 |
| Katy Zatsick ARCWP and her sister Connie co-preside at Liturgy |
All: Infinite God in whom I live and move and have my being (arms outstretched), Holy Spirit Sophia in every person and all Communities (hands in Namaste position, bowing to person across from you), Inner God, my brother Jesus: I am your light for the world (hands crossed over heart) Amen.
Presider: God is within you.
All: And also, within you.
Opening Prayer.
All: This Lenten season, O Loving God, restore us to wholeness like newborn babes who have never strayed from you. May all who go forth weeping tears of repentance, bearing seeds of your Love, come home to you with shouts of joy, leaving sorrow behind. May we knowingly walk each day through our journey of Lent following Jesus our Brother Amen.
See Sheet for Readings
First Reading
Psalm Response:
Gospel reading
Shared Homily: What was your experience of Lent before Vatican II, after Vatican II, what would I like to do this Lent to make it more meaningful?
Profession of Faith. All I believe in our God the Divine Creator who desires us to know we are Your beloved daughters and sons. I believe in Jesus, God of Living and Loving unconditionally that we might learn and live following his Way. I believe in Sophia God’s Spirit of renewal, healing humanity, calling us into our evolutionary future to be God’s Compassion enfleshed in our lives and for the world. Amen.
Presider: Always mindful of God’s love and care for us, we bring the needs of the People of God to our loving Abba/Amma, Sophia and Brother Jesus. Response: Jesus walking with us on our Lenten journey, hear our prayer.
Presider: By our lives and prayers this Lent may we be in prayerful solidarity with all those who are changing their lives toward holiness, we pray. Response.
Presider: In 2019, may we stand in solidarity with all those who are marginalized and work for justice and equality, we pray.. Presider: For what else should we pray…
Presider: We know you hear our prayers; those we speak and those we keep in our hearts. May our Lenten acts of compassion arise from the knowing you love each of us unconditionally. All: Amen
PREPARATION OF OUR GIFTS
Presider: Blessed are you, O God Seeker of all. This bread is your MMOJ community changing our behavior, thoughts and words to better follow You. At the beginning of our Lent, we offer this bread for it will become for us the Bread of Life. ALL: Praising God, we ask to deepen our life in Christ this Lent.
Presider: Blessed are you, O God, Divine Creator of all. This wine is our desire to enter ever deeper into our relationship with God transforming Love for all. We have this wine to offer, it will become our spiritual drink. ALL: Praising God, we ask to deepen our life in Christ this Lent.
All: Blessed are you, God of all life, through your goodness we offer our own lives to you. May our time of Lent deepen our love and relationship with you. May our actions deepen our compassion for others. Amen.
Eucharistic Prayer.
All Sing: We are holy holy holy (x3) We are whole; You are holy holy holy (x3) You are whole; I am holy (x3) I am whole; We are holy holy holy (x3) We are whole.
All: Come Sophia, Holy Spirit and settle on this bread and wine. Fill them with the holiness and wholeness of our living Brother Jesus our Cosmic Christ who is walking beside us this Lent.
Remembering Jesus. (hand extended in blessing):
All: On the night before he died, while at supper with his friends, Jesus took bread, broke it, and shared it with those present, saying, “Take this, all of you, and eat. This is my body which will be broken for you.” (Pause)
Then Jesus took a cup of wine and shared it with those present, saying, “Take this all of you and drink. This is the cup of my life-blood. Do this in memory of me.”
All (2nd Invocation of Spirit, with hand on each other’s shoulder): Come Holy Spirit to rest on us. Refreshed from our worship together and joined within the Communion of Saints may we extend your Love to all whom we meet this Lent.
Prayer of Jesus “Our Father and Mother”
Song of Peace: Love is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me, flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free. Hope is flowing…Peace is flowing... Alleluia
Litany for 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 your Good News of our Oneness in you. We will do
so!
Loving God, you call us to be your presence in the world. We will do so!
Presider: This is Jesus who lived and walked to his death with compassion for all he met on his life’s journey. All are invited to partake of this banquet of love and to live our Lenten journey in hope. All: We choose to be the Body of Christ for all we meet on our Lenten journey.
Prayer of Thanksgiving (Didache, 100CE)
Men 1: For the thanksgiving, give thanks this way: First, for the cup: We thank you, Abba God, for the sacred vine of David your son, whose meaning you made clear to us through our brother Jesus, yours ever be the splendor.
Women 2: And for the bread fragment: We thank you, Amma God, for the life and wisdom whose meaning you made clear to us through Jesus, yours ever be the splendor.
All 3: As this fragment was scattered high on hills, but by gathering was united into one, so let your people from earth’s ends be united into your single reign, for yours are splendor and might through Jesus Christ down the ages.
Prayers of Gratitude from community
Presider: Let us go forth knowing that we are called to transform our ourselves through the Compassion of Jesus. Let our service continue in his name.
Final Blessing.
All (hand extended over community):
May Sofia’s vision and joy companion you this Lenten journey. May Jesus who is Love hold you close as beloved daughters and sons Amen
Individual Blessing, around the circle. Place your hands on the head of the person, look into his/her eyes and say:
I love you,…
I’m sorry, …
Please forgive me,…
Thank you…
Thanks to and adapted from a liturgy by Michael and Imogene Rigdon of MMOJ-Sarasota
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Readings for March 7, 2019
Reflection on Lent for the 21st Century
First Reading Sirach 2:1-11
Daughters and sons, if you hope to follow YHWH prepare yourself to be tested. Be clear minded about your goals and persevere; and be brave when faced with challenges. If you want a long and successful life, put yourself in the presence of God and stay there. Endure every adversity in patient humility, for even gold must be tested in fire—and so are the chosen, in fires that dethrone the ego.
Trust in God, and God will help you; keep to the straight and narrow, and have hope…You who fear YHWH should hope to prosper, to find joy and God’s favor…YHWH is compassionate and merciful, the forgiver of sins and our savior in troubled times. The inspired word of Sirach. All: Thanks be to God.
Psalm 6 (adapted From Nan Merrill’s “Psalms for Praying”)
Response All: I open the door of my soul to You, My Loving God.
I am tired of so many fears; I cry myself to sleep at night, while grief and feelings of guilt bedim my eyes with tears. All my doubts, my fears, are creating walls so that I know not your Unconditional Love. R: I open the door of my soul to You, My Loving God.
Depart from me you enemies of wholeness and holiness, for my Beloved is aware of my cry; Love has heard my prayer, and hastens to answer my call. Though my fears are running for cover, yet they shall be healed by Love: Illusions that lived in my ego can now turn to the Light who is Christ; I will know peace as I return Home. R: I open the door of my heart to You, My Loving God.
Second Reading: taken from the writings of Pope Francis
Be a Saint Where Ever You Are!
Some people think that holiness is a matter of closing your eyes and looking like a saintly icon. No! This is not true holiness! Holiness is something greater and deeper, something God gives us. We become holy by living with love and offering our own Christian witness in everyday life, in the circumstances and lives in which we find ourselves. Are you married? Be holy by loving and taking care of your husband or wife, as Christ did for the church.
If you are unmarried but baptized? Be holy by carrying out your work honestly and skillfully and by helping others. “But Father I work in a factory; I work as an accountant, only with numbers, you can’t be a saint there…” “Yes, yes, you can! You can become a saint wherever you are. God gives you the grace to become holy. God reaches out to you.” Always, anywhere, one can become holy. You can open yourself up to the grace that lives inside us and leads us too holiness.
Are you a parent or a grandparent? Be a saint by teaching your children or grandchildren to know and follow Jesus. It takes a lot of patience to do this. Being a good parent, a good grandfather, a good mother, a good grandmother takes patience, and through this patience comes holiness. Holiness comes by exercising patience. Are you a Sunday school teacher, an educator, or a volunteer? Be holy by becoming a visible sign of God’s love and presence among us.
There you have it: Every state of life can lead to holiness! Your everyday life can lead you to holiness. The path to sainthood is open in your home, on the road, and at work, as well as in church. Don’t be scared of following this path. It is God who gives us grace. (Our God) asks only this: that we be in communion with Him and that we serve our brothers and sisters. The inspired words of Pope Francis. All: Thanks be to God
(From “Happiness in This Life” pg. 212, 213 General Audience, 11/19/2014)
Gospel from Luke 6: 31-38
Do to others what you would have them do to you…Love your enemies and do good to them…Be compassionate, as your loving God is compassionate. Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t’ be condemned. Pardon, and you’ll be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you: a full measure—packed down, shaken together and running over—will be poured into your lap. For the amount you measure out is the amount you’ll be given back. The Good News of Jesus our Brother. All: Praise to you Jesus Christ leading us on our journey this Lent.
Simple steps to Healing: Ho’oponopono by Dr. Joe Vitale
I love you,
I’m Sorry,
Please Forgive Me,
Thank You
No comments:
Post a Comment