Welcome!
Presider~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Moment
of silence
Opening Song “We Gather Here To Celebrate”(M. Simmons)
~We gather here to celebrate one God universal
We gather here to celebrate the Joy within
In unity we celebrate the beauty of diversity.
Come join us in our fellowship, welcome friends.
~You are my sister, you are my brother
In the one divine mind we are one with each other
So join with me, in unity, let us celebrate, our divinity.
Repeat: WE Gather Here………
All: In the name of God our creator, Jesus our Living
Word, and the Spirit who calls us to share the Good News. Amen.
Opening Prayer. All: Let us pray. O God, protector of the
poor, we give thanks for your Holy Spirit who sends women and men to share the
Good News. We give thanks for this bold Wisdom-Spirit who impels us to pray
always and to proclaim your Good News of love & peace in our homes,
communities and world. We ask your blessings on our celebration today as we
honor our call to share the Gospel. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Communal
Reconciliation Rite
Presider:
We pause now to remember the times we have not asked for forgiveness. (Pause)
(Please
extend your hand in blessing and say the Ho’oponopono prayer)
All: I am sorry. Please forgive
me. I thank you. I love you.
Glory to God
All sing: Glory to God, glory! O praise God, alleluia. Glory
to God, glory! O praise the name of our God. (2x)
Liturgy of the Word
1st Reading from “The Way Of
Perfection (Santa Teresa De Avila)
“You must know that
weather or not you
are practicing mental prayer has nothing to do with keeping your lips closed.
If, while I am speaking with God, I am fully conscious of doing so, and if this
is more real to me than the words I am uttering, then I am combining mental and
vocal prayer. I am amazed when people tell me that you are speaking with God by
reciting the Paternoster even while you are thinking of worldly things. When
you speak with a Lord so great, you should think of Who it is you are addressing
and what you yourself are, if only that you may speak to Him with proper
respect. How can you address a king with the reverence he deserves unless you
are clearly conscious of his position and yours?” (Pause)
These are
inspired words of Santa Teresa De Avila, and we respond by saying: Amen
Psalm “Let your God Love You”
Edwina Gateley)
Response:
Let Your God Love You
~Be silent, be still, Alone, empty
before your God.
Say nothing, ask nothing, be silent
be still. R.
~Let your God look upon you. That is
all. God knows. God understands. R.
~God loves you with an enormous love,
and only wants to look upon you with that love.
Quiet. Still. Be.
R.
2nd Reading: “The Way of Perfection”(Santa Teresa
De Avila)
“Imagine that this Lord
Himself is at your side and see how lovingly and how humbly He is teaching you
– and, believe me, you should stay with so good a Friend for as long as you can
before you leave Him. If you become accustomed to having Him at your side, and
if He sees that you love Him to be there and are always trying to please Him,
you will never be able to send Him away, nor will He ever fail you. He will
help you in all your trials and you will have Him everywhere. Do you think it
is a small thing to have such a Friend as that beside you?” (Pause)
These are inspired words
of Santa Teresa De Ávila, and we respond by saying: Amen
Gospel Acclamation All: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Gospel of Matthew 6: 5-9
Jesus said to his disciples: “When you pray, don’t behave like the
hypocrites; they love to pray standing up in the synagogues and on street
corners for people to see them. The truth is they have received their reward in
full. But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to God who is
in that secret place, and your Abba God who sees all that is done in secret
will reward you. And when you pray don’t babble like the Gentiles. They think
God will hear them if they use a lot of words. Don’t imitate them. Your God
knows what you need before you ask. (Pause)
These are the inspired words of the evangelist Matthew and we respond
: Praise
and Glory be to Jesus The Christ.
Homily. Share your preferred prayer style & how
it may have evolved.
After Homily Sharing #379 “Here I Am God” (Refrain Only)
Profession of Faith.
All: We believe in God, the creator of the universe, the
fountain of life, flowing through every being. We believe in Jesus the Christ
who reflects the face of God and the fullness of humanity. We believe in the
Holy Spirit, the breath of God in the cosmos, who calls us to loving service
without counting the cost. We believe in our global communion with all in the
circle of life. Amen to actions on behalf of justice, compassion, equality
& healing for all in our world! Amen
Community
Petitions.
Presider: Loving God, you empowered Teresa to reform the Carmelite Order;
All: Bless all
those who seek to reform institutions; grant that they walk before you in
sincerity and truth.
Presider: Your daughter Teresa had a great love for
the humanity of Jesus and cherished him as a friend;
All: May our friendship
with Jesus enable us to cherish our friendships with one another.
Presider: The depth of her knowledge of the
spiritual life resulted in Teresa being proclaimed as a Doctor of the Church;
All: Grant that women who
study theology and spirituality may continue to gift the church with wisdom and
insight.
Presider: What else shall we pray for? R: Loving
God bless our petitions.
Presider:
Healing God, you faithfully listen to our prayers. Strengthen us as we respond
to the needs of your people and work for justice and positive change in our
world. We
Pray
in the name of Jesus the Christ. All:
Amen
Offertory Procession/Instrumental
Music
Presider: Blessed are you, God of Creation, through your goodness we have
this bread and wine to offer, the grain of the earth and fruit of the vine that
human hands have prepared for our use. All: Blessed be God forever.
Gathering of
the Gifted
Presider: The following well known quote from Santa Teresa bears
repetition now as a useful and timely reminder.
“Christ has no body now but mine. He prays in me, works in me,
looks through my eyes, speaks through my words, works through my hands, walks
with my feet and loves with my heart.”
― St. Teresa Of Avila, The Autobiography of St. Teresa Of Avila: By St. Teresa Of Avila - Illustrated
― St. Teresa Of Avila, The Autobiography of St. Teresa Of Avila: By St. Teresa Of Avila - Illustrated
Presider: Jesus who has
often sat at our tables, now invites all of us to join him at his. All are
welcome to share in this meal. (Please gather around the table fotr our
community meal)
Liturgy of The Eucharist
Presider: God is within
you All: And also within you.
Presider: Lift up your
hearts. All: It is
our joy to lift them up to our God.
Voice: Merciful God, we, your people are united in this sacrament by
our common love of Jesus. We are in communion with everyone everywhere, who
shares your gift of compassion, especially with those who are marginalized and
oppressed. May we love tenderly, do justice, and walk humbly with you in
solidarity with our brothers and sisters. May we live always as prophetic
witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus. All: Amen
Eucharistic Prayer
Voice: Ever living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks . In you we live and move
and have our being. That spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the
foretaste and promise of the paschal feast of heaven. Her dwelling with us
gives us the hope of unending peace and
joy with you. And so, while keeping
in mind that all
creation is holy, we sing:
We are holy, holy, holy. We are
whole.(You,I,We) (KDrucker)
All: (Extend hands in blessing toward
the bread and wine for invocation of the Holy Spirit) As we do in this place what you did in an
upstairs room, send down your Spirit Sophia on us and on these gifts of bread
and wine, that they may become for us your body, healing, forgiving and making
us whole. That we may become for you, your body, loving and caring in the world
until your kindom comes. Amen.
All: We remember Jesus. On the night before he died,
Jesus sat at the Seder meal with his companions. Reminding them of what he
taught, he bent down to wash their feet. Jesus, after returning to his place at
table, lifted the Passover bread and spoke the blessing, broke the bread
saying: “ Take and eat, this is my very
self”
(Pause)
Jesus
then raised the cup of blessing spoke the grace and offered them the wine
saying: “Take and drink of the covenant
made new again through my life, for you
and for everyone. Whenever you do
this, you remember me”
Voice: Remember, gracious God, your Church throughout the
world. Make us open to receive all believers. In union with all people, may we
strive to create a world where suffering is diminished, and where all people
can live in health and wholeness.
Presider: Jesus, who was with God in the beginning of
the creation of the heavens and the earth, is with us now in this bread. The
Spirit who the prophets spoke of in history, is with us now in this cup. Let us
proclaim this mystery of faith.
All: Christ dies, Christ rises, Christ comes again
and again (Sing) Amen
Prayer of Jesus “Our Father and Mother”
Presider: Let us hold
hands as we sing “Let There be Peace on Earth” # 526 (Substitute ) “With
God as Creator, we are Family” and “Let
us walk with each other”
Prayer for the
breaking of the bread
All: Loving God, you call us to Spirit-filled
service, to live the Gospel of peace and justice, to be your presence in the
world, to be bearers of understanding and compassion, forgiveness and healing
everywhere, and you call us to speak truth to power. We will live justly, love
tenderly and walk humbly with you.
Presider: This is Jesus who liberates, heals and
transforms us and our world. All are invited to partake of this banquet of
love. We are the Body of Christ.
All Chant: “Sanctuary”
God prepare me, to be your Sanctuary, pure and
holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving,
I’ll be a living, sanctuary for you. (2x)
Presider: We now share the sacred bread and cup with our
brothers and sisters as we remind each other:
”You are the face of Christ in the world” and
“You are the peace of Christ in the world.”
Communion Meditation Music
Prayer of Thanksgiving
All: O God, in
Teresa you have given us a model- a woman who was faithful to prayer, to her
sisters and friends, and to the work she was called to do. Help us to be so
committed to you, that our daily activities foster our life of prayer and our
life of prayer enables us to live fully in the world around us—aware of its
needs and concerns. Bless all who follow the charisms of Teresa and grant that
they may be true to her spirit and faithful in prayer. We ask this through
Jesus who was ever her friend. Amen
Thanksgiving/ Introductions/ Announcements
All sing, (hand extended in blessing)
~You are the face
of God, I hold you in my heart, You are a part of me, You are the
face of God.
~You are the face
of God, I hold you in my heart, You are my family, You are the
face of God. (2x)
All: Let us go in the peace of Christ, and let us share the
Good News with all! Indeed, we will do
so! Alleluia!
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Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) was a very active
contemplative. I like to non-dual, mystical consciousness in the 16th century,
before it all but disappeared for five hundred years in the wake of the
Protestant Reformation, the enlightenment, and the invention of the printing
press. [1]
Mirabai Starr, in Saint Teresa
of Ávila: Passionate Mystic, explains why Teresa is still
so relevant to us today: “What can Teresa of Ávila offer us five hundred years
after her death? Teresa models the living balance between action and
contemplation, serving others and developing an interior life, engaging in
passionate human relationships and surrendering to the divine mystery. She was
an ecstatic mystic and a skillful administrator, a fool of God and an
insightful psychotherapist, a penitent when she needed to be and an epicurean
when she could be. . . . Teresa of Ávila was fully, deeply,
unapologetically herself.” [2]
Perhaps Teresa’s greatest weakness—which was
also an “effective political weapon,” as Starr describes—was her desire to be
liked. When she was sent to a convent at the age of 16, Teresa found that her
extroverted and social personality was right at home. The Carmelite convent of
the Incarnation, as many convents of the time, was full of young women, Starr
writes, “whose families didn’t know what else to do with them.” Life in the
convent was austere, but there was ample opportunity to interact socially with
people from outside the monastery. Everyone adored the charming and attractive
Teresa, including male visitors. Teresa fell in love over and over again. [3]
Teresa’s attachment to the admiration and
affection of others troubled her so much that she became physically ill and had
to leave the convent. Physicians and a medicine woman (curandera) were
mystified, and their treatments left her in worse condition. During this time,
Teresa’s uncle gave her a copy of The Third Spiritual Alphabet by
Francisco de Osuna, a Franciscan. From Osuna, Teresa learned about
contemplative prayer and how “to think without thinking” (no pensar nada es
pensarlo todo). This became the foundation of her spiritual practice. While
Teresa’s prayer life blossomed, her health declined even more, until everyone
but her father believed she had died. It seemed a miracle when she recovered.
But it was a long and painful journey back to health. Teresa could not control
her arms and legs for eight months, and it took two more years for her to even
crawl.
This is the cliff hanger! Do you want to know more about Teresa? Read a
biography or her autobiography.