(CNN)You know things are bad in Congress when the chaplain's morning prayer on the House floor sounds like an exorcism.
On Thursday, the Rev. Patrick Conroy told members of Congress it has been a "difficult and contentious week in which darker spirits seem to have been at play in the people's house."
"In Your most holy name, I now cast out all spirits of darkness from this chamber, spirits not from You," continued Conroy, a Jesuit priest who has been chaplain of the House of Representatives since 2011. As he prayed, Conroy closed his eyes and raised his hands in supplication.
House Chaplain Pat Conroy’s opening prayer: "This has been a difficult and contentious week in which darker spirits seem to have been at play in the people's house. In Your most holy name, I now cast out all spirits of darkness from this chamber, spirits not from You."
In a brief interview afterward, Conroy said the echo was intentional. But he added that his prayer, which he wrote himself, was more inspired by traditional blessings for homes or other buildings.
"Anoint your servants here in the House with a healing balm to comfort and renew the souls of all in this assembly," Conroy prayed. "May your spirit of wisdom and patience descend upon all so that any spirit of darkness might have no place in our midst."
The idea for the prayer came to him, the chaplain said, after Tuesday's contentious House vote to condemn as racist President Donald Trump's tweets telling four Democrat congresswomen to "go back" to their home countries. Three were born in the United States, the fourth is a naturalized citizen.
"I was on the House floor on Tuesday," Conroy told CNN, "and to me, it felt different than other days. It felt like there was something going on beyond just political disagreement. The energy of the House was very off. No one was relishing what was happening."
"At the end of a contentious week, let Your spirit of peace descend upon this place and those who work here," he prayed on June 29.
But while Conroy often invokes God to provide wisdom and aid to House members, he rarely mentions the darker side of the supernatural.
"If you are a person of faith," Conroy told CNN on Thursday, "ultimately everything in our lives, our communities and our culture is a battle between darker spirits and our better angels."
Conroy's term was approved by the House in January, less than a year after he was briefly ousted in a controversial move by then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
On Thursday, the 68-year-old Jesuit priest said his prayer was intentionally non-partisan.
"You heard it, I wasn't picking sides," he said. "That's ultimately the goal every day. I want every member of the House to be able to say 'amen.'"
Theme: Living the Christ Presence as Love
in the World
Left to right: Kathryn Shea ARCWP and Janet BlakeleyARCWP
Welcome
Presider: Welcome to Mary Mother of Jesus,
an expansive Catholic Community where
everyone is welcome to participate in our Eucharistic Celebrations.We use “expansive language” in all our scripture readings and
prayers. We also invite your respectful and related comments when we share the
homily and, a little later in the liturgy, everyone will have an opportunity to
share their own personal intentions in the Prayers of the Community. Everyone,
with no exceptions, will be invited to gather around the altar table and take
part in praying the Consecration and sharing the Communion. We are delighted to
see everyone here today - both the “old timers” and the newcomers - and we are
pleased that we join together in this liturgy this afternoon. Lastly, all will
be invited to join us for supper at a local restaurant after the liturgy.
Gathering Chant: Come Be Beside Us
by Jan Phillips
Presider:Holy One, we celebrate
You within us and within creation as we live your loving presence by working
for justice, equality and inclusivity each day in the world.
Please join in singing
our opening song: We are Called.
Opening Song: We Are Called by David Hass #617 (all verses)
First Reading: Micah: A Reading from the Prophet Micah (6:8)
My people, you struggle blindly to know what the Holy One wants,
and you act as if you remember nothing from your history, as if you know nothing.
From the beginning of time, there has been one message from the Holy One, ONLY
this: That we live justly, that we
love tenderly, that we walk with integrity in the Holy One's presence!
These are the inspired words of the prophet Micah and we affirm
them by saying: AMEN.
Responsorial: Psalm 34 as
interpreted by Nan Merrill
Refrain: Your Spirit,
O God, is upon me. You have anointed me.
I will bless the Beloved at all times;
a song of praise will I sing.
My soul speaks to the Beloved continually;
let all who suffer hear and be glad.
O, open your hearts, friends,
that your pain and loneliness
be turned to love;
and then, we shall rejoice in the Beloved together!
Refrain
When I searched for Love, the Beloved
answered within my heart,
and all my fears flew away.
Look to the Beloved, and your emptiness
will be filled,
your face will radiate love.
One with love, you are never alone!
Refrain
Second Reading: A reading from the Universal
Christ
God loves things by becoming them. God loves things by uniting
with them, not by excluding them. Through the act of creation, God manifested
the eternally outflowing Divine Presence into the physical and material world.
Ordinary matter is the hiding place for Spirit, and thus the very Body of God.
As the New Testament dramatically and clearly puts it, “Before
the world was made, we have been chosen in Christ… claimed as God’s own, and
chosen from the very beginning.” Christ is a good and simple metaphor for
absolute wholeness, complete incarnation and the integrity of creation.
Jesus is the archetypal human just like us (Hebrews 4: 15), who
showed us what the Full Human might look like if we could fully live into it
(Ephesians 4: 12–16). Frankly, Jesus came to show us how to be human much more
than how to be spiritual.
The whole of creation—not just Jesus—is the beloved community,
the partner in the divine dance. Everything is the “child of God.” No
exceptions. When you think of it, what else could anything be? All creatures
must in some way carry the divine DNA of their Creator.
These are the inspired words of Richard Rohr, author
of the Universal Christ, and we affirm them by saying, AMEN.
Gospel: Excerpts from the
Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every
nature in order to restore it to its root.
Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you
are deprived of the one who
can heal you.
He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.
Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from
something contrary to nature.
Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.
That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you are
discouraged be encouraged in the presence
of the different forms of nature.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
When the Blessed One had said this, He greeted them all, saying, Peace
be with you. Receive my peace unto yourselves.
Beware that no one lead you astray saying Lo here or lo there! For the
Son of Man is within you.
Follow after Him!
Those who seek Him will find Him.
Go then and preach the gospel of the Kingdom.
But they were grieved. They wept greatly, saying, How shall we go to the
Gentiles and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If they did
not spare Him, how will they spare us?
Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, Do not
weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for His grace will be entirely with
you and will protect you.
But rather, let us praise His greatness, for He has prepared us and made
us into God’s people.
When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began
to discuss the words of the Jesus the Christ.
Peter said to Mary, Sister, we know that Jesus the Christ loved you more
than the rest of woman.
Tell us the words of the Jesus the Christ which you remember which you
know, but we do not, nor have we heard them.
Mary answered and said, What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you.
And she began to speak to them these words: I, she said, I saw our
beloved Jesus in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision.
He answered and said to me,
Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of Me. For where the
mind is there is the treasure.
I said to Him, Jesus, how does he who sees the vision see it, through
the soul or through the spirit?
Then Jesus the Christ answered and said, He does not see through the
soul nor through the spirit, but the mind that is between the two that is what
sees the vision.
Homily/Community Reflection
By Janet Blakeley, ARCWP
Our hearts are burning to
bring you the essence of our recent ARCWP retreat – to impart something of the
experience to you.But where to
begin!?!I thought of going through today’s
liturgy to look for main ideas.I
didn’t make it past the opening prayer.That one sentence is packed with learning for us if we contemplate
it.“Holy One, we celebrate You within
us and within creation as we live your loving presence by working for justice,
equality and inclusivity each day in the world.”
“Holy One” has become an
acceptable name for those whose understanding of “God” has expanded beyond “God
in the Sky” or even “God of the Universe”. It can serve to name the God who not
only created everything but who continues to create – whose essence can be
uncovered within everything. A God who doesn’t contradict scientific findings
but who enlarges our scientific understanding. A God whom scientists can talk
about as they recognize the mystery of the beginnings of the universe and whom
they theorize created and is creating – even now – other universes. A God who
encompasses us, our universe and more, and who is encompassed by us. A name
that works even for those who have not encountered the One We Love but who seek
something beyond themselves.
Is there anything wrong with
the name “God”? No!But when we sit
before the awesomeness of our God, the name doesn’t always convey enough of
what we feel and see. Sr. Claire Labbee, CSJ. Used to say, “Well, there’s God,
and then there’s (arms stretching way out) G-uah-ah-d!” In silence we come to
know that our God is everything we know and everything we don’t know and still
is our God. We can search for names and dream up names and still they are
totally inadequate. We keep trying because each attempt makes us dig deeper and
peer more deeply into the Divine. Today, the name “Holy One” speaks for some
people – maybe you.
The next words of the
opening prayer make us question ourselves. “We celebrate you”. Do we? Do we
open our hearts and eyes to SEE this God, and then celebrate what we find?! If
we don’t, we cannot BE God in the world because we don’t KNOW God. But
the Divinity found within every single thing is waiting there, poised to be
seen and celebrated!
If we have seen this
Divinity, how do we celebrate? By joyfully BEING the living, breathing, loving
presence of Holiness in the world. We ARE justice. We ARE equality. We ARE
inclusivity – each day in the world.
Richard Rohr pondered all
this just a few days ago. He said he thought a person really could not call
herself a Christian if she did not KNOW the Christ within her. Because to be a
Christian is to BE Christ. Not imitate, but BE.
This simple opening prayer
gives us our questions for today. If we are to BE GOD, we have to first KNOW
GOD who is hidden within each of us.
+ Why does Divinity hide
itself?
+ What do I have to do to
find it?
+ Have I ever found it?
+ What is it like?
What
we have talked about today may seem unrelated to Mary Magdalene. But the
wondrous, expansive God we explored is the God of Jesus, the one Mary Magdalene
loved. Next week we will look at this same Divinity found in the Man,
Jesus.
Statement of Faith
All:
We believe in the Holy One, who is love poured out in creation.
We believe in Jesus, who showed us how to live, who prayed
that“All may be one.”
We believe that we are called to follow the Spirit, the source
of wisdom and truth within, around and among us.
We believe that we are the Christ Presence evolving here and now
as we live justly, love tenderly and walk with integrity.
AMEN.
Prayers for the
Community
Presider:We bring to the table the intentions of our sisters and
brothers.Please feel free to voice your
intentions beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
Spontaneous
intentions from assembly
Presider:Healing God, you faithfully accompany us as we reach out in love
to those who need our prayers and those we hold in our hearts. Amen.
Preparation of the Gifts
Offertory Song: I Am the Bread of Life - #364 (verses 1, 4,5)
I am the Bread of life.You who come to me shall not hunger; and who
believe in me shall not thirst.
No one can come to me unless our God beckons.
Refrain:And I
will raise you up, and I will raise you up, and I will raise you up on the last
day.
I am the Resurrection, I am the life.If you believe in me, even though your die,
you shall live forever.
Refrain
Yes, God, we believe that you are the Christ, the Son
of God, who has come into the world.
Refrain
Presider:Blessed are you, Jesus of
Nazareth, through your goodness we have this bread and this wine and our own
lives to offer.Through this sacred meal
may we remember how to live the new story and follow your examples of love and
compassion.
All:Blessed be God forever.
Presider:Divine Presence, we believe that you are
always with us, loving in each of us and healing others through us.
All:Namaste (with a nod…3x)
Presider:Lift up your hearts.
All:We lift them up in tender love, open to serve.
Presider:Let us give thanks for all that
we have.
All: It is
our joy to be grateful for our many blessings as we gather at our family
table.
(so… let us “gather at our family
table”…)
Eucharistic Prayer
All:Passionate God, you kindle your fire of enthusiasm in us as we
contemplate the boundless, depths of your love.
In the power of your Spirit,
we lift our hearts in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and
enlightenment, that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with all
who sing the ancient hymn of praise:
All: Sending among us Jesus,
our brother, You birth afresh in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom within
us. You give us eyes
to see human needs, hearts to care for our sisters and brothers and hands and
feet to lighten their burdens.
Presider:Please extend your
hands in blessing.
All:
Holy One, You transform these gifts of bread, wine, and our lives, with
boundless grace that nourishes and sustains us on our journey.
Presider:On the night Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his companions, he
reminded them of what he taught them and bent down and washed their feet. Jesus
returned to his place at the table, lifted the Passover bread and spoke the
blessing, and then broke the bread with these words,
All:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
Presider:Jesus then raised high the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and
offered them the wine with these words:
All:
Take and drink of the covenant made new again through my life for you and for
everyone. Whenever you do this, remember me and all that I have taught you.
Presider:Let us proclaim the mystery of wonder in our midst.
All:
Jesus, you walk with us on the path of holiness, you are the spark of love in
whom we believe, the Wisdom of Sophia in whom we trust, and the desire for
justice that consumes us.
Presider:As we celebrate the memory of Jesus, we remember our prophetic
leaders. We remember the communion of saints who have gone before us and all
who have inspired and loved us.
Presider
hold up bread and wine
All: For it is through living as Jesus lived that we awaken to
your Spirit loving through us in our service to our sisters and brothers.
Great Amen (Lilies of the Field)
Presider:Let us pray as Jesus taught us.
All:O Holy One, who is within, around and among
us,
We celebrate your many names.
Your Wisdom come.
Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us,
Each day you give us all we need;
You remind us of our limits, and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us, now and forever.Amen(Miriam Therese Winter)
Presider:Let us hold hands as we pray for peace in our world.
Song: Peace is flowing like a riverby
Carey Landry
Presider:Please join in the
prayer for the breaking of the bread:
Presiders break the bread
All: Holy
One, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live
justly. You call us to be Your presence in the world. We will love
tenderly.
You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your
presence.
Presiders lift the bread and wine
Presider:
This is the bread of
life and the cup of blessing. Through it we are nourished and we nourish each
other.
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.
Presider: Our Eucharistic celebration is
all-inclusive. All are welcome to receive at this friendship table.
Please pass the bread with the words: You are the Body of Christ. Please pass
the cup with the words: You are the Face of God.
