Translate

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Rite of Acceptance of Shelley Gilchrist in Roman Catholic Faith - February 20, 2019 - Palm Coast, FL

LITURGY FOR RITE OF ACCEPTANCE INTO FULL COMMUNION IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Shelley Gilchrist February 20, 2019

WELCOME Wanda and Miriam

OPENING SONG: #380 God Has Chosen Me Bernadette Farrell
https://youtu.be/RZ84x5sD0rw


OPENING PRAYER:

Bridget Mary: Please join in praying our opening prayer:

All: Loving God, You call each of us by name, to serve our sisters and brothers with our unique gifts. We pray with our sister Shelley as she makes her profession of faith in the Catholic Church. You call her and us this day to be your disciples, committed to reflecting your loving presence everywhere we go.

RITE OF COMMUNAL RECONCILIATION

Miriam: Before we bring our gifts to share at the Banquet of Love, we ask for forgiveness for our failures to love one another and care for God’s creation. (Pause)

All: In your love, we open our hearts to personal growth and healing.

Wanda: We give thanks for Divine Love that fills our souls and makes us one family.

Bridget Mary: Please extend your hands in mutual blessing.
All: Holy One, through his living, dying and rising, Jesus has revealed that nothing can separate us from your infinite love. You love us and you call us to forgive each other our failures, to care for one another and for our earth. Amen

LITURGY OF THE WORD

Readings

A reading from the book of Sirach 35:12-19, 23-24

For our God, is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet God hears the cry of the oppressed. God is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. Do not the tears that stream down her cheek cry out against those who cause others to fall?

Those who serve God willingly are heard; their petitions reach the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; the petitions reach the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right. God indeed will not delay, and like a warrior, will not be still till God defends the cause of all people, and gladdens them by the Most High’s mercy. Welcome is God’s mercy in time of distress as rain clouds in time of drought. The word of God.

All: Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 148

R Praise and Glory to the Blessed One.

Praise the Blessed One! For through Love all was created And firmly fixed for ever and ever; Yes, the pattern of creation was established.

R Praise and Glory to the Blessed One.

Give praise to the Beloved all the earth, all that swim in the deep, And all winged ones in the air!

R Praise and Glory to the Blessed One. Give praise all you mountains and hills, all trees and all minerals! Give praise all four-legged and all that creep on the ground. 8

R Praise and Glory to the Blessed One.

Leaders of the nations and all peoples, young and old, Give praise! Unite together in all your diversity, that peace and harmony might flourish on earth!

R Praise and Glory to the Blessed One. Let all people praise the Beloved, who is exalted in heaven and on earth; whose glory is above heaven and earth.

R Praise and Glory to the Blessed One.

Praise be to the Blessed One, the very breath of our breath, the very heart of our heart!

R Praise and Glory to the Blessed One.

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans. Rom 12: 9-13, 8:38-39

Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; Love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve God. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The word of God.

All: Thanks be to God.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew Mathew 5: 1-14

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

The Good News of Jesus Christ. All: Glory and praise to Jesus, the Beloved of God.

Homily: Bridget Mary will begin then open it to Shelley for her to share.

RECEPTION RITE - INVITATION

Bridget Mary:  Shelley, of your own free will, you have asked to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church. You have made your decision after careful thought under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I now invite you to come forward with your sponsors and in the presence of this community to profess the Catholic faith. By asking for reception within the Catholic community, you are promising to live justly, to love tenderly and to walk with integrity for all to see and celebrate. Do you promise to do this to the best of your ability?

PROFESSION OF FAITH

Shelley: Yes. I believe and profess all that the Catholic Church believes, teaches and proclaims that is revealed by God, celebrating the equality of women and men in the church and the fullness of life in all creation.

Bridget Mary: (to the sponsors) Miriam and Wanda, do you, on behalf of this community, promise to support Shelley as loving companions in our Church?

Miriam and Wanda: We will.

Bridget Mary: (to the community) I invite you, the members of this Christian Community to join with Shelley in praying the profession of faith.

All: We believe in God as source of life and reality of our evolving universe in God, not apart from us God, in the midst of the human adventure who speaks to us through myth and poetry the cries of the prophets of history and today through the simple declarative sentences and questions of everyday existence.

We believe in the goodness of the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth who walked and talked and ate and drank among us, who gave flesh and blood to the God he demonstrated as loving parent who taught us that the only acceptable sacrifice is a worship that is offered in spirit and in truth.

We believe in his meal of restoration and his washing of feet. His embrace of the lepers and the rejected ones. We believe in his vision of the original covenant renewed over again through the honest love of God and every creature.

We believe in the living Spirit of God; Call to unity in the face of fear and fragmentation; Call to life in the midst of the seductive power of death. Challenge to hope when we exhaust the alternatives we believed.

All: We believe in an equal, gifted community of women and men nourished by that Spirit. Faces turned towards the neediness of humankind sharing together the support and challenge of the Gospel of Jesus.

We believe that only our lives can make our faith credible and so we commit ourselves as individuals and as a community to lives of healing, justice, compassion and loving kindness. Amen. 

 A Statement of Faithfulness by Jay Murnane

ACT OF RECEPTION

Bridget Mary: (laying right hand on candidate says the following) Shelley, we your community receive you and welcome you into the Catholic Church. The Holy One’s loving kindness has led you here so that you may have full communion with us in the faith that you have professed in the presence of this community.

SIGN OF WELCOME
Bridget Mary: (taking the hand of the newly received, says:) It is with great joy that we welcome Shelley to the Catholic Church. Please extend a sign of peace to Shelley and to one another.

PRAYERS FOR THE COMMUNITY

Bridget Mary: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we pray for the needs of the people of God in our community and around the world. Our response is:

“Holy One, you hear our prayers.” Please share your spontaneous prayers.

Miriam: We give thanks for all whom we hold in the circle of grace and will continue to pray for and use our talents to serve our sisters and brothers with joyful hearts.

All: Amen.

PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS

Lifting up the Bread
Bridget Mary: Blessed are you, Gracious God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.

All: Blessed be God forever.

Lifting up the Cup Wanda: Blessed are you gracious God of all creation, through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink.

All: Blessed be God forever.

Miriam: Let us pray that as we celebrate this breaking of break and blessing of wine, we accept more fully the mission of our Creator by actively living our response to God’s call.

All: May our loving God accept these gifts for the praise and glory of God’s name for our good and the good of all God’s church.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Bridget Mary: God is with you.

All: And also with you.

Wanda Lift up your hearts.

All: We lift them up to God.

V 1 O Gracious God, we praise you and rejoice that You call us to be your disciples in our world today. We give thanks for the rich diversity of talents we have in this community. We open this circle of grace to remember the angels and saints and all who have gone before us. Joined with all creation, we lift up our hearts and sing:


We are Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker
https://youtu.be/J3r-3TFB6wI


V 2 Ever loving God, in you we live and move and have our being. Each day you show us your love. Your Spirit dwelling in us gives us the hope of unending joy with you.

V 1 You set the table before us O God, and invite all to share in this meal that celebrates your indwelling love everywhere. You call us to see the sacred in our everyday lives, to see your presence in each other and in all creation.

V 2 Nurturing God, we thank you for Jesus, your love made flesh, who came to show us how to live and love in communion with our sisters and brothers, especially those who suffer from poverty, illness and grief, and those who are marginalized by church and society.

All: Now, as we prepare to share the bread of life and lift the cup of joy, we pray, come Holy Spirit deepen your Presence within us and in these gifts of bread and wine.

Bridget Mary: Lifts bread as community extends hands and prays:

All: The night before Jesus died, he showed the depth of his love. Jesus took bread in his hands, said the blessing, broke the bread and shared it with all those present saying: Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my body which will be given up for you. (Pause)

Miriam & Wanda: Lift cups as community extends hands and prays:

All: At the end of the meal, Jesus took a cup of wine, and again he gave you thanks and praise, and then shared the cup with those present saying:

Take this all of you, and drink from it. This is the cup of my blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all. Do this in memory of me.

Bridget Mary: Together let us proclaim the mystery of our faith.

All: In every creature that has ever breathed, Jesus has lived. In every living being that has passed on before us, Jesus has died. In everything yet to be, Jesus will come again.

V 1 Remember, O God, your church spread throughout the world. Make us one body in Christ. We honor the holy women and men, who have revealed your compassion, mercy and justice with the witness of their lives. We thank you for all who show us how to love unconditionally, and who have revealed by their witness, the inclusiveness of the Heart of God.

V 2 We remember our sick and suffering. May they be healed and comforted. We remember our loved ones and all who have died. (Pause briefly to remember and name the departed.) May they experience the joy and fullness of ever lasting life in the embrace of our Compassionate God.

Bridget Mary: Lifts bread Miriam / Wanda lifts cups.

All: Through Jesus, with Jesus, and in Jesus, the love of God is poured out into the whole world through the power of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. All: Sing Amen

THE PRAYER OF JESUS

All: Our Father /Mother who art in heaven….

PRAYER FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD

Bridget Mary: Please join in the prayer for the breaking of the bread:

(Presiders break the bread)
All: O God of Courage, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.
O God of Compassion, You call us to be Your presence in the world. We will love tenderly.
O God of Truth, You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your presence.

(Presiders hold up bread and wine)
Bridget Mary: This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Through it we are nourished and we nourish each other. All are welcome to the Feast.

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.

COMMUNION SONG: # 344 Spirit and Grace Rickey Manalo,CSP 
https://youtu.be/2wcbANPsU0E


COMMUNION MEDITATION: Beloved of God by David Haas

https://youtu.be/5dC607LYj6g


PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

All: Life-giving God, through this sacrament of love which we have just received, nourish us and give us strength for the journey. Through the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us, may we continue to be faithful to the mission and ministry of spreading the Good News of Jesus’ love in the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the anointed one. Amen

BLESSING OF SHELLEY

BRIDGET MARY: Please stand and extend your hands in blessing for Shelley 




MIRIAM: May the Spirit inspire you to see the world through fresh, open eyes, to be a soulful visionary, and to lend optimism and hope to all you encounter.

WANDA: May the Spirit transform all you touch with Light, and grant you courage and protection as you go forth in your Divine Life Mission.

All: Amen.

BRIDGET MARY: May the Spirit bring you purity in body, mind, and spirit to nurture you as you nurture others, to support your inner knowing and intuition as you navigate the seen and unseen worlds.

All: May the Spirit grant you wisdom as you seek Divine Truth, Integrity of thought and action, and fortify you with the strength you need to shine your Divine Light in the physical world as only you can.

BRIDGET MARY: And May you always remember, the Source of All lives as a Divine Spark within you, to inspire, renew, and uplift you and all that you meet along your journey. Go now in peace and live the Gospel.

All: Thanks be to God.

CLOSING SONG: #384 With One Voice Ricky Manalo, CSP
https://youtu.be/NDGumPUmMas


 

No comments: