Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community celebrates Liturgy: Enhancing life, with, through and in Christ

Enhancing Life, with, through, and in Christ

Presiders: Helen Blanchette and Dennis McDonald

  

Receiving the stole: 

A representative of the community greets the presiders with:  We your community call you forth and we bless you as you lead us in our liturgy today.

WELCOME:

Presider 1: We, the Inclusive Catholic Community, welcome you to our liturgical

gathering.  Our liturgical style is highly inclusive and you are invited to participate in the ordinary of the liturgy, and in the Eucharistic Prayer and Consecration. We are happy you are here with us today. All are welcome to share in our simple Eucharistic meal around this friendship table.

Opening Song – Sing a New Church 

Opening Prayer

Presider 2: Source of Light and Love, you invite us to share in your creative process, to bring compassion and healing to those in need, to embrace our sisters and brothers when they share their burdens, joys, pains, and celebrations. And so, in this community of faith, we bring our needs to the table of friendship and love that these needs may be recognized and provided prayerful support. (Please feel free to voice what you bring to the table today by saying, I BRING TO THE TABLE, when finished please place candle on altar)

LITURGY OF THE WORD

Heb 11:1-2, 8-12

Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the reality of all that is hoped for; faith is the proof of all that is unseen.

By faith Sarah and Abraham obeyed when they were called,

and went off to the place they were to receive as a heritage;

they went forth, moreover, not knowing where they were going.

By faith, Sarah and Abraham lived in the promised land as resident aliens,

dwelling in tents with their children and grandchildren,

who were heirs of the same promise –

for they were looking forward to the city with foundations,

whose designer and maker is God.

By faith, Sarah received the ability to conceive,

even though she was past childbearing age,

for she thought that the One

who had made the promise was worthy of trust.

As a result of faith, there came forth one woman and one man,

themselves as good as dead,

descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky

and the sands of the seashore.  

These are the inspired words from the book of Hebrews

Lk 12:35-40

Jesus said to his disciples:
Be dressed and ready, and keep you lamps lit.

Be like the household staff awaiting

the owner’s return from a wedding,

So that when the owner arrives and knocks,

you’ll open the door without delay.

It will go well with those staff members

whom the owner finds wide awake upon returning.

I tell you the absolute truth,

the owner will put on an apron,

seat them at table and proceed to wait on them.

Should the owner happen to come at midnight,

or before sunrise, and find them prepared,

it will go well with them.

Understand this: no homeowner

who knew when a thief was coming

would have let the thief break in! 

So be on guard – the Promised One will come

when least expected. 

These are the inspired words of Luke, disciple of Jesus

Shared Reflection

Sign of Peace

Presider 1: Scripture tells us that if a person is not at peace with someone to “leave your gift at the altar. First go away and make peace with that person. Then come back and offer your gift.”  As we prepare to bring our gifts in the celebration of this Eucharist, let us strive to be faithful to peace of God that surpasses all understanding.  And where we struggle, may God transform us to be a healing balm of love.  Divine healer of all, we pray.

All: Amen.  Return to your seats when music ends.

Presider 1: Let us share a sign of peace with one another as an expression of our desire to bring healing to our world. (Play Peace Before Us during Sign of Peace)

Statement of Faith

Presider 2: Remain standing and proclaim our statement of faith:

All: We believe in one God, 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 God's Word,

bringer of God's healing, heart of God's compassion,

bright star in the firmament of God's

prophets, mystics, and saints.

We believe that We are called to follow Jesus

as a vehicle of God's love,

a source of God's wisdom and truth,

and an instrument of God's peace in the world.

We believe that God's 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.

Removal of stoles As we prepare for the sacred meal, we lay our stoles upon the table as a sign that just as Jesus is anointed so is each of us.

Eucharistic Prayer

(Michael Morwood)

All:

We give you thanks

Creator Spirit beyond all imagining,

For the wonderful gift of reflective awareness

That allows us to recognize and name your presence in our universe.

And so we sing:

All:

Holy, Holy, Holy       (Words and music by Karen Druker)

All:

Everything we have; everything we see; everything we do;

Everyone we love and everyone who loves us

Reveals your sustaining presence,

And our total dependence on your presence.

We marvel and wonder at the size and complexity of our universe.

We marvel and wonder at the development of life on this planet.

We thank you that your presence “charges” this life and all that exists.

We recognize that human life gives you a particular way of expressing yourself

And that in us you can sing and dance, speak and write, love and create.

Conscious that we live, move, and have our being In you,

We give you thanks for people throughout history

Who have affirmed your loving presence in all people

And who have challenged us to witness to your presence

By lives characterized by mercy, gratitude, compassion, generosity, and forgiveness.

We thank you for Jesus of Nazareth

Who loved so greatly

And taught so clearly and courageously

That he was able to set people free

From images and ideas and religious practices

That bound them into fear and a false sense of separation from you.

Through him we have learned how our loving is a sharing in your life.

In him we see your presence challenging us to make

Your reign on earth more visible.

(Hold the bread for all to see)

We remember the night before he died, when he took bread,

Gave you thanks for everything he had,

Broke the bread and shared it with his friends

Asking them to remember his total surrender to you

And his enduring love for each of them.

Take and eat, this is my very self. (Pause)

(Hold the wine for all to see)

Likewise, knowing his life was to be poured out,

He shared the cup of wine with them.

Take and drink of the covenant

Made new again through my life

Poured out for you and for everyone

That you might really be free.

Whenever you remember me like this,

I am among you.

(pause)

We believe that like all people who lived in love and died in love

Jesus died into your eternal loving embrace.

We are thankful that his story grounds our belief in our

Own eternal, loving connectedness with you

And our belief that we are in communion with all our

Relatives and friends who have died.

We pray for all who allow the mind and heart and spirit

of Jesus to motivate their actions.

We pray that Christian leadership may be open and affirming, creative and challenging,

We pray that all Christians might better recognize, acknowledge, and acclaim your

Presence in all people, at all times, in all places.

For ourselves gathered here we ask the grace

To be whom and what we ritualize here: the “body of Christ,”

People committed by our “Amen” to allowing your

Spirit to move freely in our lives.

We thank you that we have gathered here as the body of Christ;

We rejoice in the giftedness of each person here;

We are grateful for who we are for each other.

We consider ourselves blessed in and by you.

May we be truly Eucharistic in all we do.

To this prayer we give our Amen.

Presider 1:

Let us join then with the disciples of all ages, as we pray together:

ALL:

Eternal Spirit, Earth Maker, Life Giver, Pain Bearer,

Source of all that is and that shall be,

Father and Mother of us all,

Loving God, in who is heaven

The hallowing of your name echoes through the universe!

The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need today, feed us,

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.

In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.

From the trials too great to endure, spare us.

From the grip of all this is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.

Anglican Church of New Zealand

LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD

All: Loving God, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.

Loving God, You call us to be Your presence in the world. We will love tenderly

Loving God, You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your presence.

SHARING OF THE MEAL:

Presider 2:

This is Jesus, who called women and men to be partners and equals, and who liberates, heals and transforms us and our world. All are invited to partake of this sacred banquet of love.

ALL:

Jesus, you invite us to receive you and become you for others. We are the Body of Christ. May the Source of Life whose power now at work in us can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, be given glory through all generations. Amen

Distribution of Bread and Wine: You are the Body of Christ. You are the Blood of Christ.

Communion Song: You Are Mine

Final Blessing (all extend hands)

Presider 1: May we go forth recognizing that we are “Gospel itself, the joyful good news” of love and harmony. As we go forth from this sacred space of the Upper Room, let us reach out and touch those we meet, always with the purpose of enhancing life and awakening within them the spark of the Divine.

All: Amen

Closing Song: You Are The Voice 

  

Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, interviewed today by Ray D'Arcy on Irish Radio Show

Ray D’Arcy from the Irish RTE Radio Station interviewed Bishop Bridget Mary Meehen today on the topic: Equality in the Catholic Church

  Click on link below to listen to interview

Correct Link to Interview on Ray D'Arcy RTE on Aug. 9, 2016, Ireland

https://www.rte.ie/radio1/ray/programmes/2016/0809/808006-ray-darcy-tuesday-9-august-2016/?clipid=2252550

Apologies for the broken link. The above link should work.

Scroll down it is second story listed on this page

Equality in the Catholic Church

Irish born Bishop – Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan, has been visiting Ireland this week. As part of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, she is campaigning for greater equality in the Church and she talks to Ray this afternoon

 The 

Letter to the Editor - Uplifting worship at Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community, Albany, NY

Uplifting worship at Upper Room

Letter to the Editor by Lynn Kinlan

http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/uplifting-worship-at-upper-room/36037/

The “Women priests push for change” article, July 18, about a local meeting of 48 women priests, reminded me of my experiences with the Troy community called The Upper Room. They have women and men priests and deacons partnering in equal ministry and using inclusive language.

Importantly, the community welcomes all men and women of faith as full members including divorced Catholics, gay and transgender Catholics, and anyone else who might be attracted by a sturdy theology of original blessing rather than original sin.

I first visited the Upper Room out of sheer curiosity about women priests, but I keep going back because of the welcoming inclusivity and positive Catholic theology. The worship is alive and participatory, so different from the impersonal and repetitive rites of the traditional church, where the aging hierarchy seems out of touch with the faithful.

I am thankful for those who ” push for change” because it invigorates and refreshes our faith.

Lynn Kinlan

Guilderland

“Be a Bridge” by Rev. Dr. Barbara Billey, ARCWP Priest - Gospel Reading and Homily Starter

“Be a Bridge” by Rev. Dr. Barbara Billey, ARCWP Priest, Heart of Compassion International Faith Community Liturgy (Aug 07, 2016)

A Reading from the Gospel of Mary

     

When the Blessed One had said these things, he greeted them all. “Peace be with you!” he said. “Acquire my peace within yourselves!”

          “Be on your guard so that no one deceives you by saying, ‘Look over here’ or ‘Look over there.’ For the Human One exists within you. Follow him. Those who search for him will find him.

          Go then, prea

ch the good news about the kin-dom. Do not lay down any rule beyond what I determined for you, nor promulgate law like the law-giver, or else you might be dominated by it.”

          After he said these things, he left them.

        But they were distressed and wept greatly. “How are we going to go out to the rest of the world to announce the good news about the kin-dom of the Human One?” they said. “If they didn’t spare him, how will they spare us?”

          Then Mary stood up. She greeted them all, addressing her brothers and sisters, “Do not weep and be distressed nor let your hearts be irresolute. For his grace will be with you and will shelter you. Rather we should praise his greatness, for he has united us and made us true human beings.”

          When Mary said these things, she turned their mind toward the Good, and they began to debate the words of the Savior.

Homily Starter

“Be a bridge.” Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan spoke these words to me the day after my ordination, a little over a year ago. I had shared with her my concern about two friends who were in a conflict.

Jesus was a bridge. In today’s reading from the Gospel of Mary, Jesus reminds us to seek and to find Him. Where?  Inside ourselves; He is with us always and already.

Mary of Magdala was a bridge, too. In the synoptic Gospel narratives, we see numerous examples of her in relationship with Jesus, as ministry partner and intimate companion – healing the sick, casting out harm, anointing Him for his passion and there at the foot of the cross when He took his last breath. She is the first person to witness Jesus’ resurrection before He ascends to God. He tells her, “My God is your God”, a bridge for her to the Divine. Then she begins the evolution of Jesus’ mission by commissioning the disciples to proclaim the good news of the Spirit of Jesus, here now.

In the Gospel of Mary, while the disciples are aware of their sacred calling and, moments before, have seen the Risen One, once he leaves them they experience the all too familiar human terror that comes with saying yes. What is the cost to us? Will we suffer the same brutal fate that Jesus did? Many of us might ask the same questions when faced with a life-altering, sacred invitation.  

In a gesture of profound empathy, Mary of Magdala offers reassurance that graces will come. Her central message: the Risen One gives us what we need and our strength is in one another. She is anchored in His peace within herself and her power is potent.  She is a bridge to the Holy, for them and for us.

We need only reflect on the last year to know this truth. Our Heart of Compassion International Faith Community has grown and deepened. We have become good friends and faithful companions in Christ, a diverse faith community of persons from many faith traditions and spiritual perspectives that spans two countries, Canada and the United States. We celebrate a pastoral circle of five persons from Ontario, Michigan and Ohio, including Michele Birch-Conery who was ordained our ARCWP bishop in September 2015. We moved Michele into a new home that we lovingly call the ARCWP Hospitality House. Our community also made a significant donation to the Holy Name Sisters’ refugee fund.

We have been bridged to the Sacred, and although our bridge has sometimes been over troubled waters, we have been abundantly blessed. However, as with Jesus’ disciples, we cannot contain this energy for ourselves alone.

Today, we will anoint one another to be a bridge beyond ourselves. As companions in Christ, our sacred calling must extend outward to address the real needs of people in our local and global communities. How? We are one Body of Christ and we are His peace; this is enough.

Barbara Billey, M.Ed., M.A., D.Min, Windsor, ONT, Canada is a registered psychotherapist and art therapist who gives presence to a wide range of youth and adults. As a priest with the Heart of Compassion Faith Community, she facilitates inclusive liturgies using sacred arts in order to evoke encounters with the Sacred. An urban priest and compassion activist, Barbara is mobilizing citizens to seek adoption of the Charter for Compassion by her local municipal government. Through the Wisdom Women Circles of Compassion Initiative, she supports the empowerment of young women from several faith traditions using creative expression. She was ordained a priest with ARCWP on July 25, 2015.

Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, Celebrates Roman Catholic Liturgy in Dublin, Ireland

Today, 35 Catholics from the Dublin area celebrated liturgy with Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan for the year of Mercy.  They shared their hopes and dreams for a church that reflects Jesus' vision of a companionship of empowerment and support of the international women priest movement.  The Irish Times and Midland Radio interviewed Bridget Mary. See article in Irish Times below.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/irish-born-female-catholic-bishop-to-hold-service-in-dublin-1.2748122

Female Catholic bishop holds service in Dublin

Laois-born Dr Bridget Mary Meehan part of group which encourages female, gay and transgender vocations

about 7 hours ago Updated: about 4 hours ago

Ciarán D'Arcy

Dr Bridget Mary Meehan (4th from right) presided over a religious service in Dublin on Sunday. Photograph: Facebook

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An Irish-born member of a breakaway Catholic group which welcomes female and lesbian priests presided over a religious service in Dublin on Sunday.

Dr Bridget Mary Meehan, who is originally from Rathdowney in Co Laois and is now based in Florida, has the position of bishop within the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.

She holds weekly services with parishioners at a Christian church in the city of Sarasota, and says she responded to an invitation from a faith community of “reform-minded Catholics” to celebrate the Eucharist at a community centre in Rialto.

Her organisation has ordained around 230 female members around the world, and she wants the orthodox Catholic Church to accept women as well as gay and transgender individuals into the clergy.

“I’m going to celebrate an inclusive Roman Catholic liturgy just like everybody has in their churches in Ireland. I’m going to celebrate that with a local community here of renewed, reform-minded Catholics who are interested in justice and equality for women in the church,” she said at the weekend.

Dr Meehan said her services are attended by a diverse congregation rather than just like-minded women, but added that there was no attempt made to persuade Catholic authorities to allow the celebration be held in a consecrated church.

“We thought why bother causing a problem with the hierarchy because they’re not ready for it,” she told The Irish Times.

Her movement has been officially excommunicated by the Catholic Church since its inception in 2002, when it was claimed a male bishop privately ordained a number of female bishops on the Danube river, and is generally prohibited from holding services on church property.

Dr Meehan says that among a number of women she has ordained, she has also ordained two male priests, one of whom was gay.

She contends that women formed an integral part of the clergy in the early Christian Church and that some of Jesus’ own apostles were female. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests does not impose a strict policy of celibacy, unlike its orthodox equivalent.

“The Catholic Church must follow the example of Jesus who embraced everyone at the table. Gays and lesbians, transgender, divorced and remarried and all that are on the margins and are alienated should be welcome at the table of the Eucharist,” remarked Dr Meehan.

According to her, Pope Francis has softened the Church’s rhetoric around the concept of female vocations and she is hopeful that women priests and bishops will be accepted into the institution in future.

“Our challenge to Pope Francis, lovingly, is that we are happy you’ve changed the tone but we’re asking you to change the teaching so that justice and equality and inclusivity can become the values of the Church,” she said.

Dr Meehan added that while she is happy to preside over the first known service of such a kind in Ireland on Sunday, she does not sense any great appetite for change in the Irish Catholic community.

“I don’t know, I think your climate is very different from the climate we have in the States.”