Liturgy to Celebrate Feast of St. Mary Magdala/ARCWP

GATHERING SONG

“We Are Called”   (David Haas)

Come!  Live in the light!  Shine with the joy and the love of our God!  We are called to be light for the kingdom  To live in the freedom of the city of God! 

Refrain:    We are called to act with justice,  We are called to love tenderly,   We are called to serve one another;   to walk humbly with God!

Come!  Open your heart!  Show your mercy to all those in fear!  We are called to be hope for the hopeless   So all hatred and blindness will be no more!  Refrain

Sing!  Sing a new song!  Sing of that great day when all will be one!  God will reign, and we’ll walk with each other  As sisters and brothers united in love!

Refrain

Copyright © 1988   GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved

GREETING

Presider:  In the name of God, our mother and father, and of Jesus our brother and healer, and of the Holy Spirit, our wisdom and guide.  ALL:  Amen.

Presider:  May God, the Blessed Holy Three, be with us as we work together for partnership, justice and equality for women in church and society! 

ALL:  And also with you.

PENITENTIAL RITE

Presider:  O God, may we see your feminine face in our female ancestors and in all women.   ALL:  May we open our hearts, like Mary of Magdala, to the Risen Christ.  Presider:  Jesus the Christ, may we see the divine reality in the person of a woman especially in women who are called to serve you.

ALL:  May we like Mary of Magdala, who proclaimed the Good News, advocate justice for women who have suffered abuse and violence in our world. 

Presider:  May the God of love, forgive us our lack of trust in your Spirit Sophia moving with us, in us, and through us, leading us to guidance, courage, healing and empowerment.   ALL: Amen.

Gloria

ALL:  Glory to God in the highest.  Peace to all.  Christ Sophia, Wisdom of God, Glory to Three in One.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading:  Wisdom of Solomon 7:22-28

Litany of Women for the Church

Leader:  Dear God, creator of women in your own image, born of a woman in the midst of a world half women, carried by women to mission fields around the globe, made known by women to all the children of the earth, give to the women of our time the strength to persevere, the courage to speak out, the faith to believe in you beyond all systems and institutions so that your face on earth may be seen in all its beauty, so that men and women become whole, so that the church may be converted to your will in everything and in all ways. We call on the holy women of the Early Christian Church who went before us and who stand beside us, channels of Your Word in testaments old and new, to intercede for us so that we might be given the grace to become what they are and have been for the honor and glory of God. 

Sing:   Jesus your spirit send to renew our Church (with gestures)

•          Father/Mother God, pray for us.

•          Jesus Wisdom, pray for us.

•          Christ Sophia, pray for us.

•         Holy Spirit, pray for us.

Sing:   Jesus your spirit send to renew our Church

•          Holy Mother Mary, pray for us.

•          Mary of Magdala, pray for us.

•          Deacon Sophie, pray for us.

•          Deacon Eugenia, pray for us.

•          Deacon Paula, pray for us.

Sing:   Jesus your spirit send to renew our Church

•          Deacon Phoebe, pray for us.

•          Deacon Basilissa, pray for us.

•          Deacon Theoprepia, pray for us.

•          Deacon Posidonia, pray for us.

•          Deacon Agatha, pray for us.

Sing:   Jesus your spirit send to renew our Church

•          Priest Julia, pray for us.

•          Priest Vitalia, pray for us.  

•         Priest Epikto, pray for us.

•          Priest Ammion, pray for us.

•          Priest Flavia, pray for us.

•          Priest Atrimadora, pray for us.

•          Priest Kale, pray for us.

Sing:   Jesus your spirit send to renew our Church

•          Bishop Alexsandra, pray for us.

•          Bishop Veneranda, pray for us.  

•         Bishop Theodora, pray for us.

•         Bishop Bridget of Kildare pray for us.

Sing:   Jesus your spirit send to renew our Church

Second Reading: Romans 16:1-7, 16

Gospel Acclamation:    Alleluia by Jan Phillips

Reader:  We will pause at various points in our reading as a symbol of Mary of Magdala is brought forward.

A reading from the Gospel according to John 20:1-2, 11-18     ALL:  Glory to you O God.

Reader:  The good news of Jesus, the Christ!

ALL:  Glory and praise to you, Jesus the Christ!

HOMILY

Reflection by Mary Theresa Streck on Saint Mary Magdala based on excerpts from A Passion for Life, Fragments of the Face of God, Sr. Joan Chittister and The Catholic Church, a short history, Hans Kung.

In response to the homily today, we invite you to take a few minutes to pray, reflect and then share with one another.

Profession of Faith:   ALL:  We believe in God who is creator and nurturer of all. We believe in Jesus, the Christ, who is our love, our hope, and our light. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of Wisdom Sophia, who energizes and guides us to build caring communities and to challenge oppression, exploitation and injustices.  We believe that God loves us passionately and forgives us everything.  We believe that we are radiant images of God who calls us to live fully, love tenderly, and serve generously.  We believe in the communion of saints our heavenly friends, who support us on life’s journey.  We believe in the partnership and equality of women and men in our church and world.  We believe that all are one in the Heart of God.  We believe that women’s liberation is human liberation.  Here we dwell in loving relationships.  Here we live our prophetic call of Gospel equality.

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL

Lector 1:  Jesus healed St. Mary of Magdala of a very serious illness and then she followed him, supporting his mission with all of her resources.  Thank you O Christ, for all the ways you heal us.  Open our hearts to receive your healing grace and let us, like St. Mary of Magdala, put all we have at your service.  For this we pray.  Response:  Loving God, hear our prayer.

Lector 2:  Mary and the other women and men disciples persevered with Jesus, even when he was persecuted by his own religious leadership and government authorities.  God of Strength, help us stand in Jesus’ truth and healing love especially when we experience persecution for justice’ sake.  For this we pray. Response.     Lector 1:  Because of her witness and fidelity, St. Mary of Magdala is known as the Apostle to the Apostles.  Help us, O God of Righteousness, to accept your apostolic call “to go and tell our brothers and sisters of Jesus’ power to heal… even wounded structures which exclude.” For this we pray. Response.    Lector 2:  Women were faithful disciples of Jesus and significant leaders in the early Christian communities.  Help us Most Inclusive One, to reclaim our baptismal call to leadership.  For this we pray. Response.     ALL: Amen

PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS

 “Join Together” (Carolyn McDade)

We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global community founded on these principles:

Respect for nature

Universal human rights

Economic justice and a culture of peace

(Free dance during instrumentation)

Presider:  Blessed are you, O God, Creator of all.  Through your divine providence we have this bread to offer, it will become for us the Bread of Life. 

ALL:  Blessed be God forever.   Presider:  Blessed are you, O God, Creator of all.  Through your divine providence we have this wine to offer, it will become our spiritual drink.  ALL:  Blessed be God forever.  Presider:  Nurturing God, we are united in this sacrament by the love of Jesus Christ in communion with Mary of Magdala, who proclaimed the Risen Christ. Like Mary, may we discover the liberating power of Woman-Spirit in our midst.  We ask this through Wisdom Sophia, Jesus, our brother, and the Holy Spirit.  ALL:  Amen.

Presider:  God dwells in you.  ALL:  And also with you.   Presider:  Lift up your hearts and pursue justice.  ALL:  We lift them up to God, Pursuer of Justice.   Presider: Let us give thanks to the Creator of all.   ALL: It is right to give God thanks and praise.

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER

(all Eucharistic Ministers gather at the altar and everyone is invited in the space in front of and around the altar)

Part One:  O loving God, O blessed Holy Three, who brings to birth the world of our dreams for mutual respect and partnership, we do well always and everywhere to give you praise.  Give us courage to act justly and work collaboratively to change systems that keep people poor and marginalized in our society. We thank you for the women and men who are working for justice and equality in our church and world. Your gift of the Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, gives us hope that one day all will be one at the eternal banquet of heaven. With thankful hearts in the company of the angels and saints, we praise you, God of Abundance and Welcome.

ALL: (sung)  Holy, Holy Holy (We are holy, holy, holy,3x we are whole, you are holy,3x you are whole, I am holy...etc" by Karen Drucker)

Part Two:  You are holy indeed O Mothering God. You are the Heart of Love. You affirm women’s bodies as holy and women’s stories as sacred.  Pour out your Spirit upon all who work for justice and equality.  Pour out your spirit upon this bread and wine so that we may become the body and blood of Jesus, the Christ, in whom we have all become your daughters and sons.

(please all extend hands as we recite the consecration)

Presider:  On the night before he died, Jesus came to table with the women and men he loved.  Jesus took bread and praised you, God of compassion. He blessed and broke the bread, gave it to his friends and said:    ALL:  “Take, eat, this is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. 

Presider:  After supper, Jesus poured the final cup of wine and blessed you, God the Creator.  Jesus shared the cup with his friends, and said:    ALL:  This is the cup of the covenant of my love poured out for you.  As often as you drink of it, remember me.

Presider:  Let us proclaim the mystery of faith: (sung)

ALL:   Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again.

Part Three:  In memory of Jesus, who showed us the path to liberation and empowerment, we offer you, Loving Creator, the bread of life, this saving cup. We give thanks that we live in your Enfolding Presence and serve you with grateful hearts.  May all of us who share in this sacred banquet of Christ be brought together as one in the Holy Spirit and be filled with courage to live Gospel equality in inclusive communities working for justice and peace in our church and world.

Part Four:  God, remember your holy people throughout the world, make us one in love, together with Francis our pope, our female and male bishops,  and all God’s people. Remember our sisters and brothers, who face oppression, discrimination and joblessness, who have lost homes, partners, and hope.  Remember all those who work for justice, especially our Catholic Sisters who have given their lives for the needs of people who suffer injustice.  Remember those who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again, bring them and all the departed into your everlasting arms.

Part Five:  Have mercy on us all; make us one with Mary, Mother of Jesus, our sister and champion of the oppressed, and the apostles through the ages, especially Mary of Magdala, Junia and Andronicus, and all the holy women and men who have done your will throughout the ages.  May their courage inspire us to confront patriarchal systems that discriminate against women.  God, may we be free at last from all bondage and injustice, and give you glory through Jesus the Christ.

ALL:  Through Christ, With Christ and In Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, may our work for justice, peace and equality give You glory and honor, Holy God forever and ever. 

(sung)    Amen, (Lilies of the Field)

THE PRAYER OF JESUS

ALL:  Our Father and Mother…

Presider:  Protect us, God, from all evil and dismiss all anxiety from our minds.  May a thousand angels guide our steps to live justice, partnership and equality now as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of God in our time where all can say “thank God we are free at last!”

ALL:  For the kindom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

THE SIGN OF PEACE

“Prayer of Peace” (David Haas)

Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.   Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.    Love before us…        Christ before us…

    LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD

(Sung)  Loving God, you call us to speak truth to power, have mercy on us.

Loving God, you call us to live the gospel of justice and peace have mercy on us.

Loving God, you call us to be your presence in the world grant us your peace.

Presider:   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 make us worthy to receive you and become you for others.  We are the Body of Christ.

Communion Song

"Peace is Flowing Like a River"   (Carey Landry)

Peace is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me.   Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.

God's love is flowing like a river. . .

God's healing's flowing like a river. . .

Al-le-lu-ia, al-le-lu-ia . . .

God’s peace is flowing like a river . . .

Copyright © 1975 Carey Landry & North American Liturgy Resources. All rights reserved.

COMMUNION MEDITATION

“Holy One”    (Songs of Presence)

All Chant: Holy, holy, holy One (repeat)

(Period of Silence)

CONCLUDING RITE

Announcements and Thanks

BLESSING

Presider:   Our God is with you. 

ALL:  and also with you.

 (everyone please extend your hands in mutual blessing)

ALL:  May the fire of God’s love warm our hearts.  May God grant our prayers for justice and equality in our church and world.  May the love of Christ fill us and radiate through us forever.

DISMISSAL

Presider:   Go in the peace of Christ.  Let the service for justice and equality continue! 

ALL:   Thanks be to God.

CONCLUDING HYMN

“Dancing in the Light of God”

(Siyahamba, Public Domain)

We are dancing in the light of God, we are dancing in the light of God

We are dancing in the light of God, we are dancing in the light of God

We are dancing dancing, we are dancing dancing,

We are dancing in the light of God

We are dancing dancing, we are dancing dancing,

We are dancing in the light of God

We are Praying ...

We are Singing ...

Special thanks to our Liturgical Ministers, Music Ministers, and all those who helped in the planning and participated in this liturgy!

Bridget Mary Meehan

Association of Roman Catholic Woman Priests

http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/

www.arcwp.org