All: (arms outstretched)Infinite God in whom I live and move and have my being, (hands in Namaste position, bowing to person across from you),Holy Spirit Sophia in every person and all Communities (hands crossed over heart) Inner God, my brother Jesus: I am your light for the world Amen.
Opening Prayer. We gather together to share the love you have for us since the Big Bang and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in humanity. By his life Jesus taught us how to be Love and Compassion for others. May we rejoice in your love for us and may we live your Love for others. Amen.
See Sheet for Readings
Profession of Faith. All: We believe in God who is creator and nurturer of all. We believe in Jesus Christ our brother and Beloved Son of God who is our faith, hope, love, and our light. Born in a stable, Jesus lived, died and rose to now reside in our souls. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of Wisdom Sophia who energizes and helps us make wise decisions and guides us to rebuild caring communities and to challenge injustices. We believe in the partnership and equality of women and men in our church and world. We believe that all are ONE in God’s Community of Creation. We believe Holy Wisdom calls us to live fully, love tenderly, pray always, serve generously with Compassion and Love for all and to never count the cost. Amen.
Presider: Always mindful of God’s love and care for us, we bring the needs of the People of God to our loving Creator, Renewer and Sustainer.
Response: Jesus, fill our souls with your Love for all
Reader: For all persons, medical professionals and communities suffering from Covid: financially, physically, mentally Response:
Reader: We pray for healing for patients and for the families who lost a loved one to Covid or violence. Response.
Reader: That the Biden-Harris administration and Congress will work together to quickly provide Covid-19 vaccinations for all ASAP. Response
Reader: That the Biden-Harris administration and Congress will pass the America Rescue Plan ASAP. Response
Reader: That we will re-dedicate ourselves to build a country and world where equality, justice and peace is established for all including the earth. Response
Presider: For what else should we pray…
All: God of Unconditional Love for us, we know you hear our prayers; those we speak and those we keep in our hearts. Fill our members and community with your Holy Wisdom, Compassion and Love as we begin our new year in the time of a pandemic and economic disaster. Amen
PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS
Reader: (lifting up the bread) Blessed are you, O God, Lover of all. In this time of Covid, our bread is your MMOJ community as we gather together bringing our faith, hope and love as gifts for you. Through your divine providence, we have this bread to offer, it will become for us the Bread of life. ALL: Jesus, fill our hearts with your faith, hope and love.
Reader: (lifting up the wine) Blessed are you, Holy Mystery, Creator of all. This wine is our desire to live following your Way of Love, reconciliation, healing and peace asking you to send your Spirit Sophia to guide our path. Through your divine providence, we have this wine to offer, it will become our spiritual drink. ALL: Jesus fill our hearts with your faith, hope and love.
All: Blessed are you, God of all life, through your goodness we have this bread and wine and our own lives to offer as our gifts to you. Through this sacred meal and the gifts of Sophia Wisdom may we become your Loving Presence for all. 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 Holy Spirit and settle on this bread and wine. Fill them with the holiness and wholeness of our living Brother Jesus our Cosmic Christ living in the center of our souls today. Holy Spirit we ask that you fill us with you Wisdom and renewing Love as we participate in your Divine meal with our brothers and sisters of our community and People of God throughout the world.
Remembering Jesus. (hand extended in blessing):
Men: On the night before he died, while at supper Jesus took bread, broke it, and sharing it with family and friends, saying, “Take this, all of you, and eat. When you gather in my name, I am present amongst you.” (Pause)
Women: Then Jesus took a cup of wine and sharing it with those present, saying, “Take this all of you and drink. This is the cup of my life-blood, my eternal covenant with you. Do this in memory of me.”
All (2nd Invocation of Spirit, with hand on each other’s shoulder, or raised in blessing): Come Holy Spirit to rest on us. Refreshed from our worship together and joined with Jesus our Brother may we extend your Compassion, Love and Peace to all we meet especially in this time of Covid and political unrest. Amen
Prayer of Jesus
All: Heavenly Mother, Heavenly Father,
Holy and Blessed is your true name.
We pray for your reign of peace to come,
We pray that your good will be done,
Let heaven and earth become one.
Give us this day the bread we need,
Give it to those who have none.
Let forgiveness flow like a river through us,
From each one to each one to each one.
Lead us to holy innocence
Beyond the evil of our days.
Come swiftly Mother, Father, Come!
For yours is the power, the glory, and the mercy—
Forever your name is All in One. Amen (Parker Palmer, Quaker Writer and Teacher, WI)
Song of Peace Love is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me, flowing out into the desert, setting all the people free. Hope is flowing…Alleluia
Litany for Breaking of Bread.
Reader: Loving God, you call us to listen to Sophia Wisdom and the gifts of her Spirit dwelling within us. All: We will do so!
Reader: Loving God, you call us to live the Gospel of Compassion, equality, peace and justice for others and earth. All: We will do so!
Reader: Loving God, you call us to be your Loving Presence for all in the world. All: We will do so!
Reader: This is Jesus born in a humble stable who liberates, heals and transforms us and our world in the time of Covid. All are invited to partake of this banquet of love and to live as the Heart and Hands of Christ’s Compassion and Love in our time. All: We are the Body of Christ. We are the blood of Christ for the world.
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 Christ, 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.
Final Blessing.
All (hand extended over community): Adapted from Psalm 25
May we bow down before You, Loving God; instruct us, that we might choose God’s way of love and truth.
May we live in your abundant Love, and may our children and grandchildren as well to the 7th generation.
Your friendship is offered to all whose hearts are open, make known your promises to all.
May our eyes stay focused on You, Beloved, keep us from stumbling along the way.
As we go forward into our New Year to love, and as our service and ministry continue.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
Presider: In this time of many challenges for us personally and as a country; let us go in the Love, peace, joy, and hope of the Presence of Jesus Christ in our souls. All: Thanks be to God.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
Readings for Feb 4 “On Love and Valentines”
Our first reading is from “Pope Francis Speaks to our Hearts, Words of Challenge and Hope” pg. 9
“God’s Name is Love: Let us recognize that God is not something vague; our God is not a God “spray”; God is tangible; God is not abstract but has a name: “God is Love.” God’s love is not a sentimental, emotional kind of love but the love of a Father (or Mother) who is the origin of all life, the love of the Son who dies on the cross and is raised, the love of the Spirit who renews human beings and the world. Thinking that God is love does us so much, because it teaches us to love, to give ourselves to others as Jesus gave himself to us and wilks with us. Jesus walks beside us on the road through life.” We give thanks for these inspired words of Pope Francis and affirm them by saying All: Amen
Our response Is a poem “St Valentine’s Day” (from “The Path Home” by Edgar A Guest, 1919)
(I have not changed the language but left it original. Please read “she/her” to yourself if you desire)
Reader: Let loose the Sails of Love and let them fill
with breezes sweet with tenderness today;
Scorn not the praises youthful lovers say:
Romance is old, but it is lovely still.
Not he who shows his love deserves the jeer,
But he who speaks not wat she longs to hear.
Reader: There is no shame in love’s devoted speech;
Man need not blush his tenderness to show;
‘Tis shame to love and never let her know,
To keep his heart forever out of reach.
Not he the fool who lets his love go on,
But he who spurns it when his love is won.
Reader: Men proudly vaunt their love of gold and fame,
High station and accomplishments of skill,
Yet of life’s greatest conquest they are still, and deem it weakness, or an act of shame,
To seem to place high value on the love
Which first of all they should be proudest of.
Reader: Let loose the sails of love and let them take
The tender breezes till the day be spent;
Only the fool chokes out life’s sentiment.
She is a prize too lovely to forsake.
Be not ashamed to send your valentine;
She has your love, but needs its outward sign.
NOTE: “Love” is mentioned 586 times in the Bible, “Steadfast Love” is mentioned 231
2nd Reading: Jeremiah: 31:3, 32:18, 33:11
“Thus, says YHWH: They’ll say, ‘YHWH appeared to us in the past and said, “In everlasting love I conceived you.” And now I will continue to show my love for you.”
“Sovereign YHWH, by your great power and your outstretched hand you made the heavens and the earth. Nothing is impossible to you. You show steadfast love to the 1000th generation.”
“Yet in this place there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom. Here too will be heard the shouting of voices, “Praise YHWH Omnipotent, for our God is a good God, whose steadfast love endures forever.”
We affirm these inspired words of Jeremiah by saying: All: Amen
The Good News: John 14:21, 23 and 15:9, 10, 12, 13 and Romans 8:35-39
“Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me, and those who love me will be loved by Abba God. I, too, will love them and will reveal myself to them…Those who love me will be true to my word, and Abba God will love them; and we will come to them and make our dwelling place with them.”
“As my Abba has loved me, so have I loved you. Live on in my love. And you will live in my love if you keep my commandments, just as I live on in Abba God’s love and have kept God’s commandments…This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Trouble? Calamity? Persecution? Hunger? Nakedness? Danger? Violence?...For I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, neither heights nor depths—nor anything else in all creation---will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior.
And we affirm these inspired words of John and Paul by saying, All: Amen
Homily Starter:
- 1. Share the memento of Love you have brought with you.
- 2. What in the readings speaks of God’s love and human love?
No comments:
Post a Comment