GATHERING SONG:
The Gathering of Spirits- Opening by Carrie Newcomer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1WrNisRhDU
Let it go my love my truest,
Let it sail on silver wings
Life's a twinkling that's for certain,
But it's such a fine thing
There's a gathering of spirits
There's a festival of friends
And we'll take up where we left off
When we all meet again.
I can't explain it.
I couldn't if I tried
How the only things we carry
Are the things we hold inside
Like a day in the open,
Like the love we won't forget
Like the laughter that we started
And it hasn't died down yet
Let it go my love my truest,
Let it sail on silver wings
Life's a twinkling that's for certain,
But it's such a fine thing
There's a gathering of spirits
There's a festival of friends
And we'll take up where we left off
When we all meet again.
Oh yeah, now didn't we
And don't we make it shine
Aren't we standing in the center of
Something rare and fine
Some glow like embers
Like a light through colored glass
Some give it all in one great flame
Throwing kisses as they pass
Let it go my love my truest,
Let it sail on silver wings
Life's a twinkling that's for certain,
But it's such a fine thing
There's a gathering of spirits
There's a festival of friends
And we'll take up where we left off
When we all meet again.
Just east of Eden
But there's heaven in our midst
And we're never really all that far
From those we love and miss
Wade out in the water
There's a glory all around
And the wisest say there's a 1000 ways
To kneel and kiss the ground
Let it go my love my truest,
Let it sail on silver wings
Life's a twinkling that's for certain,
But it's such a fine thing
There's a gathering of spirits
There's a festival of friends
And we'll take up where we left off
When we all meet again.
COMMUNITY RECONCILIATION RITE:
Presider: Let us pause now to pray with one another for forgiveness for the times we failed to trust in the Spirit speaking within us and through others in our world.
(Pause for silent reflection)
Community Raises hands in gesture of mutual forgiveness
Presider and all: I am sorry, Please forgive me, I love you and I thank you.
GLORIA
Presider: Let us rejoice in the companionship we share with all the saints as we sing the Gloria:
https://youtu.be/dgn_8q1UWwk
ALL Sing: Glory to God, glory, o praise God, alleluia, Glory to God, glory, o praise the name of our God (3 times)
OPENING PRAYER
Presider:
Let us pray: we rejoice that we are in the Holy One from the first moment of life until we pass into the fullness of eternal life. We are called to follow Jesus path to blessedness by living the Beatitudes in our world today. By the power of the Spirit working in us, it will be so.
We pray today as one family in the communion of saints, the holy women and men who have crossed over into the fullness of eternal life from our Community. We give thanks for each of them who have left your footprints on our hearts.
All: Amen.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Lector: First Reading:
Our first reading is from the first Letter of John
See what love Abba God has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God!
Yet that, in fact is what we are.
The reason the world does not recognize us
Is that it never recognized Christ.
Dearly beloved, we are God’s children now;
What we will later be has not yet come to light.
We know that when it comes to light,
We will be like Christ,
For we will see Christ in reality.
These are the inspired words of John, the evangelist: Thanks be to God.
(Pause for silent reflection)
Sung Response All Saints Day
All Saints Day by Carrie Newcomer
All around us and within us
And yet it's only at times we notice
As real as rain, and soft as stardust
We know deep down, what nobody told us
Can't you feel it ever closer
We breathe it in and we then we exhale
We touch both sides and now eternal
Standing closer to the veil
Now is just a, moving image
Not a ribbon, a start and end
There is a bird, a hidden singer
That calls and listens, and calls again
Can't you feel it ever closer
We breathe it in and we then we exhale
We touch both sides and now eternal
Standing closer to the veil
Centered down and moving outward
Sometimes almost, to sweet to bare
There are endless ways to reach home
Just keep walking and I'll meet you there
Can't you feel it ever closer
We breathe it in and we then we exhale
We touch both sides and now eternal
Lector: Second Reading:
Our second reading is from Lumen Gentium #38
Each individual must be a witness before the world to the resurrection and life of the Risen Christ, and a sign of the living God. They, to the best of their ability, must nourish the world with spiritual fruits(c. Gal. 5:22). They must diffuse in the world the spirit which animates those poor, meek and peace-makers whom Jesus in the Gospel proclaimed blessed (cf. Mt. 5:3-9). In a word: 'what the soul is in the body, let Christians be in the world.' These are the inspired words from the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.
(Adapted for inclusive language by Bridget Mary)
All: Thanks be to God.
( Pause for silent reflection)
Alleluia (eightfold)
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
GOSPEl:
Lector: A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Matthew (5:1-12)
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountainside, and after Jesus sat down, the disciples gathered around him and he began to teach them,
How blessed are the poor in spirit; the reign of God is theirs.
Blessed too are the sorrowing; they will be consoled.
Blessed are the lowly; they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for holiness; they will have their fill.
Blessed are they who show mercy; mercy will be theirs.
Blessed are the single-hearted; they will see God.
Blessed too are the peacemakers; they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for holiness’ sake; the reign of God is theirs.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of slander against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice for your reward in Heaven is great; they persecuted the prophets before you in the very same way. These are the inspired words of the evangelist Matthew, and we respond.
Reader Jill and All: Thanks be to God.
(Pause for silent reflection)
Janet Blakeley ARCWP: Homily Starter:
In elementary school, lunchtime in the cafeteria was the time you heard what other children were taught at home. My first awareness of “saints” came over bologna sandwiches with comments like “My grandmother is a real saint! She walks to church every single day for Mass, she says the Rosary every single night, and she never, NEVER, eats meat on Fridays!” So that was a saint. When I became a Catholic in Europe, the saints were described as respected but remote individuals of the past. The cathedrals were named after them, they looked after the affairs of our town. Our own St. Nicholas had a colorful history of appearing before Christmas and throwing coal at the bad children. In Boston, the saints were much more attractive and more contemporary. They were known to have done some amazingly kind act of charity, but to have done it in secret, only to be discovered much later. That might indicate a local grocer who knew a family in dire financial straits to whom he gave extended credit for food. Now THAT was a saint! Eventually I understood that, given the diversity of cultures, values, education, etc., people have differing ideas about what makes a saint.
The idea of “saints” is thousands of years old. Jews recognized a holy person, not by his extreme behavior, but by his recognizable manifestation of the presence of God in his own person. It was understood that the person who revealed God in himself could only do so because he lived in communion with God. THAT was a holy person. As the culture became more Romanized, such a person was called “sanctum” from which we draw the name “saint.” Christian bishops kept calendars of these saints and the days they died in order to carry out the traditional Jewish/Christian custom of holding an overnight candle-lit vigil for them. Eventually a sixth-century pope proclaimed an “all saints day” and we continue that custom even now. As for an overnight vigil, perhaps the only one we have actually experienced is the Easter Vigil for Jesus. It is good to put that in context and to recall
that the community knew he lived in communion with God,
they recognized the presence of God in his person,
and they called him the Holy One.
If God is seen as the fullness of holiness,
and Jesus is the Holy One,
if whole communities have recognized the saints among them and had that affirmed by their bishops,
we see how Bridget Mary can say, as she did at Sally’s memorial service, “Sally is right up there with the saints and all the saints of MMOJ!”!
What, then, must we think about our own sanctity?
Before closing, let’s look at what the Church is saying about sanctity today. In the reading from Lumen Gentium there is no call for Catholics to be saintly. Instead we hear the Church call all Christians to be aware of the disastrous state of the world as it is now, and to be the soul of the world. The “soul” is the life principle – God’s life – that lives in each person. Clearly it is all of us who are asked to be that life principle for the entire world, God’s life, which is holiness itself. We must manifest the life of God in our own person, live in communion with God, and be life for others. Joined with other human beings and with God, we will know each other and ourselves to be the Communion of Saints.
(Pause for silent reflection)
Homily Sharing: Community
Profession of Faith:
All:
We believe in God, the creator and lover of all. We believe in Jesus, the Christ, who shows us that the overflowing presence of the One beyond all comprehension dwells within us and is nearer to us then we are to ourselves. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, who empowers us with spiritual gifts for loving service and compassionate action. We believe in the great homecoming reunion of all God's people where all tears will be wiped away in a joyful gathering of God's holy people in the communion of saints. Amen
General Intercessions: Prayers of the Community
Prayer Leader:
As we prepare for the sacred meal, we pray for the needs of the people of God in our community and around the world. "I bring to the Table." Our Response to each prayer is Amen
Please share your spontaneous prayers.
Prayer Leader:
We give thanks for all whom we held in the circle of grace and will continue to pray for and serve. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS
Presider: Blessed are you, God of all Life. Through your goodness we offer these gifts: bread, wine, our lives and the lives of those we love.
BMM and ALL: Blessed be God Forever.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
Prayer Leader: God dwells in you.
ALL: And also in you.
Prayer Leader: Lift up your hearts.
ALL: We lift them up in the Christ Presence everywhere.
Prayer Leader: Let us give thanks to the Holy One.
ALL: With the saints we give God thanks and praise.
Prayer Leader:
We thank you, Holy One, for the saintly women and men of old, the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, and who accompany us on our journey. With your angels and saints, we sing your praise for all who continue to live as the Christ presence in our world.
Holy, Holy: Linda Lee Miller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orKBBIj5LZA
Prayer Leader:
We thank you for the courage and fidelity of all the ones you sent to prepare a path for us to follow - the holy women and men of every age, race, and culture. We especially thank you for our dear ones in our faith Community who have passed into your loving embrace.(Pause for silent reflection)
Prayer Leader:
We thank you, Nurturing God, for Jesus, who accompanies us on our journey into the depths of God's infinite love for us, and who inspires us and energizes us to live the Beatitudes in our world today.
Community extends hands in blessing toward bread and wine
Presider and All: Come Holy Spirit deepen your Presence within us and in these gifts of bread and wine.
(Pause)
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered at the table with his friends, he spoke the blessing, broke the bread and shared it with them saying:
Take and eat of the Bread of Life
Whenever you remember me like this
I am among you.
(pause)
Presider and All:
(lifts the cup as community prays the following:)
Jesus then raised a cup of blessing, spoke the grace saying:
Take and drink of the covenant
Made new again through my life in you.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
Prayer Leader and All:
As we share this bread and cup, we proclaim Christ dies, Christ rises and Christ comes again and again.
Prayer Leader:
Holy One, Your creativity flows through our beings. Your joy fills us and Your empowerment bubbles up inside us as we celebrate your presence always within us and within all our saints.
Prayer Leader:
For you are the Love that dwells in our depths, the Wisdom of the Ages that speaks within us and through us, and the Divine Passion that makes us all one.
Community members hold their plates and cups during Doxology
Presider and All:
Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit, all glory is yours, gracious God.
The Great Amen. Linda Lee Miller
https://youtu.be/0sDDgwZlijc
COMMUNION RITE
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Presider Let us pray as Jesus taught us.
All: 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:
Let us sing “Peace is flowing like a River” by Carey Laundry as we pray for peace and justice to spread through our world.
https://youtu.be/ob6HgTQ6lZ4
LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD
Please join in the prayer for the breaking of the bread:
(Presiders break the bread)
Presider and All:
O God of Courage, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.
O God of Compassion, You call us to be Your presence in the world. We will love tenderly.
O God of Truth, You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your presence.
(Presider hold up bread and wine)
This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Through it we are nourished and we nourish each other. All are welcome to the Feast. Eat and drink and delight in Christ's Presence everywhere.
Communion Meditation: I'll be Always Loving You by Tricia Watts
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Presider:
Creator Spirit, you move through the circle of grace connecting the living and the dead, a sacred community of kinship and support. We give thanks for this Cloud of Witnesses who have gone before us, leaving behind s rich treasury of faith and service. We hold in our hearts today our beloved, family, friends and members of MMOJ community whom we miss and will always love.
ALL: Amen.
Prayers of Gratitude, Introductions, Announcements
CONCLUDING RITE
Presider:
The Holy One dwells within you and illuminates our world through all our saints.
ALL: And is also within you and within all saints in the making!
BLESSING
(everyone please extend your hands in mutual blessing)
Presider and All:
May the God of Sarah and Abraham bless us.
May the God of Jesus and Mary Magdalene bless us.
May the God of all our MMOJ Saints bless us and may we always celebrate our oneness in the communion of the saints. Amen
DISMISSAL
Go in peace, let the celebration continue!
Janet and ALL: Thanks be to God.
CONCLUDING HYMN
"When the Saints” (Linda Lee and Jack Meehan)
https://youtu.be/xvIHW-UbtgA