Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community
Celebration of the Season of Creation #4
September 17, 2022
Maryal Gagnon and Elena Garcia presiding
Readers: Mary Montavan, Jack McKillip, Russ Banner, Cathy Alexander
I Team: Peg Bowen and Cheryl Brandi
Theme: DIVINE LOVE CREATES AND SUSTAINS
Liturgy adapted from Season of Creation Ecumenical Prayer Service
by Laudato Si’ Movement
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Welcome. (Elena)
Welcome to Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida! Whoever you are, Wherever you are, Just as you are, You are welcome at this table.
(Integral Christianity by Paul Smith)
(Have bread and wine/juice on your table)
Greeting: (Maryal), after a moment of silence.
Creator of All,
From your communion of Love your Word went forth to create a symphony of life that sings your praise. By your Holy Wisdom you made the Earth to bring forth a diversity of creatures who praise you in their being. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
Give us hearts to listen for the good news of your promise to renew the face of the Earth. Enlighten us with the grace to follow the Way of Christ as we learn to walk lightly upon this holy ground. Fill us with the hope to quench the fires of injustice with the light of your healing love that sustains our common home. In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus the Christ. ALL: Amen
Gathering Song: Burning in my Soul
Litany of Lament and Repentance: (Elena), after silence.
By our unwillingness to listen for so long, we are now lamenting the loss of our fellow species and their habitats that will never speak again. We grieve the loss of human cultures, along with the lives and livelihoods that have been displaced or perished. Creation cries out as forests crackle, and animals alike flee the fires of injustice that we have lit through time.
We have closed our ears to the counsel of our fellow creatures, who have had so much to teach us. We fail to listen to the cries of the poor and the needs of the most vulnerable. We silence the voices of those who hold the traditions that teach us to care for the Earth. We close our ears to your creative, reconciling and sustaining Word that calls to us through the Scriptures.
Turn us O Divine LOVE from our desire to turn in upon ourselves and at times refuse to hear the voices of our co-creatures. Call us again, open our ears. Gather us in to relationships of mutual care and listening. Enlighten us by your Spirit that renews the face of your Earth. Amen.
As we extend a hand over our hearts let us together:
We are called to acknowledge our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of Creation. For this we ask your forgiveness, while we open our hearts to your Divine Infinite LOVE, by whom we are embraced and healed. Let it be so, Yes, Alleluia!
🎵 🎶 Alle, Alle, Alleluia.
Liturgy of the Word
(Elena) Jeremiah is a prophet known for writing what he lived and living what he wrote. This is of importance to note because he is the prophet of choice when we find ourselves having to live through difficult times and seek some trustworthy help in knowing what to think, how to pray, how to carry on. We live in disruptive times. The decades preceding and following the pivotal third millennium are not exactly unprecedented. There have certainly been comparable times of disruption in the past that left everyone reeling, wondering what on earth and in heaven was going on. But whatever their occasion or size, troubles require attention. Listen to that kind of frustration expressed by Jeremiah in this passage which will be read by Mary Montavon.
First Reading – (Mary)
Jeremiah 8: 18-9:1
I drown in grief. I’m heartsick. Oh, listen! Please listen! It’s the cry of my dear people reverberating through the country.
Is God no longer in Zion? Has the king gone away? Can you tell me why they flaunt their plaything-gods, their silly, imported
No-gods before me? The crops are in, the summer is over, but for us nothing’s changed. We’re still waiting to be rescued. For my dear broken people I am heartbroken. I weep seized by grief. Are there no healing ointments in Gilead? Isn’t there a doctor in the house? So why can’t something be done. I wish my head were a well of water and my eyes fountains of tears so I could weep day and night for casualties among my dear, dear people.
These are words of concern for his people as expressed by the Prophet Jeremiah and we who have listened respond: SO BE IT.
PSALM 79 – (Jack)
HELP US O COMPASSIONATE ONE TO RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH!
~O Merciful presence, the ignorant seem unrestrained in the world; they defile the Sacred Altar, your dwelling place within; they leave those weaker than themselves in ruins.
HELP US…………
~Chaos and destruction follow them as they oppress the poor through deception and greed, and kill the faith-filled who resist. Yes, they have poured out their blood like water throughout the world; many have disappeared without a trace. How long will the unjust bring anguish to the loving, to those who seek justice and peace?
HELP US …………
~How long, O Indwelling Presence? Will your patience last forever? When will you awaken our long dormant spirits? Pour out you Love on every nation, open the hearts of all people; We await a new birth of Consciousness, we call upon your Name! For the ignorant and the unloving are laying waste to the planet.
HELP US………
~Forgive us for the use and abuse of our Creation; humble us with your steadfast Love, before the world becomes a barren waste. Help us O Compassionate One, to renew the face of the earth; deliver us and forgive our sins, that we might know the joy of co-creation! Let other nations not cry out, “Where is their faith?” Let all who have spilled the blood of the innocent repent and make reparation before the eyes of the world.
HELP US……..
~Let the cries of the victims of injustice come before You; according to your great Power, break the bonds of oppression! Let all that has been garnered through greed be returned in full measure with open hands. Then we your people, those who would companion with You, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will abandon ourselves into your hands with grace-filled, open hearts.
HELP US O COMPASSIONATE ONE TO RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH!
Gospel Readings: (Mary Al)– Luke16: 1-13 Jesus, said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So he called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You’re fired and I want a complete audit of your books.’ The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve lost my job as manager. I’m not strong enough for a laboring job, and I’m too proud to beg…….Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do… then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.’ Then he went at it. One after another he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first, ‘ How much do you owe my master? He replied, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ “The manager said, ‘Here, take your bill, sit down here-- quick now—write fifty.’ “To the next he said, ‘And you, what do you owe?’ “He answered, ‘A hundred sacks of wheat.’ “He said, ‘take your bill, write in eighty.’ “Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look out for himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right –using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.
Jesus went on to make these comments: If you’re honest in small things, you’ll be honest in big things. If you’re a crook in small things, you’ll be a crook in big things. If you’re not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store? No worker can serve two bosses: He’ll either hate the first and love the second or adore the first and despise the second. You can’t serve both God and the Bank.
These are the inspiring words by the Gospel writer, Luke, and we affirm them by saying, All: Let it be so!
Homily Starter: Elena
Community Sharing: We welcome your inspired thoughts at this time. Unmute yourself to share and remember to remute yourself again when finished.
Profession of Faith: (Cathy) and 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 – (Maryal)
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.
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
(Maryal): For what else do we pray? Joan M share prayer book requests
(Have bread and wine/juice on your table)
Offering: (Cathy)
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
(Russ) & 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)
(Russ) & 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.
(Jack) & 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:
(Jack) & 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:
(Maryal) & 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)
(Cathy) & 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.
(Elena) & 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: Sounds of Silence by Wuauquikuna/Panflute/Toyos
https://youtu.be/ndUCNnhH03Q
(Mary): Let us together pray our common prayer taught to us by Christ
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)
(Maryal): A Prayer for Our Earth
(Pope Francis in Laudato Si’)
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: (Jack)
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, ELCA)
Thanksgiving. Introductions. Announcements.
(Elena) and All: Final Blessing
May God who established the dance of creation,
Who marveled at the lilies of the field,
Who transforms chaos to order,
Lead us to protect creation,
To listen to the voice of all creatures
That reflect God’s glory.
(adapted from the CTBI Eco-Congregation Programme)
Closing Song: Soul on Fire
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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
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Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community
St Andrew UCC, 6908 Beneva Rd, Sarasota, FL 34238
