our lives, the One who is ever present in all our places, at all times. You call us to lives of love and peace…to see goodness and beauty everywhere and to live in harmony with all of creation. You call us to heal the wounds of hatred and violence, discrimination and oppression in our world. You call us to welcome everyone with whom we come in contact …they are your presence among us.
With the strength of your Wisdom, help us open the horizons of our minds and hearts that we may, through our actions, spread your gospel messages. This we ask in communion with Jesus, our brother, and with the power of the Holy Spirit Amen.
Community Reconciliation, Healing, and Transformation
Presider: Compassionate God, to you all hearts are open, no desires unknown, and no secrets hidden. Our desire is to be continually conscious of your presence in how we live, and to be aware of this in everything we do with our sisters and brothers.
All: We ask you, through your Spirit, for the grace to realize our continual need to grow in an ever better understanding, compassion and caring for ourselves, for our brothers and sisters, and for our planet Earth. We also ask that we may be constantly conscious of your forgiveness in our love-less and hurtful actions to people of other beliefs, nationalities, races and social settings.
May we gather both the strength of your Spirit and the grace of your Divine Presence within us so that we may extend your merciful and forgiving presence that is your gift – through us – to everyone we meet, everywhere. Amen.
Gloria
Presider: Let us give glory to our loving Holy One.
All (Sung): Glory to God, glory, O praise God, Alleluia. Glory to God, glory.
O praise the name of our God. (2X)
Liturgy of the Word
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| Cheryl Brandi proclaims first reading |
First Reading: Acts 2: 1-8 All: Thanks be to God.
Ps.104 Responsorial: Adonai, send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. #799
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| Joan Meehan proclaims second reading |
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12: 3-7 and 12-13 All: Thanks be to God.
Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia
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| Kathryn Shea proclaims Gospel |
Gospel: John 20: 19-22 All: Glory to you, O God.
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| Lee Breyer shares homily starter |
Homily: Lee Breyer
In the Hebrew scriptures, aka The Old Testament, the Spirit was well known and understood to be a very powerful energy. Spirit was the divine breath that animated Adam and Eve. In the many subsequent stories, Spirit gave unity and strength to a troubled and travelling population, wisdom to their leaders and speech to their prophets. The earliest Christians of the mid-first century, many “converts” from their Jewish heritage, believed that Christ was always present among them, not in the flesh of his earthly time but very much so in the Spirit of their belief.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, parts of which we have heard not long ago in several liturgies and again this afternoon, Paul told us what we certainly realize from our own personal experiences…there are different kinds of spiritual gifts that different people receive; these are given to us by the same Spirit for the same purpose: the common good.
In today’s gospel, John speaks of the Spirit in a different way. Jesus was not merely sending the Spirit as a source of various select-gifts to various select-persons. In today’s passage, Jesus actually breathed the Spirit on the disciples who were actually with him in the room…and, through them to others then…and to us today.
The way that I understand today’s gospel piece is certainly in agreement with Paul’s description, but is quite different than what he expressed in his letter to the believers in Corinth in the mid first century. I think that John is telling us that we have received the Spirit, the living breath of the Spirit, so we can continually internalize, understand and preach the message of the gospel mission, “spiritual thoughts”… so we can express them in “spiritual settings.”
In short, the Spirit has spoken to people in the past…the Spirit is speaking to people now…the Spirit is talking to all of us - to you and to me - at this time. Sometimes this is noticeable: we experience the presence of the Spirit in some action we are planning or doing. At other times, we may not be conscious of it at the time…but become aware of her presence after some event. We may feel as though we had just come through a cloud or a dream ... not terribly aware of having been there at the time. We “learn of it” afterwards – maybe – by our recognition of the literally “inspired” content of our thoughts or writings, or our question to ourselves…”how did we ever do that?”
So, now I’m back to the shared homily and community reflection of today’s liturgy, quite fitting for our Celebration of Pentecost….:
We have “received the Holy Spirit”…what is “our experience of that gift in our lives? Would you like to share that with us today? Some of you may feel that – to you - it would be déjà vu from a previous reflection, but there are others in the community for whom this is a very new piece.
Shared Homily and Community Reflections
“Receive the Holy Spirit” … our experience of that gift in our lives.
Statements of Faith
Presider: We believe in God, the Divine Mystery that is beyond our understanding… the Creator of an unfinished world in an ever-evolving cosmos. God is the Holy One who invites us to join with our brothers and sisters in creating and building a world of justice, a new world of love and peace on our planet Earth.
Left: We believe in God who calls all of the world’s wide-spread populations to harmony and unity so that, in settings of peace and understanding, they may heal the hurts and the sufferings that have been caused over time and replace them with a celebration of love and enduring partnerships.
Right: We believe in God who has not divided the people into the rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick, the wise and the unwitting, the advantaged and the disadvantaged. We believe in a God who created all of us to be brothers and sisters of one another in a Blessed Family.
Left: We believe in Jesus, the Word of God who became human like us. He befriended the well-placed and the poorest persons regardless of their positions in society. He spoke truth to every man and woman with whom he came in contact, and he spread to everyone, the love, peace and justice that he always preached. And for all this, he was put to death for doing what was his blessed mission.
Right: We believe in Jesus who, then, was raised to life.
All: We believe in the Spirit of God, the Breath of our innermost life and the Sustainer of everything that exists in this world. She is the one who brings order out of chaos, peace out of strife, love out of hatred, and life out of death. We truly believe in Her. Amen.
Prayers of the Community
Presider: We are a people of faith, believing in the power of prayer. We believe that we send blessings to those who are struggling and need help if they are to experience hope; and to those, as well, who may be in physical or emotional pain.
With heads and hearts mindful of God’s unconditional love for each one of us, we can bring our own needs and those of our community to the Healing One. After each intercession, we respond: Compassionate God, bless our petition.
Presider: We pray for those broken families, torn apart…suffering in their separations…unsure of their futures. Compassionate God, bless our petition.
We pray for Bob who is working his way through rehab to regain his stability and strength. Compassionate…..
We pray for Sally who is at home and is in recovery from her surgery. Compassionate …..
Presider: And for whom or what else do we pray at this time? Other Intentions are to be followed by…. Compassionate God, bless our petition.
Presider: We hold these - and all the unspoken intentions in our minds and hearts - as we will take them with us to the Banquet Table.
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Offertory Song: Spirit of the Living God by Michael Crawford
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. (3 x’s)
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| Jim Marsh ARCWP and Rose vest community with Pentecost stoles for celebration of Eucharist |
Presider: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up in tender love, open to serve all God’s people, everywhere.
Presider: Let us give thanks for all that we have.
All: We are grateful for our many blessings as we gather together at our family table.
Presider: Jesus, who has often sat at our tables, now invites us to be guests at his. Everyone is welcome to join him at his table. (Everyone is welcome to gather around God’s family table.)
At this time, the community will come to the front and line up to one of the two people distributing a stole to each person. Then they assume the usual surrounding of the altar.
Eucharistic Prayer
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| MMOJ Community prays Eucharistic prayer |
Presider: As we gather around Jesus’ table, let us take the opportunity to acknowledge our worthiness of God’s invitation as well as the gift of the Spirit, especially on this Pentecost Day.
All (singing): We are holy, holy, holy…(3x), we are whole. You are…I am…We are…
(then following the end of Karen’s song, we share a nod to each other with Namaste … (3x)
Presider: Blessed are you, God of Love. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer…this grain of the earth that human hands have prepared for our use. It will become for us the bread of life. All: Blessed be God forever.
Presider: Blessed are you, God of Peace. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer…this fruit of the vine that human hands have prepared for our use. It will become for us our spiritual drink. All: Blessed be God forever.
All: Gracious God, you have set this Banquet Table and have invited all of us to your feast of unending delight. Here, especially on Pentecost, we experience your divine love beyond what any words can ever describe. Your divine compassion connects us to the young and the old, the first and the last, to everyone, everywhere, on our journeys into the heart of your mercy.
Voice 1: We thank you for the gift of Jesus in history—and the gift of Jesus in faith. While on earth, Jesus burned with his constant vision of his earthly mission. He revealed you to us through his compassionate life well-lived. And he showed us, through his example, not only how we should live, but also for what we will suffer and may even die. Through him and your Spirit, you continue to breathe life into us so that we may be witnesses to his gospel messages.
Voice 2: And when his time on earth had come to an end, Jesus – aware of and accepting his destiny – gave up his life for the values that he deeply believed, lived and taught…his conviction that love is stronger than death. Then, in providing an example of this wisdom for everyone in all the ages to come, he willingly “paid the price;” he opened wide his arms…and died. Then the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead demonstrated to us, through him, that life is eternal and that love is immortal. And that same Spirit that lived in Jesus will be resurrected in each one of us. The Jesus of history and faith is with us today as he will be through the end of time.
All: (With an outstretched arm we pray the Consecration together). We remember the gift that Jesus gave us on the night before he died. He gathered with his friends to share a final Passover meal. And it was at that supper that Jesus took bread, said the blessing and shared it with them saying: take this all of you and eat it. This bread is you; this bread is me. We are one body, the presence of God in the world. When you do this, remember me … and all that I have taught you. This is the new and everlasting covenant.
(pause a moment, then continue….)
All: In the same way, Jesus took a cup of wine, said the blessing and gave it to his friends saying: take this all of you and drink it. This wine is you; this wine is me.
We are one blood, the presence of God in the world. When you do this, remember me … and all that I have taught you. This is the new and everlasting covenant.
Presider: Jesus, who was with God “in the beginning of the creation of the heavens and the earth,” is with us now in this bread. The Spirit, whom we celebrate now, and of whom the prophets spoke in history, is with us now in this cup. Let us proclaim this mystery of our faith.
All: Jesus has died. Christ is risen. The cosmic Christ lives through us in the world today.
Voice 3: O God of blessing and peace, help us to continually grow in love. May we do that together with Francis, our Pope, Bridget Mary, our bishop and your sacred family everywhere -especially those who live on the margins of church and society. We remember as well the communion of saints, recently enlarged by Imogene, Helen and Eileen. We also remember those, living and dead, who touched our lives and left warm footprints on our hearts… especially…. (mention their names at this time…)
All: We believe that the Spirit of God is at work in and among us and that she will do more than we could ever ask or even imagine. And now we hold hands as we sing: Amen.
The Prayer of Jesus
Presider: And with joined hands, let us sing the Prayer that Jesus taught us.
All (sing): Our Father and Mother, who are in heaven, blessed is your name.…...
The Sign of Peace
Presider: Loving God, we know that you give us peace beyond what any words can express. You are here with us now as we, with joined hands in a circle of love, continue our singing with “Peace is Flowing Like a River.” (#535) Please replace the word “captives” with “people.”
Litany at the Breaking of the Bread
Presider: Loving God…All: you call us to Spirit-filled service and to live the Gospel of non-violence for peace and justice. We will live justly.
Presider: Loving God…All: you call us to be your presence in the world and to be bearers of forgiveness and understanding, healing and compassion everywhere in your name. We will love tenderly.
Presider: Loving God…All: you call us to speak truth to power. We will do so, walking humbly with you.
Presider: This is Jesus, who through the power of the Spirit, calls us to share our bread and wine on the altar of the world. All are invited to partake of this sacred banquet of love.
All: We are the Body of Christ.
Presider: Let us then gladly share this good news! All: Amen.
(As we share this sacred meal, we say to one another
… with the passing of the bread: “you are the love of God in the world, and
…..with the passing of the wine: “you are the peace of God in the world.”)
Communion Music: Instrumental
Post Communion Meditation Hymn
Prayer of Thanksgiving after Communion
All: Holy One, may this Eucharist in which we shared Jesus’s healing love today deepen our oneness with you and with one another in all our tomorrows. May we, with the strength of the Spirit, share with one another our bountiful blessings, knowing that you always give us more than we ever need. And may wonder and thanksgiving fill us with knowledge and understanding as we experience the infusion of your love and compassion in us, your sacred people. We ask this in the names of Jesus, the Christ, and the Spirit, our Strength. Amen.
Introductions – Gratitudes - Announcements
Closing Prayer and Community Blessing
All: May we give and receive abundant love to all our brothers and sisters everywhere.
May we so believe in the power of our love that it enriches and sustains us as we live our lives and results in us that we are the people God created us to be.
May we find wonders and miracles in the ordinariness of life;
they are there if we but look for it.
May we know and experience true peace, the peace of Jesus,
in our minds, in our hearts and in our actions.
May our Loving God be with us as we continue on our different paths on different
journeys as we do our best, with Spirit’s support to follow in the
footsteps of Jesus.
May we always remember that we are the face of God to the world
and may we reflect God to everyone. Amen.
Closing Song: Take the Word of God With You #373 (all verses)
Commissioning
Presiders: May we go forth and spread the message of peace, love and compassion everywhere we may go and to whomever we meet. May we be the light in the world for others to see, in us, an image of God and may we always follow the blessed guidance of the Spirit. Let this be our mission, the mission of Jesus…and let our service continue.
All: Thanks be to God; let it be so. Amen.
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