Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Celebrates Liturgy: Deacon Jim Marsh Shares homily starter/ Bridget Mary Meehan Anoints Members, Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, and Community blesses Jack Duffy on his 80th birthday

Welcome to MMOJ!  Deacon Jim Marsh,ARCWP in photo below

We are an inclusive Catholic community.   Our liturgical style is highly inclusive not only in language but also in our prayer together.  You are invited to pray the Eucharistic prayer – spontaneously pray one of the many voices, and together we shall invoke the Memory of Tradition by saying the words of consecration.  All are welcome to share in our simple Eucharistic meal

Are there any newcomers this week?

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B – January 24-25, 2015

Our Theme is Spokespersons of the Good News
Our question:  How are we heralds of the Good News?
My friends, we are closing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a
 tradition begun in 1908.  The scriptural text for this year’s theme
(chosen by the Vatican) is from John 4:7

“Jesus said to her: ‘give me to drink.’

We are three weeks into our new year according to our Gregorian calendar. 
I am into my first week of this new chapter in my retired life, as
deacon/servant. 

And Chinese communities all over the world are preparing to celebrate a
New Year! The event was once based on a complex lunar calendar that
served as a religious and social guide.  It always falls between Jan 21 and
February 20^th.  The Chinese believe a new year is a time to balance tensions,
polar opposites — the yin yang — necessary for living in harmony with one
 another.  This new year, which officially begins February 19^th, is the year of
 the Goat.  People born under this auspicious sign are considered to be gentle
& mild-mannered, though strong on the inside, sympathetic yet strong-willed
in their opinions and brimming with a strong sense of justice.

So let us listen to what the Spirit (Sophia Wisdom) is saying to us this day in
our readings and shared dialogue.  Let us begin our prayer in song!
See homily below:
Deacon Jim Marsh:

Homily musings - intro……….. jtm  01/24/2015 MMOJ-Sarasota

What did you hear?

Today’s Gospel follows on the heels of last week when we heard about John the Baptizers movement that stressed conversion, and their catching sight of Jesus, whom they called the Messiah, the Annointed One.  We heard Jesus ask “What are you looking for?” and his response “come and see.”

Today’s Gospel is certainly about being called ----- we hear the call of Simon, Andrew, James and John.  Jesus says God’s kin-dom is here among us --- and they become conscious, aware (perhaps for the first time) that they are in the presence of God and have a role in making this kin-dom happen. 

So I ask you, did you hear your names??????  Katy, Terry, Mary Al, Mindy, Kevin ….

Did you hear the voice of Jesus, the Shepherd, calling not only the sheep but the goats, as well, whether we were born under that “Chinese’ sign or not?  Indeed, we are called to be “good news!” 

And what is this good news?  Simply, that God loves you and me beyond all measure, and even those who seem unlovable given our own fears and prejudices.  As our own beloved bishop, Bridget Mary, just shared with us, we are all held in the passionate, tender embrace of our God who is in and

all around us.  We are called to be and do something beyond our imaginings: to make the kin-dom a reality in our time, each of us by our unique giftedness.

And there’s our first reading from Jonah in the great city of Nineveh.  We’re told that this is the second time that the word of YHWH came to Jonah.  Did he not hear it the first time?  Did he ignore it or even argue that it was not his job or responsibility to speak out, to advocate for a new way of relating to

each other? 

Was it really God who was out to destroy this great city or was it the result of it’s citizens who followed other voices that created brokenness, corruption, and all manner of living, not in “right relation to each other?”  I believe the imminent destruction was of their making? 

Are we as guilty (destroying our world rather than creating), with our wars and war-making, our drones that kill innocent women and children daily, our ever-increasing gap between those who have and those who have not?  This week we learned that the richest 1 percent in the world are likely to control more than half the globe’s wealth by 2016.  Eighty (80) of the wealthiest folks already own $1.9 trillion which is the same amount that is shared by 3.5 billion of  our sisters and brothers who occupy the bottom half of the income scale.  It’s just staggering …………..   To quote the author, “Do we really ant to live in a world where the 1 percent own more than the rest of us combined?”

And then there’s our second reading – Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth.  While much of it is ‘scary’ to me, the part that resonates is “the world, as we know it, is passing away.”  The old order is to be replaced/recreated by us.

If you’re ever at a loss for what to pray for and about, just open the newspaper.  My friends, we are called to be people of prayer and action.  But prayer is a dangerous activity!  Just look at the life of Jesus, the Christ.  God invites us to be co-creators and re-creators of the world.  The kin-dom is

here, it’s among us.  We have much work to do! Let us recognize the face of God in all we meet, and act accordingly! 

May God be praised in our living and loving this week!

So what did you hear, and how are you heralds of this “Good News?”

Jim Marsh and Lee Breyer

Over 60 in MMOJ Community gathers around the altar to pray Eucharistic Prayer

Bridget Mary Meehan anoints those who requested Sacrament of the Sick

MMOJ Community blesses Jack Duffy, accompanied by his daughter Bridget and her husband David, on his 80th birthday

Bridget Mary anoints Jack Duffy

Over 60 people attended our MMOJ liturgy on Jan. 24th

Bridget Mary, Jack Duffy, with David and Mary Bridget Duffy

Dotty Shugrue with her sisters from the Sisterhood of Chrysalis

Some visitors to MMOJ were ARCWP priests and friend Guila from left to right back row, photojournalist,  Guila Bianchi, ARCWP priests: Mary Collingwoood,
front left to right, Bridget Mary Meehan, Janice, Sevre-Duszynska and Dotty Shugrue

Mary Collingwood, Guila Bianchi, and Bridget Mary Meehan

Bridget Mary Meehan and Jack Duffy

back row: Michael Rigdon, Jack Duffy, Mary Collingwood, Guila Bianchi, Dotty Shurgrue, Katy Zatsick,
Imogene Rigdon, Janice Sevre Duszynska, Bridget Mary Meehan, Dotty Shugrue