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Sunday, August 5, 2018

Ireland : Day 5, Dublin, Ireland - Mass- Celebrating An Inclusive Table, Aug. 5, 2018


https://www.facebook.com/540066240/posts/10156519252296241/ (view more photos at link on facebook)

Approximately 30 people attended our liturgy today in Dublin including women discerning a call to ordination and members of We Are Church Ireland and progressive Catholics from the Dublin area who support inclusivity, justice and equality for women in the Church and world. Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, https://arcwp.org, 703-505-0004


Left to right: Jeanne McDonald, Bridget Meehan ARCWP, Mary Theresa Streck ARCWP,  



Welcome

Opening Song:  We Come to Your Feast by Michael Joncas

We place upon your table
a gleaming cloth of white:
the weaving of our stories,
the fabric of our lives;
the dreams of those before us,
the ancient hopeful cries,
the promise of our future:
our needing and our nurture
lie here before our eyes.

Refrain: We come to your feast,
we come to your feast:
the young and the old,
the frightened, the bold,
the greatest and the least.
We come to your feast,
we come to your feast
with the fruit of our lands
and the work of our hands,
we come to your feast.

We place upon your table
a humble loaf of bread:
the gift of field and hillside,
the grain by which we're fed;
we come to taste the presence
of him on whom we feed,
to strengthen and connect us,
to challenge and correct us,
to love in word and deed.
Refrain

We place upon your table
a simple cup of wine:
the fruit of human labor,
the gift of sun and vine;
we come taste the presence
of him we claim as Love,
his dying and his living,
his leading and his giving,
his love in cup outpoured. 
Refrain

We gather 'round your table,
we pause within our quest,
we stand beside our neighbors,
we name the stranger "guest."
The feast is spread before us;
you bid us come and dine:
in blessing we'll uncover,
in sharing we'll discover
your substance and your sign. 
Refrain




Greeting

Presider:  In the presence of God who is the Source of all Being, and of Jesus our brother and of the Divine Spirit within us, we welcome all to the table of infinite love.
All:  Amen.


Rite of Reconciliation and Transformation:
Presider: We pause now to ask forgiveness for our Church’s failures to share the Bread of Life at an inclusive table of hospitality.

All: We are sorry, please forgive us. 
Cantor: Glory to God glory, O praise God alleluia, Glory to God glory, O praise the name of our God.
All:  Glory to God glory, O praise God alleluia, Glory to God glory, O praise the name of our God.

Opening Prayer

Presider: O Beloved, we celebrate your infinite love in our deep communion with one another and with all creation. May we work together for justice and equality as we warmly welcome everyone to the Table of Plenty to share the Bread of life. 
All: Amen. Alleluia!

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: EX 16:2-4, 12-15
The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
The Israelites said to them,
"Would that we had died at God’s hand in the land of Egypt,
as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!
But you had to lead us into this desert
to make the whole community die of famine!"

Then God said to Moses,
"I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.
On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, "What is this?"
for they did not know what it was.
But Moses told them,
"This is the bread that God has given you to eat."

Responsorial: Psalm 100 and Ubi Caritas

Cantor: Ubi caritas et amor, Ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.
All: Ubi caritas et amor, Ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.

Psalm 100
Sing a joyful noise to the Beloved all peoples of the earth!
Serve love with a glad heart!
Join hands in the great dance of life!
Know that the Beloved of your heart is the Divine Presence!
Love created us, and we belong to the Most High;
We are born to be loving expressions of the Creator’s Divine Plan.

All: Ubi caritas et amor, Ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.

Open the gates of your heart with gratitude and enter Love’s our with praise!
Give thanks to the Beloved; bless Love’s holy name!
For love is of God, and lives in your heart forever with faith,
truth, and joy, now and in all that is to come.
Alleluia! Amen!

All: Ubi caritas et amor, Ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.
Second Reading: An Open Table

The open table of Jesus’ public life challenged the discriminatory social code of honor and shame which denied the Jewish peasantry the right to share meals with members of other social classes. By embracing an open table, Jesus taught a seminal truth of the Reign of God: all people are to be included as equals in the community of God’s people. The Eucharist can mean no less for us today.  These are the inspired words of Robert C. Wild.

Gospel Acclamation:  ALLELUIA!   (sung)

Gospel: Jn 6:32-35

Jesus said to those gathered,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Abba gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world."

So they said to him,
"Sir, give us this bread always."
Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst."


Homily Starter: Bridget Mary Meehan

As Ireland gets ready to welcome Pope Francis and celebrate the World Meeting of Families here, creating an open table where all members of our families are welcome has become a major challenge and source of controversy.

In John’s Gospel the writer portrays Jesus as the new Moses, and just as the former Moses fed the hungering people in the desert (with manna from heaven) so the new Moses nourishes by sharing material and spiritual food at an open table where all people are to be included as equals in the community of God’s people.

The Gospels depict Jesus sitting down for a picnic of loaves and fish on a hillside, at an intimate dinner with women friends, Mary and Martha, as well as with despised tax collector Zacchaeus and at a dramatic banquet with an uninvited guest, a woman with long hair who washed his feet.

The message is clear: Jesus shared food with sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, religious leaders, the elite and the poor.

His example of inclusivity and warm hospitality is one that all of us need today including the planners of the World Meeting of Families.
 Jesus fed everyone, so should we, so should the Catholic Church.

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As one writer observes: “No hierarchy, magisterium, structure, or ritual must be allowed to hinder the inclusive, empowering hospitality that the open table denotes. “

Shared Homily

Profession of Faith
 
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery 
beyond all definition and rational understanding, in whose infinite love all creation exists and evolves.

We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Presence,
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 reflection of divine compassion and healing
a source of wisdom and truth, 
and an instrument of peace and healing 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. 
General Intercessions

Presider:  Let us rejoice together in the dance of creation.
That we may care for the earth in which the Holy One is revealed,
Response: Let it be so! 

Presider:  That those in leadership in our church wholeheartedly embrace an open table,
Response: Let it be so! 

Presider:  That we, the Body of Christ, the Church, have the courage to live the Gospel of inclusivity,
Response: Let it be so! 

Presider:  That those who have crossed over may dance forever in God's presence,
Response: Let it be so! 

(Other Intentions)
Response: Let it be so! 

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Presentation of the Gifts

Presider:  We gather around the table with the gifts of bread, wine, and our own lives to offer.  Through this sacred meal may we become your new creation as we trust your Presence at work in our lives doing infinitely more than we can imagine. 
All:  Blessed be God for forever. 

Eucharistic Prayer

Presider: The Holy One dwells within you.  
All:  And loves through you.  

Presider:  Lift up your hearts. 
All:  We lift them up to the Great Spirit dwelling everywhere.

Presider: Let us give thanks that we are co-creators in the miracle of life. 
All:  It is right to proclaim our oneness with All.

Side One: We give thanks for the God of infinite love in our glorious gifts and blessed failures. We marvel at Divine Elegance revealed, everywhere in the cosmos and in every moment of our lives.

Side Two: We join hands in the sacred dance of life as we experience the Heart of Compassion connecting us and making us more deeply one and we sing:

Holy, Holy, Holy One, God of Justice, God of light
All of Creation is filled with your glory
Hosanna in the highest,
Blessed are we who come in your holy name.




Side One: We affirm the women and men who are living Jesus’s example of an open table in our church and world today. We pause now to remember them. (Time for spontaneous remembrance)

Side Two: As we eat and drink this bread and wine we remember Jesus who showed us that everyone is welcome at the Feast.

All: (please all extend hands as we recite the epiclesis and consecration together)

We are filled with the same Spirit that was in Jesus as we now invoke the Divine Presence upon our gifts of bread and wine and upon us around this Table of nurturing love.

On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for the Seder supper with his friends. At this meal, he took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to them and said:
Take and eat.  Whenever you do this, you remember me.
(PAUSE)

All: At the end of the meal, Jesus took a cup of wine, gave it to his friends and said:
Take this, all of you, and drink. Every time you do this, you remember me.
 (PAUSE)

Presider: Let us proclaim the Sacred Mystery:
All: We rejoice that the Spirit of God is moving through us as we create a bigger table where all are welcome.

Side One: We are one body, for we all share in this one bread. And so, as we honor Jesus in this sacred meal, may we cherish each other and all people around an inclusive table. 

Side Two: We commit our lives to prophetic witness for justice and equality. We support all who suffer rejection on the margins and promote deeper communion and greater diversity.

All: Like Jesus we believe in the infinite power of Divine Love embracing everyone. 

Presider: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
All:  Our Father and Mother…

The Sign of Peace:
Presider:  The peace of Jesus is always with you.  
All: And also with you.  
Presider:  Let us share peace with each other

Peace is flowing like a river by Carey Landry



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



Love is flowing like a river, …

Healing’s flowing like a river, …

Alleluia, alleluia…




Litany for the Breaking of Bread

Presider:  Aware of our sisters and brothers who suffer injustice,
All: we speak truth to power,

Presider: Aware of discrimination and exploitation against LGBTQI and women,
All: we work for justice and equality,

Presider: Aware of our connection with everyone and everything,
All: we live in kinship with all creation.

Presider: Let us eat the bread of life and drink the wine of unending delight in memory of Jesus.
All:  We are the Body of Christ

Communion Song  One Bread, One Body by John Michael Talbot

Refrain:
One bread, one body, one God of all
One cup of blessing which we bless
And we though many,
throughout the earth
We are one body in this one God.

Gentile or Jew, servant or free
Woman or man, no more (Refrain)

Many the gifts, many the works
One in our God of all (Refrain)

Grain for the fields, scattered and grown
Gathered to one, for all (Refrain)

Communion Meditation: Room at the Table by Carrie Newcomer




Let our hearts not be hardened to those living on the margin
There is room at the table for everyone
This is where it all begins, this is how we gather in
There is room at the table for everyone

Too long we have wandered, burdened and undone
But there is room at the table for everyone
Let us sing the new world in, this is how is all begins
There is room at the table for everyone

There is room for us all
And no gift is too small
There is room at the table for everyone
There's enough if we share
Come on pull up a chair
There room at the table for everyone


No matter who you are, no matter where you're from
There is room at the table for everyone
Here and now we can be, the beloved community,
There is room at the table for everyone

There is room for us all
And no gift is too small
There is room at the table for everyone
There's enough if we share
Come on pull up a chair
There room at the table for everyone

There is room for us all
And no gift is too small
There is room at the table for everyone
There's enough if we share
Come on pull up a chair
There room at the table for everyon


Prayer After Communion
 
Presider: Spirt of life, we go forth to co-create a bigger table where all are welcome and no one is excluded from the Eucharistic Banquet. We go forth as companions working for a more compassionate, just and equal world.
All:  Amen

CONCLUDING RITE

Presider:  Jesus continues to accompany us
All:  and heals, empowers and loves through us.


BLESSING

Presider: Please extend your hands in mutual blessing.

All:  In the spirit of St. Bridget of Kildare, we welcome the poor and sick to the feast, for they are God’s children. We welcome the marginalized and excluded to the feast, for they are God’s joy. Together, in a circle of love, we sing a new church into being.

Concluding Hymn: Sing a New Church by Michelle Sherliza and Delores Dufner



Summoned by the God who made us,
Rich in our diversity,
Gathered in the name of Jesus,
Richer still in unity.

Refrain:
Let us bring the gifts that differ,
And in splendid varied ways.
Sing a new church into being,
One of faith and love and praise.

Radiant risen from the water,
Robed in holiness and light,
Male and female in God’s image,
Male and female, God’s delight.
Refrain

Trust the goodness of creation;
Trust the Spirit strong within.
Dare to dream the vision promised,
Sprung from seed of what has been.
Refrain

Draw together at one table,
All the human family;
Shape a circle ever wider
And a people ever free.
Refrain



Bridget Mary Meehan and Mary Theresa Streck (authors of liturgy)
Association of Roman Catholic Woman Priests




The Roman Catholic Women Priests (RCWP) initiative is a renewal movement within the Roman Catholic Church. Our goal is to achieve full equality for all within the Church as a matter of justice and faithfulness to the Gospel. The Women Priests movement advocates for a new model of inclusive priestly ministry in the church. We stand in the prophetic tradition of holy obedience to the Spirit who calls all people to discipleship. The movement began with the ordination of seven women on the Danube River in 2002. Today there are over 124 women priests and 10 bishops worldwide. Our women priests are ordained in Apostolic Succession. The first women bishops were ordained by a male Roman Catholic bishop in apostolic succession and in communion with the pope. 
For further information: https://arcwp.org or contact Mary Theresa Streck, Program Coordinator: mtstreck@gmail.com


People's Catholic Seminary (PCS) offers programs to inspire and educate individuals and groups who embrace a vision of spirituality that is inclusive, liberating, empowering and equal. PCS provides educational programs that foster an expanded worldview of our liberating God of compassion present in all and working for justice for all through systemic change. As co-creators and companions on a journey, we share the wisdom of God in our sacred texts, theologies, sacred practices, sacramental celebrations, and lived experiences.






Global Ministries University (GMU) and People’s Catholic Seminary (PCS) are collaboratively offering a Master of Pastoral Ministry degree. The degree is granted by GMU and PCS is providing the course of study. This affordable master’s program is designed for those who are walking the pathway to ordination, the ordained, and members of our inclusive communities who seek to continue their education within an interactive supportive seminary environment. Credit is awarded for life experience and previous education. Global Ministries University is an accredited member of the International Association of Distance Learning.
For more information about the degree, please contact Bridget Mary Meehan and Mary Theresa Streck https://pcseminary.org/  and peoplescatholicseminary@gmail.com





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