Welcome to Mary Mother of Jesus Zoom Liturgy. We gather as a roman catholic inclusive community. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
All community members will be on mute during the liturgy except for the presiders and readers. During the shared homily we ask you to unmute yourself if you would like to contribute. Remember to mute yourself when you have finished sharing. Please have bread and wine/juice in front of you as we pray our Eucharistic prayer.
And from now on I shall be called woman most highly blessed
Holy is our God whose kindness never ends
Who by great strength has scattered the proud
And raises up the poor and gathers them into all fullness
For God has come to this servant Israel
To show all mercy now and forever as was promised
Sarah and Abraham and the children forever.
Opening Prayer.
We gather together to celebrate the life and ministry of Mary, the mother of Jesus. As Mary supported Jesus his entire life and was both a witness and leader highly revered by the followers of The Way, Mary demonstrated a deep concern for the poor and all those who needed healing in her time. We call upon Mary to break the barriers of time and space and be with us during this, our hour of need.
May our eyes be open, may our hearts and souls, the depth of our Being empower us to reach out in love and service to our suffering world.
We remember who Jesus was, who the Christ is and we look to Mary for vision, healing and strength. We have faith, we grab hope as we lift up our prayer and recognize the power to heal.
ALL: So be it!
Transformation Prayer.
The suffering being experienced by the people of the world is greater than ever before in our lifetimes. We commit ourselves to do whatever we can to contribute to the slowing down of the spread of the virus. We commit ourselves to do whatever we can, in any way we can, to comfort the sick and their families.
ALL: Transform us, O Holy One
Gloria.
Presider: Glory to the Spirit of Life, to the Holy One who surrounds us, who lives within us, whose Sacred Word is shared by us in our world.
ALL: Glory to the Spirit of Life, who offers us peace; peace in our hearts, peace in our thoughts, peace with one another as we reach out to one another and ask for blessing.
Presider: Glory to the Spirit of Life, who cares for the health workers, postal workers, store clerks, garbage collectors and all those who those who serve our special needs in numerous ways.
ALL: Glory to to the Spirit of Life, who sent Jesus who teaches us how to live the Gospels, who brings hope and healing to all those in need.
Presider: O Holy One, you are one with us. We are strong in our faith and will live life in hope and faithfulness to you, to be Church committed to the message of the Gospels. We depend upon the ever-present Spirit to walk with us as we journey in the present and rejoice in the life before us.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Katy
Excerpts from: How the Cult of the Virgin Mary Turned a Symbol of Female Authority into a Tool of Religious Patriarchy written by Dorothy Ann Lee
As the first Christian, Mary proclaims a radical message of social justice, where the poor are exalted and of the powerful overthrown. She initiates Jesus’ ministry at the wedding feast of Cana. And follows him to the cross, despite the dangers. She is a vital presence at the birth of the church at Pentecost, sharing the divine image of a world transformed.
In line with the New Testament, the early church also gave Mary the title “God-bearer which became part of Christian orthodoxy, not tied to her perpetual virginity.
Material art portrayed her in some contexts as a priestly figure (as in the 11th century mosaic from Ravenna) with her own autonomy and authority, where she embodies the symbolic vocation of all Christians to “give birth” to the transforming presence of Christ.
It is true that Catholic women across the world have found great solace in the compassionate figure of Mary especially, against images of a very masculine, judgmental
God, and the brutality of political and religious hierarchy.
But for this women have paid a price, in their exclusion from leadership. Mary’s voice has been permitted, in filtered tones, to ring out across the church, but real women’s voices are silent.
In today’s context, the cult of the Virgin becomes emblematic of the way the church silences women and marginalizes their experience. Marian piety in the traditional form has deep contradiction at its heart. In a speech in 2014 Pope Francis said, “: The model of maternity for the Church is the Virgin Mary” who “in the fullness of time conceived through the Holy spirit and gave birth to the Son of God.”
If that were true, women could be ordained, since their connection to Mary would allow them, like her, to represent the church. If the world received the body of Christ from this woman, Mary, then women today should not be excluded from giving the body of Christ as priest, to the faithful at Mass.
The Virgin cult cuts women off from the full, human reality of Mary, and so from the full participation in life of the Church.
It is no coincidence that in the early 20th century, the Vatican forbade Mary to be depicted in priestly vestments. She could only ever be presented as the unattainable virgin-mother: never as leader, and never as fully embodied woman in her own right!
The irony of this should not be lost. A fully human Gospel symbol of female authority, autonomy, and the capacity to envision a transformed world becomes a tool for patriarchy.
By contrast, the Mary of the Gospels (end the belief of early Christians), the God-bearer and priestly figure– a normal wife and mother of children – confirms women in their embodied humanity and supports their efforts to change unjust structures, both within and outside the church.
This is the inspired word of Dorothy Ann Lee, who is an Anglican priest and scholar of the Bible.
A reading from the Gospel of Luke 1:39 - 56 as interpreted in The Message New Testament by Eugene H. Peters
Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly.
You’re so blessed among women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed! Why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me? The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, the babe in my womb skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. Blessed woman, who believed what God said and believed every word would come true!
And Mary said,
I’m bursting with God-news,
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen child, Israel. He remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high It’s exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home.
We believe in our Creator who has not forgotten us, rather is ever and always present with us.
We believe in Jesus, the Word incarnate, who journeyed on the earth, blessing the sick, making whole the broken, healing many, instilling faith in his followers so that they may continue the work He began.
We believe in Christ, the everlasting Presence in our world in our universe.
We believe in the Spirit of Life, the breath of wisdom Sophia, who stays present and real to us during this great human struggle we face today and in the days ahead.
We believe in the communion of saints, our heavenly friends who walk with us in love as we continue our life journey.
We believe in one another and our individual and collective response to being diligent in following the directives given by medical professionals at this time.
We believe in the partnership and equality of women and men in our Church and our world. Here we live our prophetic call of Gospel equality.
We believe that kin-dom is here and now, stretched out all around us for those with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
Presider: We pray that the Holy One renew in our hearts our commitment to journey always in faith and hope as we reach out and support, comfort and love those closest to us, those who live in our country and all the people of the earth.
Prayers for the People:
As we prepare for the altars before us to share this sacred meal, we bring to the table our prayers and intentions.
We bring to the table the people of our troubled country who are faced with so many difficult decisions because of the COVID, schools opening, churches opening and much more: may all decisions come from a deep place of love and caring for all people.
We bring to the table the people of our troubled country who risk their lives for those who are sick with the COVID Virus, healthcare workers of all positions, service providers of all kinds who continue to serve the needs of others: may they be safe and may they experience the grateful support of all God’s people,
We bring to the table the people of our troubled country who still suffer much hurt and pain, physical harm and even death because of personal and institutional racism that is so deeply rooted in the very fabric of our society: may eyes be opened and actions taken, and laws and policies made that protect our sisters and brothers of different color and culture.
We bring to the table the people of our troubled country who fear that the needs of their families, their personal needs will not be provided as a result of loss of income, loss of jobs, loss of government support: may the financial support they so desperately require become a priority of our elected government officials.
We bring to the table all members of our community, we remember in a special way, Bridget Mary, Diane, Jack and also for those you hold in your heart…pause…may all be healed by Spirit of Life.
Presider: We pray for these and any other unspoken intentions. And together we say: So Be It!
Offertory. Dotty and Joan
(Place your bread and wine before you on your table)
Ever present Sacred Spirit, you who hold us in your loving hands, we offer these gifts of bread and wine as we celebrate your life with us.
*(The Eucharist Prayer is adapted from “The Prayer of Thanksgiving”. It can be found in A New NEW Testament edited by Hal Taussig)
We give thanks to you. Every life and heart stretches toward you, O name untroubled, honoring the name of God, praised with the name Creator. To everyone and everything comes the kindness of the Holy One and love and desire.
And if there is sweet and simple teaching, it gifts us mind, word and knowledge; mind, that we may understand you; word, that we may interpret you; knowledge: that we may know you. We rejoice and are enlightened by your knowledge; we rejoice that you have taught us about yourself. We rejoice that in the body you have made us divine through your knowledge.
The thanksgiving of the human who reaches you is this alone; that we know you. We have known you, O light of mind. O light of life we have known you. O womb of all that grows, we have known you. O womb pregnant with the nature of Creator God, we have known you. O never-ending endurance of the Spirit of Life who gives birth, so we worship your goodness. One wish we ask: we wish to be protected in knowledge, One protection we desire; that we do not stumble in this life. When they said these things in prayer, they welcomed one another, and they went to eat their holy food, which had no blood in it.
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(hold your hands over the bread and the wine):
Ever present Sacred Spirit, you who hold us in your loving hands, you are one with us in blessing these gifts of bread
and wine as we celebrate your life with us. These gifts are made sacred through our faith.
We celebrate Mary the Mother of Jesus as a liturgical leader who praised God, preached the gospel, led the prayers..healed with her hands
In this sacrament of breaking bread and blessing wine, we pause and call upon Spirit of Life to bless this bread and wine which is made sacred through our faith. We celebrate with one another as we remember Jesus walked this same earth we walk today.
During Jesus’s life on this earth he lived and died loving the poor, healing the sick and challenging the injustices within society. Because of his ministry Jesus was feared by the authority of his day.
On the evening of the Jewish Seder Jesus gathered with his close friends for a meal. He reminded them of what He had taught them. He washed their feet as an act of love.
Jesus returned to his place at the table and spoke to his companions. He lifted the Passover bread, and spoke the blessing, He broke the bread saying these words:
“Take and eat, this is my very Self. Do this in memory of Me.”
Jesus then lifted the cup filled with wine. He spoke the blessing and said:
“Take and drink of the covenant made new again through my life for you and for everyone. Whenever you do these things, remember Me.”
Presider: Let us proclaim the Sacredness of Eucharist
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Let us pray our communion prayer together.
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.
Please now receive Communion with the words “I am the face of the Divine”
Communion Reflection: Ancient Mother by Jan Novotka
We continue to celebrate the memory of Jesus in our sharing of Eucharist with one another, we remember all those people in particular who walk with us in the search
for the Divine. We remember the communion of saints, and we celebrate all of life with thanksgiving.
All: So Be It!
INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Together we raise our hands in a blessing of one another.
Celtic Blessing:
💚 May you be wrapped up in God’s love, Found deep in his everlasting wings, carried and kept, safe and cherished. May the healing power of Christ breathe across your being now.💚
Hers is a story of biblical proportions. After two years of roller coaster health crises and rebound recoveries, Michele Birch-Conery, bishop arcwp escapes near death once again. This time the trajectory of her resurrection is much different both on the physical and spiritual plane.
Michele was admitted to a long-term care facility in December 2019. The decision was made on an emergency basis, a choice between hospice and long-term care. Michele's health had significantly deteriorated after a recurrence in August 2018 of a childhood genetic condition called cyclic vomiting syndrome. The pain that accompanies such a condition is dire and often lasts for five days. Michele had to be hospitalized for dehydration and electrolyte imbalances several times since then. Nonetheless, she continued to serve in her capacity as a bishop with arcwp, sometimes teaching us how to pastor and to collaborate on her behalf through her physical challenges. The justice work of advocating for an elder was another learning curve for me as her power of attorney.
By the fall of 2019, Michele's health was severely compromised. She wanted to die but was not convinced (nor her medical team) that this would happen in the mandated time frame of three months. On admission to long-term care, neither Michele, nor any of us, in the Heart of Compassion Faith Community (HOCFC) had anticipated the coming of the covid-19 pandemic.
Initially, our visits and her outings with us made the harsh realities of living in long-term care doable for Michele until persistent lockdowns and isolation from residents became the norm starting in March 2020; her lack of freedom was exacerbated by hearing loss and inability to see. How does one navigate a world where the sound of caregivers is muffled in a mouth trap mask and the barrier of plastic shields? Not to mention that eighty percent of residents with whom Michele lived had advanced dementia or other physical disabilities that made communication challenging.
In her usual easy-going manner, Michele used these early months as an opportunity to hone her contemplative prayer life and to work on her memoir by phone with me, until spring turned to summer and the hopes of the pandemic ending were nowhere in sight.
An ordained person wherever we go, Michele recounted to me by phone one morning that Harvey, a resident she had befriended had died. She had been matched at meals with Harvey, who apparently talked the entire time while she listened intently. Michele told me that at the end of every meal, unaware of Covid -19 restrictions about touch, she and Harvey shook hands. They had become friends over the past three weeks. On the morning of Harvey's death and before his body was taken away, Michele slipped into his room and gave him a blessing.
In early July, I could feel in Michele's voice that her spirit was waning. I asked, "What's important to you now?" "I spend every part of my day trying not to go insane," Michele replied. The social isolation was dreadful for her. I felt my heart sink with sorrow and knew that we had to get her out of there. Michele was more than willing.
And we did. Rhea, an eighty-two year old mother of six adult children, retired psychiatric nurse and member of HOCFC enthusiastically agreed to have Michele live with her. "It's the right thing to do," remarked Rhea. Other members of our faith community were overjoyed that Michele would be released. We all had missed her deeply. They agreed to help with food preparation, visits, appointments and the move. I secured community health support services and a wonderful medical doctor.
Ordination Anniversary Celebrations
On the occasion of our priestly ordination anniversary celebrations on July 25th (near the Feast of Mary Magdalene) - Michele's 15th and my 5th - about thirty people from all over the world joined on Zoom with our faith community for our Word Wisdom Communion gathering to renew our commitments and to reflect on the many graces Sacred Presence has bestowed up on us. From her room at the long-term care facility, Michele offers us this wisdom.
"When I think of all of you doing studies about Mary Magdalene, nothing should be more relevant to our times. I think of Mary Magdalene teaching the apostles about what Jesus shared privately with her, as well as preparing them to continue their vocation as teachers of His Way. She is a woman of our times. If there is any one person significant to those of us ordained as Roman Catholic women priests it is Mary Magdalene. I suggest she be named the patron saint of our movement. I see Mary Magdalene as someone who always maintains the peace, while being quietly vigilant about the needs of her companions and of the people of God. She was disappeared as have been many women of the Church. In her reappearance through contemporary feminist theologians and authors, her significant brings us hope for the future of women in the Church."
Michele Birch-Conery, bishop arcwp
On July 30th, Michele burst through the doors of the long-term care facility wearing a hot pink blazer and pushing her wheeled-walker. This was the first time outside of the building in six months. We happily travelled the twenty minutes to Rhea's apartment on the river where Michele would now live. Like the story in John's Gospel of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-44), our Michele - wisdom elder, bishop and spiritual mentor - was returned to us and to herself.
My Response: The Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement is an example of feminist change in the RC tradition by claiming the spiritual authority of the community as equals to celebrate sacraments and by challenging rigid doctrine rooted in medieval thinking that a male priest is required to "confect" a valid Eucharist. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests offer a renewed model of priestly ministry in a community of equals! This is a revolution, rooted in feminist theology, in practice and theology in the Roman Catholic tradition! Bridget Mary Meehan, https://arcwp.org
"Jill Hammer’s recent post on midrash surrounding the Biblical figure of Eve(Hava in Hebrew) sparked me to muse again about the fact that, despite its patriarchal roots and overlay, Judaism is a much more flexible tradition than Christianity and, therefore, much more open to feminist change.
Part of this is due to the fact that Judaism is midrashic while Christianity has been and remains a doctrinal tradition. Midrash is a form of Biblical interpretation that includes retelling the story to fill in the blanks and to answer contemporary questions left unanswered in the original text. Jews consider the Torah (the 5 books of Moses) to be the “Word of God” though opinions vary as to what this means. In the rabbinical tradition, the Torah is interpreted through the Talmud which is an extensive collection of discussions and disputes that draw on Biblical texts in relation to contemporary (to the rabbis) questions. Midrash included in the Mishnah (a collection of teachings that preceded the Talmud) and the Talmud are considered part of the "oral Torah." which is also "the Word of God."
The Talmud is considered to be authoritative, but it includes conflicting interpretations that were never resolved into a single definitive view. Though different Jewish groups have declared certain views to be normative, other groups have disagreed. There is no central authority (such as a Pope or council) to resolve these disputes. Though some Jewish groups disagree strongly with the beliefs or practices of others, in Judaism as a whole an attitude of “live and let live” leads to inclusion rather than exclusion. Indeed. The Talmud records that in the midst of a particularly vehement dispute between two rabbis, a voice intervened, stating: “These and these are the words of the Living God.” (Quoted by Judith Plaskow in Goddess and God in the World.)
Moreover, in Judaism there is no requirement that “legitimate” worship must take place in a synagogue or under the direction of a rabbi. Traditionally, the presence of 10 male Jews intending to worship together constituted a quorum. Indeed, the important celebrations of Shabbat (Sabbath) and Passover occur in the home. Experimentation with alternate and feminist liturgies can occur in these spaces.
In the 1960s and 70s a widespread vibrant Chavurah movement developed. These groups met in homes and often created their own liturgical forms. Challenged by feminist members, most of these groups began to count the quorum as 10 Jews, male or female. These groups were accepted as legitimate sites of Jewish worship by most other Jews. Reconstructionist, Reform, and Conservative denominations now count women as part of the quorum, leaving the Orthodox the last to count only men.
Jewish women who offer new interpretations and retell Biblical or post- Biblical stories from different points of view assert that they are simply doing what has always been done. In the Kohenet or Hebrew Priestess community, women reclaim leadership roles that fall outside of rabbinical norms and openly worship the Hebrew Goddess. Though the beliefs and practices of this movement have not been accepted by the major Jewish denominations in the United States, neither have they been widely condemned.
In contrast, Christian women who try to change their tradition(s) come up against dogma and doctrine as well as theories of scriptural inerrancy. With the establishment of Christianity by Constantine, churches were understood to be the only legitimate sites of worship and priests (and later, ministers) the only legitimate leaders of worship and dispensers of the sacraments.
The early church also became (rigidly!) doctrinal as various theological disputes were resolved in Church councils. The winning views became Church doctrine, while the opposing views were declared heretical. Heretics--including witches--were tried, banished, or killed in both the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions, especially in the early modern period. While Protestants left England in the name of religious freedom to found the American colonies, they became dogmatic and exclusionary in the New World. Feminist challengers of this status quo face allegations or even charges of heresy, especially if they are employed by a church.
The Re-Imagining movement arose in the 1980s as a response to the pervasive male language for God in both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. It predated the Hebrew Priestess movement by several decades and was originally endorsed and funded by several mainline Protestant groups. But when it was reported that at their conference, the women invoked the deity as our sweet Sophia with milk and honey flowing from her generous thighs, all hell broke loose. One of the conference leaders was fired from her job, sending a clear message to women ministers and priests that radical experiments with female God language would not be tolerated. The Pope followed by declaring that baptisms must be in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: feminist alternatives such as Creator and Redeemer were declared invalid. Sadly, experimentation with female language for God is largely a thing of the past in churches.
Christian feminists face other restrictions not experienced by their Jewish counterparts. Women meet to experiment with liturgy in private Woman Church groups, but these groups are not recognized by Protestant denominations or by the Roman Catholic church as legitimate sites of worship. Though women continue to be ordained as ministers and bishops in Protestant churches, they must affirm classic doctrines and dogmas as part of their ordination process and are not generally given leeway to disagree with them. Christian feminist Biblical scholars tend to focus on Biblical texts, for example by providing novel interpretations of words that challenge the androcentric biases of earlier translations, but they may not feel free to retell the stories.
Recently, while reading through the Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions, I felt energized by articles about women in Judaism and dispirited by the ones about women in Christianity. Though it is often said that Judaism is a more patriarchal tradition than Christianity (an assertion I would dispute), it is proving to be a far more flexible tradition than Christianity and more open to feminist change.
Though liturgical change is slow within the Jewish denominations, feminist Jews can find other way to feed their souls. Christianity, on the other hand, is burdened by doctrinal rigidity and by the assumption that a church presided over a priest or minister is the only legitimate place of worship. Christianity is showing itself to be a far less inclusive and flexible tradition than Judaism. Given its ongoing doctrinal rigidity and insistence that worship must be conducted by clergy, I wonder if it can be changed--especially given that most of those who desired change have left the mainline (non-fundamentalist)) denominations."
