Bridget Mary's Blog: Season of Creation

Saturday, October 1, 2022

Season of Creation - 6

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community

Celebration of the Season of Creation #6

Feast of St Francis of Assisi

October 1, 2022

Janet Blakeley, ARCWP & Michael Rigdon presiding

Readers: Mary Al Gagnon & Pat Lewis

Prayer Leaders: Russ Banner & Joan Pesce at St Andrew,

Jerry Bires, Suzanne King Bires, Joan Meehan & Anna Davis on zoom

IT Team: Peg

Liturgy adapted from Season of Creation Ecumenical Prayer Service

by Laudato Si’ Movement and

Prayer Service developed by Congregation of Notre Dame members (Joan Pesce)

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

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81534075389?pwd=TTdGY2NxS3AzTW13ODJESkdYME9aUT09

Meeting ID: 815 3407 5389

Passcode: 803326

(Note -- if you have a problem with the above link, open your ZOOM app and insert the Meeting ID number and Passcode)

One tap mobile: 1-312-626-6799

Welcome. Michael

Welcome to Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community!

Whoever you are, Wherever you are,

Just as you are, You are welcome at this table.

(Integral Christianity by Paul Smith)

We gather in the name of God, ✝️ Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the Earth and all creatures!

Praise be to the Holy Trinity! God is sound and life, Creator of the Universe, Source of all life, whom the angels sing; wondrous Light of all mysteries known or unknown to humankind, and life that lives in all. (Hildegard of Bingen, 13th Century)

Opening 🎶 🎶 Laudato Si’, Canticle of the Sun.

Words by St Francis, music by Marty Haugen, performed by Michelle Sherliza.

https://youtu.be/CfJ6WJPUff8

Greeting

Jerry. after a moment of silence.

Greetings in the name of our God who is good:
whose love endures forever.
Greetings to you, sun and moon, you stars of the southern sky:

All: Give to our God your thanks and praise.
Sunrise and sunset, night and day:
give to our God your thanks and praise.

Greetings to you, mountains and valleys, grassland and scree, glacier, avalanche, mist and snow:
All: Give to our God your thanks and praise.
Greetings to you, kauri and pine, rata and kowhai, mosses and ferns, Baobab, fynbos, yellowwood and aloe:

All: Give to our God your thanks and praise.
Greetings to you, dolphins and kahawai, sea lion and crab, coral, anemone, pipi and shrimp:
All: Give to our God your thanks and praise.
Greetings to you, rabbits and cattle, moths and dogs,
kiwi and sparrow, and tui and hawk:
Elephant, lions, rhinos, and giraffes, ostrich, sheep, cattle Scorpion and dung beetle:
All: Give to our God your thanks and praise.
Greetings to you, women and men,
Elders and children, women and men,
Diverse cultures of this rainbow land:
Typists and teachers, cleaners, and clerks,
learners, job-seekers, TV and sports’ stars,
All who care, who love and who pray,
Who laugh and learn, who rest and who play:
All: Give to our God your thanks and praise.

(A New Zealand Prayer Book/He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa page 457, Lynn Pedersen 2016, Inspired by Ps 148 & Song of Creation)

Psalm 19

Suzanne. after a moment of silence.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of God’s hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

All: Listen to creation tell of God, listen to God’s Word in scripture

They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

All: Listen to creation tell of God, listen to God’s Word in scripture

Thanksgiving for the Earth

Anna. after a moment of silence.

Remember the fruits of the earth, for sowing and for harvest. Remember the dew of the air.
Remember the downcoming of the rains and the waters and the rivers. Remember the plants and the blooms of every year.

Remember the safety of humans and of animals and of me, your servant.

For the rain, the wind of the sky, seed, plants, the fruit of the trees and also the vineyards, and for every tree in the entire world,

All: We are grateful

For the Holy Trinity who brings us to perfection in safety and peace, brings us up according to their measure that we may grow and prosper through your grace, who makes the face of the earth to rejoice, waters her furrows, lets her grain be abundantly multiplied and makes ready her seed-time and harvest,

All: We give You thanks

(Adapted from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Pre-Anaphora, and Anaphora of Basil)

Opening Prayer Janet

Holy One, you flow through us and all of creation as an eternal river of love and creativity. As we learn more every day about how everything in this universe is inter-related, may we come to appreciate more and more about our connection with all that is. May we see you where you really are, deep within everything and everyone.

All: Amen.

We break open God’s Word.

🎵 🎶 Alle, Alle, Alleluia.

https://youtu.be/ID5UGWcS6Ws

Mary Al: The first reading is from the book of Genesis.

God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!

Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”

God created the huge whales,

all the swarm of life in the waters,

And every kind and species of flying birds.

God saw that it was good.

God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!

Birds, reproduce on Earth!”

It was evening, it was morning—Day Five.

God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:

cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”

And there it was: wild animals of every kind,

Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.

God saw that it was good.

We respond to this inspired message from Genesis:

All: So be it!

(Excerpt From The Message by Eugene H Peterson)

Jerry. The second reading is from the encyclical of Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, On the Care of our Common Home.

(Paragraph 190 comes near the end of chapter 5, Lines of approach and action. As you hear it, you will recognize why this idea of pope Francis has provoked criticism.)

Here too, it should always be kept in mind that “environmental protection cannot be assured solely on the basis of financial calculations of costs and benefits. The environment is one of those goods that cannot be adequately safeguarded or promoted by market forces.”[134] Once more, we need to reject the magical conception of the market, which would suggest that problems can be solved simply by an increase in the profits of companies or individuals. Is it realistic to hope that those who are obsessed with maximizing profits will stop to reflect on the environmental damage which they will leave behind for future generations? Where profits alone count, there can be no thinking about the rhythms of nature, its phases of decay and regeneration, or the complexity of ecosystems which may be gravely upset by human intervention. Moreover, biodiversity is considered at most a deposit of economic resources available for exploitation, with no serious thought for the real value of things, their significance for persons and cultures, or the concerns and needs of the poor.

[Footnote 134] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 470.

We respond to Pope Francis’s inspiring words with: Thanks be to God.

Pat L. Today’s gospel reading is from the Good News attributed to Matthew.

(Excerpt From The Message by Eugene H Peterson)

Look at the birds 🦅 , free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

This is the Good News from Matthew, and we all respond: Thanks be to God.

🎵 🎶 Alle, Alle, Alleluia.

https://youtu.be/ID5UGWcS6Ws

Shared Homily: Janet & All

Profession of Faith Russ & All:

We believe in God, who creates all things,
who embraces all things, who celebrates all things,
who is present in every part of the fabric of creation.
We believe in God as the source of all life,
who baptizes this planet with living water.
We believe in Jesus Christ, the suffering one, the poor one, the malnourished one, the climate refugee, who loves and cares for this world and who suffers with it.
And we believe in Jesus Christ, the seed of life,
who came to reconcile and renew this world and everything in it. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, who moves with God and who moves among and with us today. We believe in everlasting life in God.
And we believe in the hope that one day
God will put an end to death and all destructive forces.

(Gurukul Theological college, India / adapted by Keld B. Hansen 2009)

Our Community Prayers Joan M

Loving God, even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she places her young near your altar. You are attentive to all you have made.

God, who listens to every living thing,

All: Help us listen as you do.

Loving God, help us provide refuge to every animal and plant with whom we live. Help us be attentive to all you have made.

God, in whom all creation subsists,

All: Help us listen as you do.

Loving God, when Jesus cried out and gave up his Spirit, the earth shook and the rocks split. You are known by the whole of creation that listens to you.

God, to whom all creation responds,

All: Help us respond to you.

Loving God, help us hear and know you just as the earth and rocks do. Help us to learn from the way in which we see creation to recognize your glorious beauty.

God, to whom all creation responds,

All: Help us respond to you.

Loving God, you are present in your creation and seek to heal her wounds. You can be found walking in the garden. Open our eyes to see you, the gardener.

God, who is present with your creation,

All: Help us be present too.

Loving God, we often abandon your creation and cause its wounds. Help us to follow in your footsteps and learn to walk in the garden like you.

God, who is present with your creation,

All: Help us be present too.

And for who and what else shall we pray?

(Response: Holy One, you hear us!)

Loving God, who hears every voice, knows each cry of injustice, and is attentive to the suffering of the earth: teach us to listen. Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may listen to the world you have created and not close ourselves off from it. Reveal to us the ways in which we have failed to hear your voice in how we treat the earth.

God, who listens to every living thing,

All: Help us listen as you do. Amen

Offering Anna (Have bread and wine/juice on your table)

O Holy One, we bring you our gifts from creation, bread 🥖of the grain 🌾 and wine 🍷 of the grapes 🍇. We recognize that they are holy in you their creator. And we know that they will make us holy, one with you and one with each other.

Eucharistic Prayer

🎶🎵 Soul on Fire By Third Day

(stop at 3:15)

https://youtu.be/i7lv9oMjv_0

Anna & All. We commit ourselves to live the ministry of the Gospel as we speak clearly with respect and love, as we challenge the contradictions within our society, especially during these times of division and fear. We remind ourselves daily to remain faithful in our words and actions to our commitment to nonviolence. We are called to the inner life, our spiritual life, to be open to the new beginnings in our lives. We walk with Jesus seeking wisdom and peace.

(Hold your hand over bread and wine)

Michael & All. Jesus, we remember the last meal you had with your followers. We call upon Sacred Spirit, ever and always with us, to bring blessing on this bread and wine as they are made sacred through our faith in the presence of Christ with us.

During Jesus’s life on 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 authorities of his day, and they sought out ways to bring him to his death.

Suzanne & All. On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.

All lift 🥖 and pray:

Suzanne & All. When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying: Take and eat, this is my very self.

Pause, then lift the 🍷 and pray:

Janet & All. Jesus took the cup, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying: Take and drink. This is the new covenant. Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you. (pause)

Janet & 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.

Janet & All. Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice. We listen to the groaning of creation, remembering that we are bearers of light and hope. We are Christ alive today.

We now share the bread and wine, saying,

“Our gifts of creation make us One”

🎶 Communion Song What Shall I Give by Sara Thomsen

https://youtu.be/UUTs9qa5h3g (stop @2:38)

Joan M. We pray our common prayer that Christ taught us:

All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,

Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echoes through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
May your beloved community of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.

(Adapted from The New Zealand Book of Prayer | He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa.

This version of the Lord’s prayer was influenced by Maori theologians)

A Prayer for Our Earth (Pope Francis in Laudato Si’) Russ

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

And in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and

forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the

world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain

At the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united

with every creature as we journey towards your

infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace. All: Amen

Sharing of Peace Janet

If we are in Christ, we are becoming a new creation.

We see God around us. We see God within us.

We give thanks to our Creator.

Let us show the caring nature you have instilled within us by greeting each other as a sign of

God’s peace, love, forgiveness and grace.

The peace of our Creator be with us in all things.

All: Namaste 🙏🏿 Namaste 🙏🏼 Namaste 🙏🏻

(adapted from Celebrating Creation: Honoring Indigenous People, Kelly Sherman-Conroy)

Thanksgiving. Introductions. Announcements. Michael

Native American Blessing

Janet ~ Anna & All

Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.