We prayed this liturgy together on our boat docked in Bari today.
Thanks to Dennis and Denise for a beautiful celebration of the Season of Creation.
Welcome and Opening Prayer:
“Everyone says that God is everywhere, but nobody really believes it.” Those words were spoken to me by a young woman I met at a wedding last spring. And how right she was! We are here today, on a ship sailing atop the deep and mysterious sea, under the dome of the mysterious sky, in the company of beloved friends we know and friends who are still mysteries to us, and we know that God is in the sea, in the sky, and in the hearts of each one of us. For our opening prayer tonight let’s sit in silence and allow the Divinity among us to enliven our spirits and open our awareness of its presence.
Opening Song: Brother Sun, Giving Glory
https://youtu.be/vbLI_8kTyPY?si=49ihAZua3XlfmG_2
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A Reading from the Book of Genesis : “God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.’ So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them. And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind, cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind.’ And God blessed them. God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good.
This is our ancient story, and we believe the truth wrapped in its words. So, we acclaim, Amen.
Second Reading: A reading from It’s Time for a Franciscan Renaissance by Brian McLaren and Patrick Carolan
We need a spiritual vision that integrates love for God and love for our neighbor with love for the earth….
The ecological vision of Francis was about … the interconnectedness of all creation, so that we see every creature as sister or brother.…
Over the centuries, many forms of Christianity have become religions of fear. But Christianity wasn’t always like that. It began as a nonviolent peace movement, a community known for love, a community gathered around a table of fellowship and reconciliation, a people armed with the basin and towel of service, not the bomb and gun of violence. A Franciscan Renaissance would invite us to become, in the language of St. Clare, not violent warriors, but nonviolent mirrors of Christ for others to see and follow.
These are the inspired words of Brian McLaren and Patrick Carolan, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Alleluia: More Light by Christopher Gundyvideo by MTStreck
https://youtu.be/a8XaUlqb8t0
The Good News of St. Francis of Assisi
“God requires that we assist the animals, when they need our help. Each being (human or creature) has the same right of protection.”
“If you have people who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have people who will deal likewise with other humans.”
“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”
These are the inspired words of St. Francis of Assisi and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Homily Starter & Sharing
I want to thank Dennis, whose liturgy forms the basis of tonight’s celebration, for beginning his homily starter with a quote from Thomas Berry, Catholic priest and Cultural historian who liked to be called a “geologian.” The quote is: “The universe, by definition is a single, gorgeous celebratory event.” Berry also describes the universe as “a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects,” and stresses the Divine Spirit residing within the universe as “the larger community that brought us into being.”
So, to believe Berry, to accept the process of the universe, the unfolding nature of reality, and to recognize that we are a part of that unfolding, is to accept ourselves, along with the whole of creation, as inhabited by the Spirit of God, which is ever-reaching toward the future and which is the fulfillment of Love.
We are part of a holy process. We are ingrained in the pattern of reality. Like the creatures of the sea, like the birds of the air, we are part of the universal ecosystem that encompasses everything. And, as the ancient writer of Genesis recognized, we are, all of us, “very good.” Let us celebrate this marvelous creation of which we are a part. Let us celebrate. Amen.
Statement of Faith
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 the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine 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 the Community
As we prepare for the sacred meal we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your prayers beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We bring our blessings, cares, and concerns to the Table of Friendship and Peace, as well as those in the depth of our hearts. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Presider 1: Please join in praying the Eucharistic Prayer
Loving God, all creation calls you blessed, and so do we. Your spirit imprints the whole universe with life and mystery. Yes, all creation proclaims your love. We now join this chorus of praise.
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ
All: Loving God, all of nature calls you blessed, and so do we. For you have woven an intimate tapestry and call it life and call it good. In love you have formed a universe so diverse yet so related, and into its web you call us forth to walk the land and swim the sea with all our natural brothers and sisters. To the stars we seem no more than blades of grass.
Yet to you, each of us, as each blade of grass and each star, is an irreplaceable treasure, an essential companion on this journey of love. Loving God, as you lure the whole world into salvation, guide us with your Spirit that we might not be only pilgrims on the earth, but pilgrims with the earth, journeying home to you. Open our hearts to understand the intimate relationship that you have with all creation. Only with this faith can we hope for tomorrow’s children. Loving God, all creation calls you blessed, and so do we.
We are thankful for the passion of the children and youth among us who push us to recognize the urgency of the environmental crisis.
Thank you creator and giver of passion. We are thankful for the wisdom of the aged among us who remind us of what it means to respect the earth and to live in community with one another.
Thank you creator and giver of wisdom. We are thankful for the insights of our native brothers and sisters among us, who draw on their tradition and teach us about the sacredness of all creation and how to live in kinship with it.
Thank you creator and giver of insight.
Presider 2: Please extend your hands in blessing.
All: We recognize that same Spirit present here at our table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, remindingus of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
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: Upon returning to the table, Jesus lifted the bread, spoke a blessing and shared the bread saying, “This is my very self.”
(pause)
Then he lifted the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace and shared the cup of compassion for a broken world.
Therefore we ask that, in the sharing of this bread, and in the drinking from this cup, our own eyes might be opened to behold you in the glory of your Creation, in the Wisdom of your Word, and in the faces of our sisters and brothers gathered in your name to celebrate your astounding love for us.
Please receive communion with the words, I am one with creation.
Communion Meditation: All Things Bright and Beautiful – John Rutter sung by Tabernacle Choir
https://youtu.be/kPjDZ4_4TRQ?si=882E8H1KVOCx1yBj
Post-Communion Prayer:
All: We are thankful for the inspiration of those among us who have already begun to live their lives in ways that show a caring for the earth, water, and the skies. Thank you creator and giver of inspiration.
We thank you God for all signs of hope that keep us from despairing and point us toward new ways of living. We confess our part in hurting the earth. We express our thanks for creation and those who care for it. We are ready to commit ourselves to a new way of living.
This we know, the earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth.
This we know, all things are connected, like the blood that unites one family
This we know, we did not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it.
This we know, whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves.
Let us give thanks for the gift of creation. Let us give thanks that all things hold together in Christ.
Prayer of Jesus
All: Generous Creator, the intricate and elegant biodiversity of our world is your hallowed autograph on our lives, on our souls and in our hearts.
We yearn for the wholeness of being in harmony with Your will and with all living things.
Each day we draw on your creative, life-giving energy with gratitude and awe as we find nourishment in seed and field, river and forest.
May we be stewards and co-creators with you in caring for the gifts of Your Creation.
We acknowledge our shortcomings, especially our neglect of the environment on this Creation Sunday. We seek to be reconciled with those we have hurt and we resolve to do better.
With your unfailing wisdom and the wind of Your Spirit, inspire us that we may reach out and love one another and care for the world, our home.
Strengthen us to work for local and global justice so that we may one day reap a harvest of equality and fairness as if they were wildflowers, propagating spontaneously, unerringly and in surprising abundance. Amen.
Lynn Kinlan
BLESSING
Let us bless one another and all of creation.
Go out from this place, ready to hear creation’s call.
Go out, ready to answer, “I am here, standing in solidarity with you!”
And as you go, know that the love of Divine Mystery surrounds you,
the peace of Christ empowers you,
and the companionship of the Spirit moves within you
and all of creation, now and always. AMEN
Closing Song: Canticle of the Feathered Ones Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
https://youtu.be/YmvOW4wzcpg
Resources
Brian McLaren and Patrick Carolan, “It’s Time for a Franciscan Renaissance,” Red Letter Christians (blog), January 18, 2023
