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
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| 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
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.
-->
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.
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
