Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now- https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2025/10/rev-dr-bridget-mary-meehan-arcwp-chat.html
Opening Song: All Are Welcome by Marty Haugen
https://youtu.be/js8RtT0mJpc
You Have Anointed Me
https://youtu.be/vUMdXhZB08U
Alleluia
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
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| Jesus Heals Peter's Mother-in-law from womeninthebible.net |
In an interview on the NPR program “On Being,” Mary Catherine Bateson, talked about “believing in the God of all things as they are.” She said, “Job lost a sense of wonder .… God invites us to just look around to experience the wonder of creation which then leads to praise.”
That is something Job, in the first reading today, failed to do. He was so caught up in his own ambitions, possessions, and worries he failed to notice all the goodness around him.
Job's shaky encounter with God turned into a loving one once he figured out the things he thought were his really did not belong to him even though he worked hard to acquire them. The never ending beauty of creation and all it encompasses is entrusted to us to protect and share for as long as we live on this fragile planet.
The woman in the gospel, Penthera, Peter’s mother-in-law, was hanging on for dear life. Whatever she may have yearned for or acquired in life no longer mattered to her. When she was healed by Jesus the experience of his gentle goodness transformed her and gave her new purpose. She became Jesus’s disciple.
What do we expect from God? Do we want God to relate to us on our terms? Or, have we not yet noticed that God continues to be present in us even though we may not be present to God?
In this context I am struck by Gregory Volk’s commentary on Ragnar Kjartansson’s new production Bliss, which repeats over and over again the final three-minutes of the 1786 opera Marriage of Figaro.
Volk called it“extraordinarily pleasurable with themes of forgiveness, happiness, transcendence, and grace.” He continued, “So too are we, avidly pursuing grace while staggered by misplaced passions and mistakes, pursuing happiness but often falling well short.”
Maybe a quiet patience beckons us to let beauty and grace come to us rather than chasing after them with prayers and good deeds. What will it take for me to be open to whatever a holy and creative Spirit will bring into my life? Will I share that blessing with others?
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/08/965261708/pope-francis-latest-moves-to-empower-women-in-roman-catholic-church
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Organised by Global Ministry University (GMU), Harmony Institute, the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue and Islamic Studies (IRDIS) and Umma University
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| Nairobi, Kenya |
The conference will take place from Thursday August 19 to Saturday, August 21, 2021 and will be based at Tangaza University College in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference is co-organised by four institutions that are involved in interreligious dialogue both at the academic and grassroot levels. The Global University Ministry is based in California. It offers postgraduate degrees in interreligious dialogue. Harmony Institute is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic organization encouraging peaceful coexistence of human fraternity with the purpose of advancing social cohesion by connecting communities and contributing to the development of ideas on dialogue, peace and sustainable development. The Institute for Interreligious Dialogue and Islamic Studies (IRDIS) is an institute that offers, amongst many activities, to train people of different faiths in Interreligious Dialogue, within a Catholic university college. Umma Universityiv is “the University of the people.” It was established in 2013.
Participants to the conference will be drawn from across the globe and organised in different hubs (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America) with themes that are relevant to each hub. Participants will be able to access the conference through online portals or take part in person at Tangaza University.
This conference will draw upon the experience of people from diverse religious, cultural and economic backgrounds who are developing new ways to transcend many of the divisions that are afflicting the human community and our common home on planet earth. We plan to engage global citizens to build transformative models of community development that bridge economic, political, religious and cultural divisions in the world.
The conference will focus on the message of Fratelli Tutti (2020) as a spiritual handbook promoting solidarity among all peoples on earth. It will also recognize opportunities provided by the document on Human Fraternity for world peace and living together (2019) and Makkah Declaration (2019). It will use the platform provided by the world’s religions to support a Global Ethic of inclusion, shared commitments, resources, compassion, and interdependence of the human family with other life forms on earth. The goal of the conference will be to develop an ongoing global platform as well as centers on the ground for growing leadership and resource development, for unifying the human family and providing guidance about how to achieve this overarching goal. Regional hubs in Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe will be established as part of this conference.
We will examine the types of community building activities that have successfully translated the hopeful message of Fratelli Tutti into actualizing educational strategies that build communities promoting new bonds among diverse social, cultural, and religious groups in various parts of the world. We plan to use the latest technological platforms to publish the outcomes and recommendations of this conference.
Gerald Grudzen, Ph.D. Fr. Maganya Halerimana Innocent
President Director of IRDIS
Global Ministries University Tangaza University College
http://globalmininstriesuniversity.org www.tangaza.ac.ke/
www.tangaza.org
Dr Ali Adan Mr Mustafa Genc
Umma University Director of Harmony Institute
http://www.umma.ac.ke https://harmonyinstitute.or.ke/
For any information contact: irdisadmin@tangaza.ac.ke
Nairobi, February 2, 2021
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
LITURGY OF ORDINATION
Ordination to Priesthood
Diane Burroughs
Ordination to Diaconate
Jill Striebinger
Ordaining Bishop
Bridget Mary Meehan
Oasis Club House
8063 SW 106th Place
Ocala, FL 34481
February 11, 2021
1:00 PM
You are invited to join us via Zoom. Please wear a stole and have bread, wine/juice and a candle as we pray together the Eucharistic prayer.
The Zoom link will be open at 12:30pm. Please join us by 12:55pm.
Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 871 3229 2387
Passcode: 880869
Dial-in for audio only:
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 871 3229 2387
Passcode: 880869
Welcome and Theme: (Donna)
Welcome to the Upper Room. We are so happy to be together today to consider the gift of healing. May this time together remind us of our deep connection to Holy Presence and each other as we celebrate healing and wholeness.
Opening meditation: (Kim)
Opening Song: I Will Not Leave You Comfortless
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
First Reading: Job 7:1-4;6-7
Isn’t a person’s life in this world nothing but drudgery? Aren’t our days here like those of a hired hand? Like a laborer vainly longing for shade or a hired hand waiting for meager wages, so I am assigned months of futility; my only possessions are nights of misery. When I go to bed, I wonder, “How long before I get up?” -but the night drags on, as I toss and turn. My days pass as swiftly as a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope. O God, remember that my life is just a breath, and I will never experience joy again.
These are the inspired words from the book of Job and the community affirms them by saying: Amen
Second Reading: Mark 1:29-39 (Deven)
Upon leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered Simon’s and Andrew’s house with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told Jesus about her. Jesus went over to her, took her by the hand and helped her up, and the fever left her.
Then she went about her work. After sunset, as evening drew on, they brought to Jesus all who were ill and possessed by demons. Everyone in the town crowded around the door. Jesus healed many who were sick with different diseases, and cast out many demons. But Jesus would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.
Rising early the next morning, Jesus went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and some companions managed to find Jesus and said to him, "Everybody is looking for you!” Jesus said to them, “Let us move on to the neighboring villages so that I may proclaim the Good News there also. That is what I have come to do.” So Jesus went into their synagogues proclaiming the Good News and expelling demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
These are the inspired words from the Gospel of Mark and the community affirms them by saying: Amen
Third Reading: Excerpts from: How to deal with Pain: First and Second Darts by Patrick Edbald (Mary Theresa)
Physical and psychological pain are inevitable parts of life. It’s just the way we humans are designed. To survive physically, we need our body to let us know when it’s ill or injured. To work psychologically and socially, we need minds that send different signals of distress such as loneliness, anger, fear, rejection, threat and grief.
Losing these physical and psychological signals of pain is in fact very dangerous. We need to know that we’ve accidentally put our hand on the stove to do something about it. Or feel guilty when we’ve mistreated someone else. Pain is what lets us know.
In Buddhism, these unavoidable pains in life are known as ‘first darts.’ These are the darts life throws at us that we can’t do anything about.But what we can do, is avoid throwing ‘second darts‘ at ourselves. These second darts are our judgments and reactions to the first darts.
“Pain is Inevitable. Suffering is Optional.”This Buddhist proverb simply and brilliantly sums up how this works. Pain is the first dart. Suffering is the second dart. You’re always going to have to deal with pain because that’s how humans function in the world.
For example, let’s say you get a sudden headache. This is the first dart. The second darts come in the form of your thoughts about the situation: ‘Why does this always happen to me?!’, ‘This headache is driving me crazy!!’, ‘I hate this pain!’ and so on.
Each time you buy into these thoughts you make the experience of the headache even worse. You’re putting logs on the fire. Now, it’s not just the pain from the first dart you’re experiencing; you’re also hitting yourself with a bunch of second darts that are causing you to suffer.
These are the inspired words of Patrick Edbald and the the community affirms them by saying: Amen
Gospel Acclamation: Dennis
Shared Homily: Donna
As we come close to experiencing a full year in a pandemic, with job losses, with friends and family members who have passed away, and so many people battling cancer, it is possible that the weight of the world is heavy on our shoulders. The last line in the reading from Job “I will never experience joy again,” could be among our thoughts. Like Job, we need shelter, relief and healing. If only we could take the hand of Jesus and be healed the way Peter’s mother-n-law was. If only our pain would leave us the way the fever left her.
Our readings today suggest that by encountering the Holy One in times of pain we can avoid the tendency to create suffering for ourselves. Mark’s gospel was written to persecuted Christians and portrays Jesus as a teacher, healer and one who also encountered great pain. The word “immediately” is used many times in this gospel and is applied to the healing stories when people were instantaneously healed when they encountered Jesus.
All people experience pain and Mark’s gospel teaches us that people are healed through an encounter of the divine. It is useful to understand healing as a different relationship with pain so as to eliminate unnecessary additional suffering. Healing is not escaping illness, pain and adversity rather it is a healthy relationship to the inevitable struggles we all encounter. If our relationship to pain is healed we are free to live in the way Jesus modeled, with courage, love and endurance in the good times as well as the difficult times.
Jesus may be pictured in the gospels as a healer because he understood how to live well when facing adversity, illness and injustice. This allowed him to act justly, do mercy and walk humbly with God. Jesus’ healed relationship with pain could be why he had such an appeal to all those he met. Jesus was a healing presence. As our third reading teaches, when we do not inflict the second dart of negativity, judgement, and resistance upon ourselves, we are freer to navigate any situation with courage, love and grace.
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.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Dennis: These are the prayer intentions received from the community:
Dennis: We pray for these and all unspoken concerns of our hearts. Amen.
Donna: Let us join with open hands to pray our Eucharistic prayer together:
Donna: Source of Love and Light, we join in unity of Spirit, love and purpose with Your people everywhere, living and crossed over. With all of creation across billions of galaxies, we open our hearts and souls to become One.
In your loving embrace we are liberated from division, fear, conflict, pride and injustice. We are transformed into wholeness which we resolve to bring to all whose lives we touch. With gratitude, we meld ourselves Your Divine Presence which knows all, shelters all and transforms all into love, abundant and eternal.
In one voice, we praise Your loving, healing ways and the glory of all You have Created:
https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ
We thank you, Holy One, for Jesus, a man of courage whose exquisite balance of human and Divine points our way and who strives with us in our time of need. We yearn with passion to live as Jesus, one with you and your Spirit, in peace and justice.
May our desire to be one with You join us to all living things. We seek to heal the differences that isolate us so that we may live in healthful unity with all people, of every ethnicity, skin color, gender orientation or class. May we have the imaginative sympathy and love of Your Spirit to move with courage beyond the confines of bias, miscommunication, ignorance and hurt and into the healing place where Divine light and love abide.
Suzanne: Please extend your hands in blessing of bread and wine.
Together, we call on Your Spirit, present in these gifts - bread that satisfies our hunger and wine that quenches our thirst – to make us more deeply One, living in the fullness of holy compassion and Sophia wisdom.
Anticipating the likelihood of betrayal, arrest and pain, Jesus wanted more than anything to be with his friends, to share a meal, exchange stories and create fond memories. To strengthen the bonds of friendship that evening, Jesus washed the feet of his friends in an act of love and humility.
All lift the bread.
Suzanne: Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.
All lift their cups.
Then he took the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered it to them 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 consume their bread and cup
As we celebrate and recognize you in this bread and wine, we recognize you in each other. Sharing the bread of life and wine transforms us and opens us to your Spirit. Knowing that Jesus spent his time with the lowly and hurting, the needy and shunned, we seek to remain open to how we can bring love, healing and unity to whomever is in need. We ask for the grace to see with the eyes of Jesus, touch with the hands of Jesus and heal with the heart of Jesus. Amen.
Donna: Let us join with disciples of all ages to pray together:
O Holy One, who is within, around and among us,
We celebrate your many names.
Your Wisdom come.
Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us,
Each day you give us all we need;
You remind us of our limits, and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen (Miriam Therese Winter)
Donna: Our Communion Meditation is Requiem by Eliza Gilkeyson
Closing Blessing: Suzanne: Please raise your hands in blessing and join together in our closing prayer:
We pray for harmony in the midst of divisiveness and for hope in the middle of hurt. We bless our civic leaders and ourselves and all peoples with a call for harmony and deep peace: May Deep peace be a blessing onto you. May we know the deep peace of the running wave. May we know the deep peace of the flowing air. May we know the deep peace of the quiet earth. May the moon and stars pour their healing light upon us all. Amen.
Closing Song: Don’t Worry Be Happy
