Welcome:
Presider
: Welcome to Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community where are
all welcome to share Eucharist. We use inclusive language in our scripture
readings and prayers. You will be invited to gather around the Table to pray
the Eucharistic Prayer. We warmly welcome our newcomers to our liturgy and
invite you to introduce yourself at the announcement time after Communion. The
wine we use is non-alcoholic so that all can receive under both species if you
so wish. All are invited to join us for supper after liturgy.
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| Left to right: Janet Blakeley ARCWP and Sally Brochu ARCWP |
Silence
GATHERING SONG AND GREETING: #304 - “Gather the People” – verses 7,9,10
Presider:
As we gather together in this sacred place and share in this banquet of love, let
us pray in the name of God, our Creator, of Christ, our liberator, and of the
Holy Spirit, our Sanctifier.
ALL: Amen.
Presider: My sisters and brothers, God is with
you! ALL: And also with you.
OPENING PRAYER:
ALL: O Holy One, we celebrate your love as we see it
unfolding in the healing and wholeness of your creation for everyone and
everything. We ask you to open our hearts to the message of the Gospel so that
your inspiration and peace may rule in our hearts, your justice guide our
lives, and your love direct and support us in our concern and care for one
another. You call us to recognize and warmly welcome everyone who comes through
our doors as your presence among us, which they are. In communion with Jesus,
our brother, and with the power of your Spirit, we will try to live the example
of your love each day. Amen.
PENITENTIAL RITE
Presider: Creator God to whom all hearts are open, no
desires unknown, and from whom no secrets can be hidden, cleanse our hearts by
the inspiration of Holy Wisdom.
ALL: We take
your Word into our minds and hearts. Open them to new understanding.
Presider: We ask for the grace to continually
acknowledge our need to grow in goodness and caring for ourselves, for others
and for our earth, and all the while to be Jesus for others and to meet Jesus
in others.
ALL: We accept your love and understanding of the
frailty of our human nature.
Presider: And we join with you, Jesus the Christ,
believing the strength and insight of the Holy Spirit will lead us to deeper
dedication to justice, equality and peace in our world. ALL: Amen.
(All raise hands extended in prayer)
Presider:
God, our Father and Mother of Mercy and Love,
ALL: Through
his living, dying and rising, Jesus has revealed that nothing can separate us
from your infinite love. May you, Loving
God, give us pardon and peace, and may we forgive each other our failures to
care for one another and our earth in the name of you, our Creator, of Jesus,
our brother, and of the Holy Spirit, our wisdom. Amen.
GLORY TO GOD
ALL: (sung) Glory to God, glory, O praise and
alleluia. Glory to God, glory, O praise the name of our God. (3x)
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Jeremiah 17: 5-8 (Response: Thanks be to God)
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| Mary Al Gagnon |
Responsorial Psalm 1 – Response “Blessed are those who walk hand
in hand with goodness”
Blessed are those who walk
hand in hand with goodness
Who stand beside virtue, who
sit in the seat of truth;
For their delight is in the
Spirit of Love, and in Love’s heart they dwell day and night.
They are like trees planted
by streams of water, that yield fruit in due season,
And their leaves flourish;
and in all they do, they give life.
The unloving are not so;
they are like dandelions which the wind blows away.
Turning from the Heart of
Love they will know suffering and pain.
They will be isolated from
wisdom; for Love knows the path of truth,
And the way of ignorance
will perish as Love’s penetrating Light
Breaks through hearts filled
with illusions:
Forgiveness is the way.
Second Reading: First Letter of Peter 4: 12-17 (Response: Thanks be to God)
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| Margaret Murtha |
Gospel Acclamation: ALLELUIA! (sung)
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| Janet Blakeley ARCWP |
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All our
lives we have heard and mulled over these teachings of Jesus: That those who are poor and suffering can
take comfort in knowing they will be happy one day - and that the rich already
have what they think is happiness.
We may think
less often about his additional teaching - that following him and his way will bring scorn and
hatred.
There are
always several layers to Jesus’ teachings.
We see the obvious rich and poor concepts, and we understand the
possible cost of following him.
At another
level, he is teaching about making choices in a confusing world – about
distinguishing between truth and untruth.
He suggests that we might look
for truth amongst the poor. And he says outright that the rich are on a
dead end road, so forget that! His
identifying criteria is that true prophets and false prophets received
different treatment. If we can notice
how someone is being treated by others, we should have an indication of whether
or not they are telling the truth.
In the
confusing, chaotic, world we live in, e certainly need a tool like that! We are bombarded from every direction by
voices and images loudly calling our attention. With all the noise, it’s like living in a TV
showroom! Voices, instruments,
pictures, colors, sounds, people – all saying “look at me! I can be the answer to whatever you’re
looking for.” How could we discern
which, if any, of these things would be our true answer to happiness?
Jesus’
teaching gives us these clues. If it’s
poor or suffering it might offer a way.
If it’s self-satisfied, probably not.
But real life is not that simple.
We are often confronted with choices where we may not see these particular
indicators. So how does one discern
if something is true or false, good or evil, the path for me or not?
Listen to
Jeremiah, a prophet who spoke for God.
“Cursed (lost, off track) are those who trust in human ways, says YHWH,
who rely on things of the flesh (food, clothes, money, power) whose hearts turn away from YHWH. They are like stunted vegetation in the
desert with no hope in the future.” If
you were walking in the desert and became lost, would dried up old plants be a
good indicator of nearby water? No.
But “Blessed
are those who put their trust in God with God for their hope. They are like a tree planted by the river
that thrusts its roots toward the stream.
When the heat comes, it feels no heat, its leaves stay green. It is untroubled in a year of drought, and
never ceases to bear fruit.” In other
words, being planted near the source and with roots deep into it, we can
survive the worst and still be able to contribute goodness to the world.
Clearly, if
we really want to discern between the many things that call to us in our lives,
we must be deeply rooted in God. By
immersing ourselves in God’s living water until we know God, absorb God,
drink in God, become mingled with God.
With God’s vision and God’s mind and heart, we can see clearly what is
right for us and what is not. And we
can stay calm in the face of chaos and all those “to dos”. On top of this, we have a reservoir of
living water from which others may refresh themselves.
For most
people this suggests repeatedly putting oneself in the presence of God. Day after day and time after time during
the day. Turning our focus from the
noisy world to the interior quiet we try to create in order to know God’s
presence. We return to God who is the
only reality and truth. We let that
spirit permeate our entire beings so that it is peace, quiet, calm we have to offer to the next person we meet. Our tiny offering to a chaotic world. Water
to the one who says “I thirst.”
SHARED HOMILY:
Profession of Faith:
ALL: We
believe in God, a divine mystery beyond all definition and understanding. God
the Creator, is the heart of all that has ever existed, that exists now, or
that will ever exist. God's divinity infuses the entire cosmos, making
everything in it sacred.
We believe in Jesus, the messenger of God's Word,
bringer of God's healing and the center of God's compassion. Through his
incarnation, we have become a new people, called beyond the consequences of our
brokenness.
We believe in the Spirit, the Wisdom that strengthens
our call to follow Jesus who is a vehicle of God's love, a source of God's
compassion and truth, and the instrument of God's peace in the world.
And we believe that God's kin-dom is here now and
will be forever. It is stretched out all
around us for those with eyes to recognize it, and hands to share it with
everyone.....with no exceptions.
GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
Presider: We are people of faith. We believe in the power of prayer. We believe that we send blessings to those
who are struggling and who need to experience hope, to those who are grieving
and need to be comforted in their loss, to those who are facing medical
challenges that they be granted hope and healing. We bring the needs of the
people throughout our community and our world to our gracious God.
After each intercession, the response is: ALL: Loving God, bless our petitions.
Presider: That those who are hungry and homeless, especially
the children, that they may receive the food and shelter that they so badly
need, we pray. ALL: Loving God,
bless our petitions.
Presider: For what else shall we pray?
Presider:
Healing God, you faithfully listen to our prayers. Strengthen us as we strive
to respond to the needs of your people. We make this prayer in the name of
Jesus, the Christ, Amen.
Offertory Song: # 432 – “Blest Be the Lord (our
God) ” – verses 1,2,3
PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS
Presider: Blessed are you, gracious God of all life,
through your goodness we have this bread, wine, all creation and our own lives
to offer. ALL: Blessed be God forever.
Presider: Through
this sacred meal may we become your new creation as we respond to your call to
use our gifts in loving service to our sisters and brothers. ALL: Blessed be God forever.
Presider:
Jesus, who has often sat at our table, now
invites all of us to join him at his. There is room and a place for everyone at
this table. Please join us in this circle of love that feeds us all on our
life’s journey. (Everyone is welcome and has a place at God’s table).
Presider:
As we recognize God within each other, let us greet one another at this table.
ALL: Namaste! Namaste! Namaste!
Presider: Pray
my friends that as we celebrate this breaking of bread and blessing of wine we
accept more fully the mission of our Church by actively living our response to
God’s call.
ALL: May our
gracious God accept these gifts for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our
good, and for the good of all our Church.
Presider: God is always with you. ALL: And also with you.
Presider: Together, we lift up our hearts. ALL: To God and one another we lift them.
Presider: Together, we give thanks to our gracious
God. ALL: Indeed it is right to
constantly give thanks and praise.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
Voice 1: Gracious God, source and sustenance of life,
redeeming presence to the pain and brokenness of our world, Holy Spirit who
enlivens all that exists, we beseech your healing power upon us and all for
whom we pray today. We join together
with our community, with all creation everywhere, with all those who have gone
before us and live in the eternal now (Names of our loved ones…………)
Let us sing:
ALL: We are
holy, holy, holy (x3), we are whole. (You, I, We) By Karen Drucker
Voice 2: We ask you to enliven anew in our hearts the
empowering grace of your abundant Spirit, who infuses for us these gifts of
bread and wine with the transforming energy of life, to nourish and sustain us
in all times and especially in times of need.
(Please all extend hands as we recite the
consecration together.)
ALL: Before he
was given up to death, a death he freely accepted, Jesus took bread and gave
you thanks. He broke the bread and gave
it to his disciples and said: take this,
all of you, and eat it; this is my body.
ALL: When
supper was ended, Jesus took the cup.
Again he gave You thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and
said, take this all of you, and drink it; this is the cup of my blood, the
blood of the new and everlasting covenant.
Do this in memory of me.
Presider: Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
ALL: Christ
has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Voice 3: (Please
place your hand on the shoulder of the person to your right)
As we gather around this
Eucharistic table, we recall God’s blessing and love from ages past, and we
celebrate anew the gift we share among us at this Eucharistic feast. May the
Spirit of life and wholeness, who transforms the gifts we present, transform us
too, that we may be refreshed in our inner being and be empowered to bring
mercy, love and healing to those whose lives we touch and who are Jesus to us.
Voice 4: Remember Gracious God, your Church throughout
the world that we are open to all of your creation, all of your people
everywhere who are made in your image, for you are a God of Extravagant Love
for all of us.
Voice 5: Grant that, in union with all peoples living and
dead, we may strive to create a world where suffering and pain are diminished,
where justice and peace are restored, and where all people can live in health
and wholeness. Let us be united in acclaiming the God of Life, whose abundance
is offered to each and to all, until the Kin-dom arrives in the fullness of
time.
ALL: Through
Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory
and honor is Yours, gracious God, forever and ever. Amen (sung).
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Presider 2: Let us join
hands and raise our voices as we sing the Prayer of Jesus:
Our Father and Mother……
THE SIGN OF PEACE
Presider: May
the peace of our gracious and loving God be always with you. ALL: And also with you. Let us offer each other the gift of peace
as we join hands and listen to the song sung by David Haas:
“The Peace of God”
Do not worry; reach out to
God in prayer,
Stay with all you have
learned, all that you have heard and seen,
And the peace of God will be
with you.
Whatever is true, whatever
is just, and all that is pure and pleasing
And all that is worthy of
praise; think of these things.
The peace of God beyond all
understanding will guard your hearts
And guide your minds in
Christ Jesus.
LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD
Presider: Loving
God,
ALL: You call
us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.
Presider:
Loving God,
ALL: You call
us to be the presence of Jesus in the world. We will love tenderly.
Presider: Loving God,
ALL: You call
us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your presence.
Presiders: This is Jesus, our Light, who liberates,
heals and transforms our world. All are
invited to partake of this sacred banquet of love. ALL: We are the Body of Christ.
Communion: Instrumental
Post Communion Song: #330 – “As Grains of Wheat” – verses 1,2,4
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Presider: May love, wonder, gratitude and thanksgiving
fill us, may compassion fully fill our hearts, that you may heal the numbness
that continues because of our society’s injustices. May we each know that we
are loved and may we continue to be the face of God to one another. Amen.
Prayers of Gratitude/ Introductions/Announcements
CONCLUDING RITE
Presider: May God be with you. ALL: And also with you.
Presider: Let us call upon our gracious God as we share
blessings with each other. We bless one
another and pledge to live the Gospel of Christ. ALL: Amen.
BLESSING
(Everyone please extend your hands in
mutual blessing.)
ALL: May our
gracious God, bless us all, in the name of God our Creator, in the name of
Jesus our Brother, in the name of the Holy Spirit our Wisdom, as we care and
minister to one another in love, for we are the Body of Christ and the face of
God to the world. Amen.
DISMISSAL
Presider: Go in the peace of Christ. Let our service continue!
ALL: Thanks be
to God.
CLOSING HYMN: #384
– “The Summons” verses 1,4,5