Let us go out with a divine dissatisfaction. Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort and the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. Let us be dissatisfied until those that live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security. Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family is living in a decent sanitary home. Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality, integrated education. Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity. Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character and not on the basis of the color of their skin. Let us be dissatisfied.
left to right Bridget Mary Meehan and Anna Davis, Co-Presiders
Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Lee Breyer, front pew, Mary Al and brother Fred in second pew
Liturgy: Being the Compassion of God
GATHERING SONG AND GREETING
“We Are Called” #628
Presider: In the name of God, our Creator and of Jesus our brother and of the Holy Spirit, our wisdom.
ALL: Amen.
Presider: We gather at the table to share the compassionate presence of God, aware that “we are called to act with justice, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with God.
ALL: The love of God loves through us as we comfort the troubled and confront injustices in the most practical and immediate ways.
PENITENTIAL RITE
Presider: O God, may we see your face in all who are demonized so that the bullying and hate will stop. ALL: May we open our hearts, like Mary, to God’s mothering love, affirming fullness of life for all.
Presider: Jesus the Christ, may we see the divine reality in victims, especially in all who suffer violence, and discrimination..
ALL: May we, like Mary, champion the oppressed and protect the abused.
Presider: O Wisdom Sophia, may we see your face in people who are hungry and homeless, anxious and stressed.
ALL: May we, like Jesus, care for those in need.
Presider: God of love we ask our sisters and brothers to forgive our failures to serve them in works of mercy and justice. May we be your ongoing caring presence in the world.
ALL: Amen.
ALL: Glory to God, glory, O praise God alleluia, glory to God, glory, O praise the name of our God, 3x (sung)
Presider: Loving God, we give thanks for your infinite love and tender compassion always at work in our world. We cry out today for justice for all who are impoverished and marginalized. May we work for their liberation and do all we can to advance their well-being. ALL: Amen.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Isaiah 8:23, 9;3
Responsorial Psalm:
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10,13,17 Gospel Acclamation: ALLELUIA! (sung)
Reader: A reading from the Gospel according to Matt4:12-23 Glory to you, O God.
Reader: The good news of Jesus, the Christ!
ALL: Glory and praise to you, Jesus the Christ!
HOMILY by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP,
On January 15th, Mary D. Meehan died in Ireland after a three year struggle with cancer. I visited with Mary and John, her husband, who is my first cousin, and with their wonderful family in their home in Portlaoise in August. Mary told me that she was grateful for the prayers of our Mary Mother of Jesus Catholic Community. “I need all the prayers I can get.” she said with a smile.
Mary’s positive attitude during the many months of chemo therapy, profound faith and outreach to others with cancer were an inspiration to all. Mary didn’t wear a wig. She collected for raffles in the neighborhood, and spoke openly about her struggles with cancer. During a recent phone conversation, John shared that they were deeply touched by the loving support of their family and neighbors.
“Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone,” Isaiah wrote in our first reading. Suffering put Mary, her family and neighbors, and all of us in the company of angels. God comes to us in the hard times, weeps with us in our losses, and comforts us through the kindness and courage of those around us., “
In our recent bitter election division and discontent have jarred our nation and world. So too, Christians in the early church experienced painful divisions. Paul’s advice is relevant today: focus on Christ who shows us how to live in peace, seek justice, and love one another, respectful of our differences.
In the Gospel, we meet Jesus proclaiming “Change your hearts and minds for the kingdom. kindom of heaven is at hand.” Diarmuid O’ Murchu, an Irish priest and author states that the meaning of “kingdom” in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, is “Companionship of Empowerment. He writes: “It is not good enough to look up at the Cross and plead to God for mercy; rather the Cross must inspire us to look beyond it and unite our efforts in ridding our world of every Cross that imperial domination has invented, and help recreate our world in justice, peace and non-violent hope for a better future.” (O Murchu, Christianity’s Dangerous Memory, pp. 152-153)
Today we celebrate a powerful example of communities around the world confronting injustices and witnessing for the empowerment of women and for all who are marginalized.
Some of us participated in the Women’s March in Sarasota, thousands of others travelled to Washington DC, and many others gathered in towns and cities elsewhere. We marched in solidarity and proclaimed “women’s rights are human rights.”
I will share a prayer by a Benedictine Sister Ruth Fox about what it means to witness for justice, compassion, equality and peace today.
“May God bless you with discontent with easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live from deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that you will work for justice, equality, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and to change their pain to joy.
May God bless you with the foolishness to think you can make a difference in this world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.
If you have the courage to accept these blessings, then God will also bless you
with happiness—because you will know that you have made life better for others.
inner peace—because you will have worked to secure an outer peace for others.
laughter—because our heart will be light.
faithful friends—because they will recognize your worth as a person.
These blessings are yours—not for the asking, but for the giving—from One who wants to be your companion, our God, who lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.” Sister Ruth Fox, OSB, Sacred Heart Monastery, Richardton, ND
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Let us take a moment of silence and then as our communal response to this prayer, Mindy Lou will lead us in singing
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 exploitation and injustices. We believe that God loves us passionately and forgives us everything. We believe that God calls us to be the saving presence of the Holy One in the world . We believe that we are called to love those in need in the most practical ways. We believe that all are one in the Heart of God. We believe in the communion of saints our heavenly friends, who support us on life’s journey. Here we dwell in loving relationships. Here we live our prophetic call of Gospel compassion.
GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
Presider: Aware that God, like a fierce mother bear, who protects her young, is a defender of the oppressed and pursuer of justice, we now bring the needs of the suffering, in our church and world, before you. Response: Loving God, you hear our prayer.
Presider: For those who have been rejected and demonized, we pray for acceptance and fullness of life. R. Presider: For the hungry and homeless, we pray for food and shelter. R. Presider: For those who experience loneliness, we pray for caring friends. Other intentions
R. Presider O Holy One, we walk in faith that nothing is impossible and we can care for others in need through the power of your Spirit working in us. ALL: Amen
PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS
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: Divine Presence, we are united in this sacrament by the love of Jesus Christ in communion with all who live as the saving presence of God in our world ALL: Amen.
(Join us around the table)
Presider: God dwells in you. ALL: And also works through you. Presider: Lift up your hearts and love deeply ALL: We lift them up to God. Presider: Let us give thanks to the Creator of all. ALL: It is our joy to give God thanks and praise.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
Voice 1: Holy One, it is right that we give you thanks and praise at this table of boundless compassion. Your empowering presence is revealed in the friendship meals where Jesus dined with tax collectors, lepers, sinners, and women. All are accepted, loved and forgiven. In joyful thanksgiving for your extravagant affection to all of us, we join with the angels and saints in an unending hymn of praise:
ALL: (sing) We are holy, holy, holy (Music by Karen Drucker)
Voice 2: Jesus taught his disciples how to love with a compassionate heart. Healing Spirit, we trust that your love flows through us as we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, and assist the dying.
ALL: As we come together in memory, Jesus we pray that Your Spirit will come upon these gifts of bread and wine and upon us, that we may become the body and blood of Christ blessed, broken and shared. (pause as bread is lifted)
ALL: We remember how, on the night before he died, Jesus was at table with those he loved. He took bread and blessed you, God of all creation. He broke the bread shared it with his friends and said, “Take this, all of you and eat. This is my body. Do this in memory of me. “(pause as wine is lifted)
Presider: Then Jesus took the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered them the wine:
ALL: “Take this all of you and drink. Do this in memory of me.”
MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION
ALL: The Body of Christ is blessed, broken and shared every time we comfort the troubled.
The Body of Christ is blessed, broken and shared every time we counsel the confused.
The Body of Christ is blessed, broken and shared every time we advocate for justice.
Voice 3: Heart of Love, we celebrate this feast in memory of Jesus, our brother, who reminds us that we are the face of God, through whom the Spirit redeems injustice by caring for our sisters and brothers in our world today.
Voice: Creator of the Universe, your love flows through all beings to heal our earth. As we work for environmental healing, your sacred energy transforms the cosmic Body of Christ.
Voice 4: Energizing Spirit, we are one with the cloud of witnesses who have lived your works of mercy during their lives. As we serve human needs with generous hearts, we are channels of your tender compassion.
ALL: Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, All glory and honor is yours, loving God forever and ever.
Great Amen.
We pray with Jesus: Our Father and Mother….
Sign of Peace: Peace is flowing like a river by Carey Laundry
LITANY OF THE BREAKING OF BREAD
Presider: Loving God, we will serve the least and the last in our world, ALL: Namaste
Presider: Loving God, we will care for our sisters and brothers who need our help. ALL: Namaste
Presider: Loving God, we will advocate for non-violence and a more just world.
All: Namaste
COMMUNION
Presider: There is room at the table for everyone. Let us share the Body of Christ with the Body of Christ.
Communion Song
Blessing Song
ALL: May the blessing of peace be upon you.
May peace be all you know.
May the blessing of peace be upon you.
May it follow wherever you go.
Shalom, salaam, shaanti, pacem May peace prevail on earth 2x
Presider: Nourished at this open table where all are welcome, may we live the saving presence of God by doing works of mercy.. Go, now and live the Gospel of Jesus!!
FINAL BLESSING
We love, bless and serve one another in the name of God, our Creator, Jesus our brother, and the Holy Spirit, our Wisdom.
Liturgy in Celebration of WomenSpirit
Rising - January 20, 2017
Eve of Women's March on Washington
Members of the ARCWP Community anoint and bless Peg Bowen and Kathie Ryan as they begin their new role as circle leaders:
We your community have called you forth and we
bless you as you begin your year of service to the community as our circle
leaders.
We anoint your head that you may have wisdom,
We anoint your ears so that you may hear clearly
We anoint your heart for the love you will share
We anoint your hands for the service you provide
We anoint your feet for the many miles
you will journey through this year.
Welcome and Theme:
Presider 1: We celebrate with
joy the indwelling of the Holy One among us and honor the Divine Feminine with
the theme WomenSpirit Rising. We celebrate women mystics, prophets and rebels
who understood the message of Jesus and followed faithfully in his
footsteps.We stand on their
shoulders as we faithfully live the Gospel.
Presider 2: Let us
pray:O Holy One, you birthed us
and continue to nurture us.We are
your children and we are united with all of your children, those with us now
and those who have gone before us.We are grateful for all of the strong women who continue to encourage
and inspire us to be prophets and mystics in our time.
Please join in singing our Opening Song:
In A Circle of
Women
By Jan Phillips
-->
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Soul Sister
By Edwina Gateley
I saw the God-light
Spilling from your eyes
Like a thousand stars
To light my way.
And as I smiled
Upon your radiant grace,
The face of God
Was all let loose
Upon the earth.
So now
I walk in awe
Conscious that I am
tip-toeing
Upon divinity,
Waiting to spring forth
From beneath me
And surprise me
Like the thousand stars
I saw
Shining in your eyes.
-->
Soul Whispers
(2015)p.84
Alleluia
-->
Gospel: Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3) and
Beatitudes for the 21st Century
(Adapted by Jan Phillips)
-->
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed be the
story-tellers, music-makers, and artists at life, for they are the true light
of the world.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed be the
tender-hearted who mourn and grieve the wars we've fought, the lives we've
lost, may peace ride in on the river of their tears.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed be the Earth
and those who tend her, for she is the source and sustenance of our lives.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for
righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed be the children
who hunger for food, learning, and homes that are safe, for their future is
shaped by our choices today.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed be the
persecuted and wrongly judged,
for theirs is a sorrow
lessened only by mercy and human kindness.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see
God.
Blessed be the prophets
who speak and write of a world beyond war, for theirs are the words becoming
flesh.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed be those who
are calling for freedom, resisting oppression and risking their lives in the
struggle for justice, for they are the shapers of a brighter world.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake
of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed be the refuges
fleeing the violence of war and poverty may they find shelter, peace, and
work that sustains them.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be
great in heaven.”
Shared Homily
Statement of Faith -Let up 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.
LITURGY OF THE
EUCHARIST
Presider 1:
As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this table our blessings, cares,
and concerns.
We
remember all those who are having difficulty with their life's stories and
working
through
hard times… may they find and feel support and direction
We
remember our fragile world struggling with serious ecology issues and those who
are
striving to save our earth from destruction by humans.
We
remember those who are struggling with war in their neighborhoods, towns and
nations...
that world peace become a reality, neighbor to neighbor
We
remember those who are involved with human trafficking.... victims and their
captors…
that their lives become their own to cherish what they love.
We
remember those who are unemployed and under employed suffering poverty that
they
may find meaningful work that will give them dignity and sustenance enough to
simply
live
We
remember those lives that are endangered simply by their race, their beliefs or
their
sex… that we as a human race Respect all our brothers and sisters because we
are
all one people.
We
remember those who are victims of abuse: sexual, spousal, child, elderly, that
we listen to their individual stories and provide them safety from their abusers.
We
pray for the perpetrators of terror that they may see themselves in their
victims
and
for the victims of their terrorism that they may find peace in living every
day.
We
remember those who cling to misogynistic ways, demeaning half the human race
that
they begin to recognize women as equals.
We
remember those who will lead our country and pray that wisdom will enlighten
them
to work for the good of all.
We
remember all these intentions with our ritual as well as with our lives.
(Please feel free to voice your
concerns beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…”)
Presider 1:We pray for these
and all unspoken concerns. Amen.
Presider 2: O Holy
One, you have been called by many names by many people in the centuries of our
planet’s life. Yet, no name truly defines you or describes you.We celebrate you as the marvelous,
loving energy of life who caused us and our world to be. We celebrate you as
the Source of light and life and love, and we celebrate your presence and
all-ways care.
Presider 1:Please (gather around our friendship table and) join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together: WomanSpirit Risingwritten by Jay Murnane.
O Holy One, You are both Mother and Father to
us. You give us life, and we live and breathe with your own Spirit.
You create us female and male; You call us
good, and ask us to live as equal partners. You share the earth with us, and
ask only that we compliment your ongoing activity of creation.
Among all our blessed ancestors, we celebrate
the women who gently and firmly broke through the death-structures of their
times with unique vision and compassion: Sarah, Deborah, Judith, Miriam, Ruth,
Esther, Anna, Miriam of Nazareth, Julian, Hildegard, and so many more.
United with them, with WomenSpirit rising,
with our vast universe, with our Mother-Planet and her people everywhere, with
one another and You, Loving God, our spirits dance and sing this song of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker
We give grateful thanks for all your faithful
servants, opening for all of us a path to life. We thank you for all the women
who risked everything they had so that all of us could live in a better,
brighter world.
We thank you for your child and our brother,
Jesus. He showed us so simply, so tenderly, how the world is in our hands. He knew that we would be afraid; he
showed us how to be free of the blindness and paralysis of fear.
He had nothing in this world but your love,
companions on the journey, and his very self. Together, that was more than
enough, and that remains our clarity in the midst of confusion: the miracle of
healing, new hope, nurturance, nourishment, liberation and life.
On the night before he faced his own death
and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his
companions and friends. He
reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within
them, be bent down and washed their feet.
When he returned to his place at the table,
he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered
it to them saying:
Take and eat; this is my very self.
(pause)
He then raised high the cup of blessing,
spoke the grace, and offered them the wine saying:
Take and drink of the covenant made new again
through my life,
for you and for everyone,
for liberation from every oppression.
Whenever you do this, Re-member me!
(pause)
O Holy One, we have felt deeply the
barrenness of our lives and of our community. Yet, we have always been pregnant
with your creative Word and your life-giving Spirit.
We have looked for others to save us and to
save our world. Yet, we are called, and consecrated and sent into the world to
establish justice and show the blessed fulfillment that comes with simplicity
and the giving of ourselves in love.
We will look at our world with open eyes, and
make compassion our truest vision.
We will live in the belief that blindness, death and illusion have no
final dominion.
We will make new our commitment to the
harmony of the original vision of creation. We have held our sisters captive in
so many ways and will no longer stand in the way of the development of any
living creature, be that a person, a gathering of persons, or the earth
herself.
We will live justly, love tenderly, and walk
this earth with integrity. We will
bind and blind and burden no longer.
We will deliberately lay down our various weapons, and use our gifts
only for life.
We will open up wide all that has been closed
about us, and our small circles. Like Jesus, in all openness, we will be filled
with your own Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
For it is through learning to live as he
lived,
And why he lived,
And for whom he lived,
That we awaken to your Spirit within,
Moving us to worship you truly,
Life-giving God,
At this time and all time and in all ways.
And we say yes to You!
Presider
2: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
By: Miriam Therese Winter
"O Holy One
who is within us, around and among us, We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us.
Oh, Each day you give us all that 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!"
(Presiders lift bread and wine)
Presider 1: This is Jesus, Bread of Life. How blessed are we who are called to
the table.
All: What
we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives; as we share
communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s
challenge.
Presided 2: Please pass the bread with the words, You
are the Face of God, and the wine with the words, You are a spark of the Divine
and please join in singing our communion song:
Communion
Song: The Beauty of the Dancer
By
Sara Thomsen
BLESSING
Presider 2:Let us pray together our blessing:
May we be blessed with discontent with
easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that we will live from
deep within our hearts.
May we be blessed with anger at
injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that we will work
for justice, equality, and peace.
May we be blessed with tears to shed for
those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we will reach
out our hands to comfort them and to change their pain to joy.
May we be blessed with the foolishness to
think we can make a difference in this world, so that we will do the things
which others tell you cannot be done. Amen.
Adapted from a “Mixed Blessing by Sister
Ruth Fox, OSB
