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Friday, September 17, 2021

Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Liturgy, 25th Week of Extra-Ordinary Time, September 18, 2021, Presiders: Kathryn Shea, ARCWP and Anna Davis , Readers: Mary Al Gagnon and Jan LoGalbo ,Music Ministers: Linda Lee and Rick Miller

 Zoom link for video - 4:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85108095506       

ID 851- 0809-5506, Passcode 1066

Dial 1-929-436-2866 

Meeting ID: 851 0809 5506

Password: 1066                    

                     

  


        


                   

        Theme: “Suffer the Little Children Come unto Me”  


Welcome and Gathering 


Anna: Welcome to our Zoom liturgy at Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community where all are welcome. 


-We invite you to pray the liturgy and respond where it says “All.” 

-All participants will be muted during the liturgy except for the presiders and readers. 

-Please have bread and wine/juice nearby as we pray our Eucharistic prayer.

-Our theme today is, “Suffer the Little Children Come unto Me”. 


Whoever you are, 

Wherever you are, 

Just as you are, 

You are welcome at this table. (Integral Christianity by Paul Smith)


Let us now take a few minutes to collect ourselves as we prepare to focus our minds and our hearts on our knowledge that we are all one, brought together at this time to transform ourselves and our world through love; love for our Holy One, love for our neighbors, love for ourselves, and love for our planet.  Let us begin our liturgy by expressing this love through song.  


            Gathering Song: Jesus Loves the Little Children

            


https://youtu.be/c5nr6kS4kMk


  




Opening Prayer


Kathryn: Oh Holy One, we are delighted to gather with You and one another today as we share this sacred space, and as we celebrate our oneness in and with You.  You told us on many occasions to “love one another, as I love you.”  In this time of great turmoil on our planet, we need to more fully embrace and act upon Your words.   As we gather today, may we be ever more mindful of our call and responsibility to Be love for one another.  We give thanks for our Brother Jesus, who being both fully human and divine, showed us how to Be love.  He called forth the children around him saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, do not hinder them, for the kin-dom of God belongs to such as these.”  He showed us by example how to express tenderness, compassion, love, and forgiveness.  We rejoice that we have been given all we need to bring the true kin-dom of our Creator on Earth.  Holy One, we live with the comfort of knowing You walk with us on our journey and that You continue to teach us through Spirit Sophia, Holy Wisdom.  And to this, we say, AMEN.


A Joyful Gloria: Linda Lee Miller and graphics by Rick Miller



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lA5I0nODZI


Liturgy of the Word


Mary Al:  First Reading: On Children - A Reading from the book The Prophet, by  Kahlil Gibran


And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said
"Speak to us of children"

Your children are not your children
They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself
They come through you but not from you
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you

You may give them your love but not your thoughts
For they have their own thoughts
You may house their bodies but not their souls
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow

Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams
You may strive to be like them
But seek not to make them like you
For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday

You are the bows from which your children
As living arrows are sent forth
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite
And he bends you with his might

That his arrows may go swift and far
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness
For even as he loves the arrow that flies
So he loves also the bow that is stable


These are the inspired words of Kahlil Gibran and we affirm them by saying:  All.  Amen.


Alle, Alle, Alleluia: Linda Lee


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID5UGWcS6Ws


Gospel Prelude:


https://youtu.be/P9nUOCJ8rcU


Anna: First Gospel Reading:  Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and the disciples left the district and began a journey through Galilee, but Jesus did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Promised One is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”  But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.  And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

Jan: Second Gospel Reading: Mark 10:13-16

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

These are the inspired words of the Gospel writer, Mark, and we affirm them by saying, ALL: Amen

Alle, Alle, Alleluia: Linda Lee


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID5UGWcS6Ws

Homily Starter – Kathryn Shea

Community Sharing

Communal Statement of Faith


Anna and ALL: We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery beyond all definition and rational understanding, the heart of all that has ever existed, that exists now, or that ever will exist. 

We believe in Jesus, messenger of God's Word, bringer of God's healing, heart of God's compassion, bright star in the firmament of God's prophets, mystics, and saints. 

We believe that we are called to follow Jesus as a vehicle of God's love, a source of God's wisdom and truth, and an instrument of God's peace in the world.

We believe that God's 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.


Prayers of and for the Community


Mary Al:  We now bring our prayer intentions to the Table.

 

Our response is: All: Holy One, we know you hear our prayers. 


We pray for our MMOJ intentions on our community prayer list. (Joan shares)


Our response is: All: Holy One, we know you hear our prayers. 


For what else should we pray?

Our response is: All: Holy One, we know you hear our prayers. 


Kathryn: Holy Mystery may we respond to the needs of our sisters and brothers in loving prayer and solidarity. Amen


Liturgy of the Eucharist

Jan: Gracious Wisdom, you embrace us with your extravagant affection in our times of both blessedness and weakness.  You are always with us…you living in us and we, living in you.  As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware of our call to serve, our call to protect our children, and our call to tear down the walls of hatred in its many forms.  In this festive meal, your Spirit is poured out on each of us, your anointed disciples, gathered together in this time and place.  We also ask that your Spirit be spread to those of our community who are not with us today.

Let us rejoice as we sing: 

All:  Holy, Holy, Holy Linda Lee Miller

(adapted from Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orKBBIj5LZA


Mary Al: We thank you for the gift of Jesus of Nazareth in history -- and the gift of Jesus in faith. On earth, his life burned with the vision of his mission on earth. Through the example of his life – his teachings and actions - he showed us not only how we should live, but also what was worth even dying for. 

Anna and All:  When his time on earth had come to an end, Jesus – aware of and accepting his destiny – gave us his life for the values that he deeply believed, lived and taught…his conviction that love is stronger than death.  And then, in providing an example of this wisdom for all people in ages to come, he opened wide his arms…and died.  And the spirit that lived in Jesus resurrected him to a new life, a promise made to all of us too who live the new story.  Jesus is with us today and he will be through the end of time.

(With an outstretched arm, we pray the consecration together.  We remember the gift that Jesus gave us on the night before he died.  He gathered with his friends to share a final Passover meal.  And it was at that supper that Jesus took bread, said the blessing and shared it with them saying: take this, all of you, and eat it.  This bread is you; this bread is me.  We are one body, the presence of God in the world. When you do this, remember me and all that I have taught you.  This is the new and everlasting covenant.  

           [short pause]

Kathryn: In the same way, Jesus took a cup of wine, said the blessing and gave it to his friends saying: take this, all of you, and drink it.  This wine is you; this wine is me.  We are one blood, the presence of God in the world.  When you do this, remember me and all that I have taught you. This is the new and everlasting covenant.

Jan: 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, of whom the prophets spoke in history, is with us now in this cup.  Let us proclaim this mystery of faith.

Anna and All:  Jesus has died.  Christ is risen.  The Divine Presence lives in us and through us in the world today.

Mary Al: God, we know that you bless your church throughout the world. We, your people, ask for your grace that we may continually grow in our love and caring for Francis, our Pope, Bridget Mary, our Bishop and for everyone with whom we come in contact, especially those who live on the margins of church and society. They are all our brothers and sisters and our children, members of your Blessed Family.  We remember also all those, living and dead, who touched our lives and left their footprints on our hearts.  We remember especially….(mention names here, if you would like to..) 

Anna: We believe that the Spirit of God is at work in and among us and will do more than we could ever ask or imagine.  We believe that it is through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, Creator God, forever and ever.  

Great Amen: Linda Lee Miller


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy76fpfkNsg


The Prayer of Jesus

Jan and ALL: Let us pray as Jesus taught us. 


O Holy One, you are 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 your 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    Adapted, Miriam Therese Winter, MMS


Sign of Peace:


Kathryn: Jesus said to his disciples, “My peace I leave You.  My peace I give You.”  Let us now extend a sign of peace to one another by saying, “Namaste, Namaste, Namaste”.


Anna: Please join in praying the Litany for the Breaking of the Bread:


Anna and All: Holy One, You call us to speak truth to power; we will do so.

Holy One, You call us to live the Gospel of healing and justice; we will do so. Holy One, You call us to be Your presence in the world; we will do so.


Mary Al: This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Blessed are we who are called to Christ’s table.  


Jan and All:  What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives.  As we share communion, we become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.                          


Please receive/share Eucharist now, saying: “You are the bread of life.” And “You are the cup of compassion.”


Communion Song:  Ancient Mother by Jan Novatka



https://youtu.be/PJSBqNoIqsM


Introductions/Thanksgiving/Announcements


Community Blessing


Kathryn: Please raise your hands in blessing: And together with our arms extended to one another we say: 


May our lives radiate the love of the Holy One.

May we live justice and equality in our church and our world.

May we be humble enough to be like children in receiving the kindom of our Holy One.  

May we be a blessing in our time and the Face of God to all whom we meet. 


ALL:  Thanks be to God.  Alleluia! 



Closing Song:  We Are the World


https://youtu.be/9tRLowGHh4c


If you would like to add your intercession to our MMOJ Community Prayers book,

Please send an email to jmeehan515@aol.com



If you would like to invite another person to attend our liturgy please refer them to

www.marymotherofJesus.org where the day’s liturgy is found. Zoom instructions are also included there.


Please support our community, send your check to:

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community

% St Andrews UCC, 6908 Beneva Rd., Sarasota, FL 34328 



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