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Welcome (Andrea) Welcome to our community gathering! Today we celebrate the second anniversary of our first zoom liturgy on March 14, 2020. We extend to each other words of welcome, peace, and thanksgiving, with the assurance that all are welcome in this holy space.
Whoever you are,
Wherever you are,
Just as you are,
You are welcome at this table.
(Integral Christianity by Paul Smith)
Sign of peace (Andrea) Let us welcome each other with a sign of peace.
All: (Namasté pose 🙏🏿 toward camera) Namasté. The peace of Christ be with you! Namasté.
Gathering 🎶 Prayer of St Francis
https://youtu.be/hC77O0fMuL0
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love.
Where there is injury your pardon, God,
And where there’s doubt, true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness only light,
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.
Oh God, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled, as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved, as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving of ourselves that we receive,
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
Make me a channel of your peace.
Theme. Transformation: “It is … in dying that we’re born to eternal life.”
Opening prayer
(Michael) During this Lenten season, O Holy One, we celebrate Jesus’ emptying of himself to become human. He further emptied himself by dying then rising to a new life. We trust that we will experience this same transformation, this process of loss and renewal which connects us to all creation, to each other, and to you. Help us to see this way. Give us the strength and courage to let go and let go again and again. We ask this in the name of Spirit Sophia within, who calls us to be transformed. All: Let it be so!
Prayer of transformation
(Den) Let us remember now times when messages of our unworthiness clouded our vision of the infinite Love within us. Let us imagine our imperfections, the chaos and messes of our lives, all brightly lit by a Love that heals and transforms us as we evolve and grow in awareness of our divinity and our humanity.
(Pause for several moments. Now place hand over your heart as we pray)
All: I love you. Thank you. I forgive you. I’m sorry.
(Jill) First Reading from the First Book of Kings.
A Gentile widow from Zarephath in Sidonia extended hospitality to Elijah, a traveling prophet, opening her home to him. Not long after Elijah came to stay with the widow, her only child became ill. The sickness grew more severe until the boy finally stopped breathing. The widow cried out to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, prophet of God? Did you come to remind me of my lot in life and kill my only child?”
“Give me your child,” Elijah said. He took her child from her arms and carried the boy to the upper room where he was staying. He laid the child on the bed. Then he cried out: “O God, will you afflict even the woman with whom I am staying by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and called out to God, “I pray, O God, my God, let the breath of life return to this body.”
God listened to Elijah’s plea. The breath of life returned to the small body, and the child revived. Elijah lifted up the child and carried him down to his mother, saying, “Look, your child lives!”
The widow, overcome, said to Elijah, “Now I know for certain that you are sent from God and that the word of God is truly on your lips.”
The Word of an Ancient Storyteller. All: Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Please pause for a few moments)
Psalm 30 (Merrill, edited)
(Jill) Our psalm response: All: R: I cried to you and you comforted me.
I will praise you, O Beloved, for you have raised up my child.
You have not let my fears overwhelm me.
I cried to you for help, O Healer, and you comforted me.
You, O Love, released my soul from despair.
You restored my child, and me, to life from among those who live in fear.
R: I cried to you and you comforted me.
You turned our mourning into dancing.
You took off our sackcloth, and clothed us with gladness.
Now, my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O my Beloved, forever I will give you thanks.
R: I cried to you and you comforted me.
(Please pause for a few moments)
(Pat) Second reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
In Joppa, there was a disciple, a woman named Tabitha, which in Greek is “Dorcas”. She never tired of doing kind things or helping those who were poor. About the time when some other disciples of Jesus were passing through, she grew ill and died. Some women washed her and laid her in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa, so the disciples, who heard that Peter was in Lydda, sent two couriers to him with the request, “Please come at once.” So Peter got up and went.
When he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. All the townswomen who had been widowed were there, weeping. They showed Peter tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made. Turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, rise up.” Then Tabitha opened her eyes, looked around, and sat up. She was helped to her feet. Then Peter called for all the saints, especially the widows, and
showed them that she was alive.
The Word of an Early Church Historian All: Thanks be to God! Amen.
Acclamation (Pat & All) We proclaim your death, O Jesus, and we profess your resurrection until you come again, until you come again.
A Reading from the Good News attributed to Luke.
(Jack) Jesus went to a town called Nain. The disciples and a large crowd accompanied him there. As Jesus approached the entrance to the town, a body was being carried out on a bier—the only child, a son, of a widowed mother. A considerable crowd of townspeople were with her.
Moved with pity upon seeing her, Jesus said, “Don’t grieve. Don’t mourn.” Then Jesus stepped forward and touched the bier. At this, the bearers halted. Jesus said, “Young man, get up.” The dead youth sat up and began to speak.
Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Awe seized them all, and they began to praise God.
“A great prophet has risen among us,” they said. “Truly, God has visited us.”
This report about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
God’s Good News! All: Amen! Thanks be to God.
Acclamation (Jack & All) We proclaim your death, O Jesus, and we profess your resurrection until you come again, until you come again.
Shared homily (Community & Michael)
Richard Rohr: Universal Christ, chapter on Transformation.
“Authentic Christianity is not so much a belief system as a life-and-death system that shows you how to give away your life, how to give away your love, and eventually how to give away your death. Basically, how to give away—and in doing so, to connect with the world, with all other creatures, and with God.”
“Here the primary language is unlearning, letting go, surrendering, serving others.”
“There’s a constant movement of loss and renewal at work in this world a
t every level. It seems to be the pattern of all growth and evolution. To be alive means to surrender to this inevitable flow. It’s the same pattern in every atom, in every human relationship, and in every galaxy. Native peoples, Hindu scripture, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad, and Jesus all saw it early in human history and named it as a kind of ‘necessary dying.’
If this pattern is true, it has been true all the time and everywhere. All of us travelers, each in our own way, have to eventually learn about letting go of something smaller so something bigger can happen.”
The paschal mystery—our dying and rising with/in Christ
Love your enemies
Our vow of non-violence
Jack’s trumpet at the end of our MMOJ liturgies playing When the saints go marching in—our final song today. All of our MMOJ saints who remain present to us.
Profession of faith
(Russ) 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 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.
Community prayers
(Den): Mindful of God’s unconditional love and care for us, we bring the needs of our community & the world to the table. Response: All: Loving God, you hear our prayer.
Jesus, you chose laborers, and tax collectors, to be your companions. Preserve us from deciding who people are by what they do. And let us see the worth of every person and the value in every kind of work. R
We pray for those who have died in the 2 years of covid, those who continue to have serious symptoms of long hau
l covid, and those who mourn the loss of family and friends to the pandemic. R
We pray for the many victims of the war in Ukraine. May we all work to end the scourge of this unprovoked attack. R
Spring heralds the threat of storms in tornado alley and the threat of wildfires in the US west. We pray for those living in the path of these violent threats to life and livelihood. R
Bless those who have lost their life companion through death or divorce. Let the people of God be a saving support and comfort to them. R
And for what else shall we pray?
Holy Mystery, Jesus is your supreme gift to us. Grant that the gospel be woven into our daily lives, coming easily to mind for our inspiration and your glory. All: Amen
Preparation of our gifts 🥖 🍷
(Den & All) (Please pause for a few moments) When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death and resurrection, O Jesus, until you come again.
Eucharistic Prayer 🎶 We Are Holy
https://youtu.be/orKBBIj5LZA
(Andrea & All) We committed again today to be a community of nonviolence and peace! To support us, we count on each other and on the Spirit of Christ present among us, especially as we gather now for Eucharist. 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)
(Russ & All) Jesus, we celebrate 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’ 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.
(Andrea & 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 what he had taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift 🥖 and pray the following:
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 the following:
(Den & All) He 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)
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.
(Michael & All) Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice, nonviolence and peace, remembering that we are bearers of light and hope. We are the Christ alive today.
Everyone consumes the bread and wine at this time
🎶 Instrumental. Egmont Overture, Beethoven (Final 3 minutes. A musical interpretation of being transformed)
https://youtu.be/cXPCOLnOVUo
(Russ) Sacred Spirit, we rejoice that the Universal Christ remains always and ever present within and around us. We remember all those who have transitioned from life on earth to complete union with your Sacred Presence— Mary of Nazareth and all great saints, prophets and martyrs. We also remember family members, friends, and MMOJ members. We remember all those whose lives have been lost to covid, to the war in Ukraine, to racism and other forms of exclusion and violence that exist in our world. And we remember those you wish to be remembered
(We pause to remember our loved ones)
All are beloved souls who have blessed our lives and who continue to inspire us. And we respond together: All: So be it!
(Den) Let us pray together as Jesus taught us:
(All) O Holy One, who is 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 our 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
(Michael) Please share the gratitude you hold in your hearts.
Announcements
Final blessing St Patrick’s ☘️ Christ within me prayer ☘️
https://youtu.be/FyjLD25BRvI
🎶 Final 🎶 When the saints go marching in (featuring Jack Meehan on trumpet)
https://youtu.be/1VbqoJ3Yxo4
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If you want to add an intercession to our MMOJ Community Prayer book, please send an email to jmeehan515@aol.com
If you want to invite someone to attend our liturgy, please refer them to the day’s liturgy at MaryMotherofJesus.org
To support our community, please send your check to:
Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community
St Andrew UCC, 6908 Beneva Rd, Sarasota, FL 34238
