Liturgy: Celebrating New Life as Midwives of Grace
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| Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP and Dr. Marily Jenai c-preside at liturgy at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community |
GATHERING SONG AND GREETING
Presider: In the name of God, Midwife of Grace, and of Jesus our brother, and of the Holy Spirit, our Liberator. ALL: Amen
Presider: My sisters and brothers, God loves us infinitely and is with us always. ALL: and also with you.
Loving God, you breathe life into your whole Creation.
Help us breathe deeply of your peace and presence.
Gracious God, you give us yourself to make our joy complete.
Help us give our fear, pain, and grief to you.
Compassionate God, you move through our lives in unexpected ways.
Help us move in concert with you, as we walk the labyrinth of our lives.
God who is Goodness, Compassion and Love, accept our thanks and praise for all the blessings of this life, especially for those graces that in this time of our friend’s suffering are difficult to see.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
Shed the light of your healing love on Alexandra, whose pain and suffering this day are beyond anything we can even comprehend.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
May she know deeply the love and support of her partner, Nelson … of her family … of her sister priests … and of all those whose hearts hold her tightly today.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
Grant that Alexandra may have hope in her future, courage and perseverance as she walks her healing journey.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
Bless all those medical professionals who will work with her; give them loving patience, wisdom, and skills during the many hours they will spend with her.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
Hold us in the palm of your hand as we strive to move beyond the anger and the horror we feel toward the perpetrator of this crime, and keep us on the path of understanding and loving forgiveness.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
For these and for all other petitions that are too deep for words, we pray to you
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
You are the God whose promises never cease.
You are our brother, Jesus, whose presence never fails.
You are the Spirit who will brood over our sister Alexandra, and bring her back into the fullness of life.
We place Alexandra in your hands, as we place our trust in your tender, compassionate, and healing love.
AMEN.
A Healing Litany for Dr. Alexandra Dyer
Together we lift our prayers to you, O God of love and healing. |
Help us breathe deeply of your peace and presence.
Gracious God, you give us yourself to make our joy complete.
Help us give our fear, pain, and grief to you.
Compassionate God, you move through our lives in unexpected ways.
Help us move in concert with you, as we walk the labyrinth of our lives.
God who is Goodness, Compassion and Love, accept our thanks and praise for all the blessings of this life, especially for those graces that in this time of our friend’s suffering are difficult to see.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
Shed the light of your healing love on Alexandra, whose pain and suffering this day are beyond anything we can even comprehend.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
May she know deeply the love and support of her partner, Nelson … of her family … of her sister priests … and of all those whose hearts hold her tightly today.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
Grant that Alexandra may have hope in her future, courage and perseverance as she walks her healing journey.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
Bless all those medical professionals who will work with her; give them loving patience, wisdom, and skills during the many hours they will spend with her.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
Hold us in the palm of your hand as we strive to move beyond the anger and the horror we feel toward the perpetrator of this crime, and keep us on the path of understanding and loving forgiveness.
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
For these and for all other petitions that are too deep for words, we pray to you
Divine Healer, hear our prayer.
You are the God whose promises never cease.
You are our brother, Jesus, whose presence never fails.
You are the Spirit who will brood over our sister Alexandra, and bring her back into the fullness of life.
We place Alexandra in your hands, as we place our trust in your tender, compassionate, and healing love.
AMEN.
PENITENTIAL RITE
Presider: Let us pause now for reflection. Place your hand over your heart and breathe in God’s passionate love for you…breathe out God’s, extravagant love for everyone….
Open yourself to Spirit energy empowering you…
Now let us praise God by singing Glory to God…
Song of Praise: Glory to God, glory. O praise Glory alleluia.
Glory to God, glory. O praise the name of our God. (x2)
Glory to God, glory. O praise the name of our God. (x2)
OPENING PRAYER
Presider: God of Love, Midwife of grace, we experience your grace drawing us to new life in the depths of our mystical souls and in our prophetic call .We rejoice with our brother Jesus, through the power of your Spirit. ALL: Amen.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading
Responsorial Psalm
Second Reading
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia
Gospel:
Reader: The good news of Jesus, the Christ!
ALL: Glory and praise to you, Jesus the Christ!
HOMILY Starter followed by Dialogue Sharing
Meditation:
Take some deep, cleansing breaths and journey within your being…
Let the images from The River Jordon, speak to your soul and stir the mystic within…
(Play song)
River of Jordan by Peter, Paul and Mary
“We are only one river,
We are only one sea
And it flows through you
And it flows through me.
We are only one people.
We are one and the same.
We are all one spirit.
We are all one name.
We are the father, We are the father
mother daughter and son.
From the dawn of creation,
We are one. (Repeat 2x.)
In the Gospel of John 6:60-69, we read the discourse on the Bread of Life and Jesus says: “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”...
The early Christians saw Jesus as a wisdom teacher and identified his saving deeds and compassion with Sophia, Holy Wisdom...
According to prominent theologian, Elizabeth Johnson.”The prologue of John’s Gospel actually presents the prehistory of Jesus in terms lifted right from the story of (Wisdom)Sophia present with God in the beginning ...
Sophia is imaged as co-creator of the cosmos….
She is a radiant light that darkness cannot overcome..
She descends from heaven and dwells among the people...
She is rejected by some, but gives life to those who receive her...
So too does Jesus, according to the Gospel of John..
In his parables, healings, exorcisms and meals, (Jesus) he reflects the compassionate, healing, liberating, and renewing presence of Wisdom Sophia.,,,
Then “Jesus, in the long line of Sophia’s murdered prophets, is violently executed.”
In the words of St. Paul: “Christ crucified, the Wisdom of God.” 1 Cor 1:24) ...
“Sophia’s characteristic gift of life is given in a new unimaginable way… Her Spirit seals him in life with God as pledge of the future for all the violated and dead…”
“The same Spirit is poured out on the circle of disciples….and they are missioned to make the inclusive goodness and saving power of Sophia God experientially to the ends of the earth…”
“New possibilities of relationships flower among the men and women who respond and join his circle. “They form a community of the discipleship of equals” ...
( Adapted from Elizabeth Johnson, Abounding Kindness, pp. 203, 205)
Listen to Peter’s profession of faith… Rabbi, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe; we are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
Reflect on your profession of faith and what difference does it make in your life?
Dialogue Homily:
What do you believe about Jesus and what difference does it make in your life?
Share your thoughts and experiences according to your comfort level in our dialogue homily.
Profession of Faith: ALL: We believe in God who is compassion in our world. We believe in Jesus, whose death and resurrection reveals God’s infinite love. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of Wisdom Sophia, who energizes and guides us to live Christ’s presence. We believe in the communion of saints, our heavenly friends, who inspire us to live holy lives. We believe in the church as the people of God, living in faith, hope and love.
GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
Presider: That we may bring new life into our world, we pray
Response: God of all, love through us
Presider: That we may foster healing of our Earth, we pray. R.
Presider: That the sick may be healed, we pray. R.
Presider: That we may be forever one with our beloved dead in the communion of saints we pray. R. (Other Intentions)
PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS
Presider: Blessed are you, God of all life, through your goodness we have bread, wine, all creation, and our own lives to offer. Through this sacred meal may we become your new creation. (hold up bread and wine)
ALL: Blessed be God forever.
(All come around the table to pray the Eucharistic Prayer, background music may be played)
Presider: God is with you, abounding in love
ALL: and also with you.
Presider: Lift up your hearts in Christ who lives and loves , heals and empowers through you.
ALL: We lift them up to God.
Presider: Let us give thanks to our God.
ALL: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
Voice One: Life-giving Love, You call all persons to be friends of God. United with You, we are one with all beings in the community of creation as we celebrate the new life occurring in our expanding cosmos. We join the angels and saints as we sing:
ALL: Sung “We are holy, holy, holy, you are holy, holy, holy, I am holy, holy, holy” chant by Karen Drucker
Voice Two: Gracious God, you set the banquet table and invite all to the feast that celebrates your dazzling love in the universe. As midwives of grace we are Your hands, lifting up those who suffer, the vulnerable and neglected in our world today
Voice Three: We especially thank you, Holy One, for Jesus, the Compassion of God, who came to show us a new vision of community where every person is loved and all relate with mutual respect.
Voice Four:
Jesus threatened the religious and political leaders of his time and so they put him to death. As God raised Jesus to new life, we trust that your promise of faithful love will be with us in our suffering and raise us up to fullness of life.
All: (please all extend hands as we recite the consecration together)
Let your Spirit come upon these gifts as we pray:
On the night before he died, Jesus took bread into his hands and said:
This is my body, he said. Take and eat .
Do this in in memory of me.
Pause
At the end of the meal Jesus took a cup of wine, raised it in thanksgiving to you, and said:
”Take and drink of the covenant made new again through my life in you. Do this in memory of me.
Presider: Now then, let us proclaim the mystery of the Christ Presence made new again through you:
ALL: In every creature that has ever breathed, Christ has lived; in every living being that has passed on before us, Christ has died; in everything yet to be, Christ will come again!
Voice Five: . We thank you for ordinary people in our lives who show us how to love tenderly and have revealed the heart of our God, especially (pause to remember and name some of these holy women and men).
Voice Six: And so, liberating God, Midwife of Grace, we hold our religious ministers and political leaders in the light of Christ Sophia, Holy Wisdom. We pray for our pope and bishops, the young and the elders, and all God’s holy people.
Voice Seven: We remember those who are sick and suffering. May they be healed and comforted. We remember Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary Magdala, Peter, Paul, Junia, our patron saints. We remember our loved ones and all those who have died, that they may experience the fullness of life in the embrace of our gracious God.
ALL: Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, all praise and glory are yours, Holy God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
ALL: Our Father and Mother . . .
and forever. Amen.
THE SIGN OF PEACE
Presider: Let us pray for the peace of Christ in our world as we sing and hold hands in a community prayer for peace (Peace is flowing or other appropriate hymn)
LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD
ALL: Loving God, You call us to speak truth to power, we will do so. Loving God, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice, we will do so. Loving God, You call us to live as Your presence in the world. We will do so.
Presider: Behold the Body of Christ. All are invited to partake of this sacred banquet of love.
ALL: Jesus we are worthy to receive you and become you for others. We are the Body of Christ.
Presider: Let us share the Body of Christ with the Body of Christ! ALL: Amen.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Presider: Life-giving God, You come to birth each day in our universe through suffering death and new life. Your Spirit is moving in us as we love passionately, and extravagantly to bring your shalom to everyone equally especially the marginalized.
ALL: Amen
CONCLUDING RITE
Presider: Our God is with you.
ALL: and also with you.
BLESSING
(everyone please extend your hands in mutual blessing)
ALL: Holy One, Midwife of Grace, we bless one another as we serve others with loving kindness .
DISMISSAL
Presider: Go, bring forth life as midwives of grace in our world. Let the service begin! ALL: Thanks be to God.
CONCLUDING HYMN
God, A Midwife: Psalm 22:9-10 “Yet You drew me out of the womb, you nestled me to my mother’s bosom; you cradled me in your lap from my birth; from my mother’s womb, you have been my God.”
Bridget Mary Meehan
Association of Roman Catholic Woman Priests
http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/
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