Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community July 18, 2020 Zoom Liturgy 16th Sunday in Extra-Ordinary Time Feast of Mary Magdalene, First Apostle and the Radical Love at the Heart of Christianity Presiders: Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP and Pat MacMillan Readers: Judy and Kevin Connelly, Music Minister- Linda Lee Miller

Mary of Magdala "Apostle to the Apostles" by
Emer O'Boyle (2003)
www.christianARTfromIreland.com

Theme:

We should clothe ourselves with the perfect Human, acquire it for ourselves as he commanded us, and announce the Good News. (Gospel of Mary 10:11-13)

Presider 1: Today we celebrate the feast of Mary Magdalene, first apostle. The lost gospel of Mary Magdalene, buried deep in the Egyptian desert in the fourth century by monks who were ordered by an edict to destroy all copies, was discovered in January 1896 at a market in Cairo by a German scholar named Carl Reinhardt. Written in Coptic on ancient papyrus, it reveals powerful teachings about a radical love at the heart of Christianity. Her gospel says that we are not sinful, nor should we feel ashamed for being human, but rather  that we are a holy mix of a self that struggles and triumphs and a soul that is limitless- rooted in infinite love. There is no spiritual authority outside of us that is greater than the presence of God within us.

Welcome and Gathering

Presider 2:  Welcome to our Zoom liturgy at Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community where all are welcome. 

-We invite you to pray the liturgy and respond where it says “All.” 

-All participants will be muted during the liturgy except for the presiders and readers. Our readers today are Judy  and Kevin Connelly . Our music minister is Linda Lee Miller  on youtube.  Mary Theresa Streck is our IT.

-Please have bread and wine/juice nearby as we pray our Eucharistic prayer.

Gathering Song:Women of the Church by Carey Landry, Recorded for MMOJ Liturgy by Linda Lee Miller Verses 1-2: 

https://youtu.be/aY7ghskzwCU

Refrain
Women of the Church, how rich is your legacy!
Women of the Church, how great is your faith!
Women of the Church, wellsprings of integrity,
Lead us in the ways of Peace!

1. Women at the foot of the Cross,
Fearless and truly faithful friends,
First ones to see the Risen One of Life
And the first to tell good news.

2. Companions and disciples of Jesus,
chosen and called by name,
witnesses of wisdom, weavers of the Word,
lead us in the ways of Truth.

© 2005, 2010, 2011, Carey Landry. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.

Opening Prayer

Presider 1:  Like Mary Magdalene, we rejoice that our spiritual power to live the Gospel is rooted in the presence of Spirit within each and all of us. Like Mary Magdalene, we rejoice that our oneness with Christ frees us from rules, projections and expectations that limit our ability be a radiant reflection of the Holy One’s love and compassion. Like Mary, our call is to walk with Christ and to love as Christ . All: Amen

Communal Reconciliation Rite

Presider 2: We pause now to remember the times we have let false messages about our unworthiness cloud our vision of the infinite depth of love within us.  Now imagine the imperfections, chaos and messes of your life illuminated by a love within you that is healing and transforming you as you evolve and grow in awareness of your divinity and humanity.

(Pause briefly. Then extend arm over your heart)

All: I love you, I forgive you, I am sorry, I thank you.

GLORIA:

ALL:  For the witness of Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles, we say glory! For her vision of the Risen One, we say glory! For new insights into the  fullness of our  humanity and divinity as the Christ Presence in our world, we say glory. For an awareness that no spiritual authority outside us is greater than the voice of God that speaks within our hearts, we say glory. For the gift of love that cherishes human  beings of all races, genders, and ethnic identities as spiritual equals in the Body of Christ, we say glory.  Amen!

Liturgy of the Word

(Judy Connelly) Our First Reading is from Mary Magdalene Revealed

Mary Magdalene’s gospel starts with missing pages. These are the word we can’t get back , this is the wisdom, the voice of Christ from the heart of a woman, that was torn out and most likely destroyed before the rest of her gospel was buried. There was something so incendiary in these first six pages that her gospel starts on page 7.

The point of Mary’ s gospel is not to suggest that we need to become someone else, someone “better.”

It’s about acquiring a vision that allows us to see what has always been here, within you. It’s about the quality and intensity of our existence. It’s about the possibility of actually being present, instead of being caught without even realizing it in the endless stories the ego tell; from the second we wake up, dividing us from what’s already here, dividing us from each other and ourselves, dividing us from what we consider good, or god. It’s about really waking up to the fact that our system of understanding the world is no longer serving us.

It’s more of a series of perpetual moments when you remember that you don’t have to feel separate from love-if you don’t want to. Even in the midst of the worst of what we say to ourselves, even when someone we love most in the world can't see us at all, we can practice a way that humbles us, that disrupts the ego's grasp , and let us return again, with ease (even eventually, with levity) to love... And in that moment of recognition, this is when we save ourselves from the self that was never real to begin. This is where we see with the eye of the heart. ( These are the sacred words of Meggan Watterson, in the Introduction to Mary Magdalene Revealed and we affirm them by saying,

All: AMEN.  

(Kevin Connelly) 
Responsorial: Psalm 119

Our response is:

All: I radiate your love within me.

Breathe on me, O Breath of Inspiration, in the silence of my tranquil heart, infill me with your wisdom. O that I might radiate the compassion and peace, truth and beauty of the Beloved!

All:  I radiate your love within me.

Direct my steps, O Holy One, that I may humbly walk with you.  The witness of your Life is my model; therefore, my soul yearns for You. The unfolding of your Way gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

All:  I radiate your love within me.

My mouth pours forth praise continually, for I am ever grateful for your Promises, You come to me and are gracious to me, as You are to all who open their heart’s door.

All:  I radiate your love within me.

Guide my steps according to your Wisdom, and show me how to lovingly co-create with You. Let me not be lured by the world’s values, that I may walk the path of wholeness.

All: May I radiate your love within me.
(Adaptation by Nan Merrill, Praying the Psalms; An Invitation to Wholeness)

(Kevin Connelly) 
Our Second Reading is a Letter to the Romans (8:26-27)

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult time of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs and enlarged in the waiting. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Meanwhile the moment we get tired in the waiting God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. God’s Spirit does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. She knows us far better than we know ourselves; knows our pregnant condition and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.  

These are sacred words of Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, and we affirm them by saying:

  All: Amen.

Alleluia: Jan Phillips

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

(Pat MacMillan) Gospel: 
A Reading from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene (4:3-7)

Be on your guard so that no one deceives you by saying,
look over here!” or “Look over there!” For the child of true Humanity exists within you. Follow it!

Those who search for it will find it.

These are the sacred words of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles and we affirm them by saying,

All: Amen

Alleluia: Jan Phillips

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

Homily Starter: Bridget Mary Meehan

On July 22^nd, we celebrate the feast day of Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles. Our liturgical team – Pat MacMillan, Mary Theresa Streck, Kathryn She and I decided to offer a two week celebration of the first apostle, her lost gospel and powerful teachings.

Three copies of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene have been found- two in Greek and one in Coptic. All three versions are missing six pages in the beginning and four pages in the middle.

You might wonder what was so revolutionary that these pages were ripped out?

A few thoughts to ponder:

Mary’s gospel is the only gospel written by a woman. Scholars believe that it was written around the same time as the Gospel of John during a time in which there were various Christian communities who believed women were as worthy and capable as men to teach and lead the church.

Mary’s gospel contains four powerful teachings:

1.     We are not sinful.

2.     Salvation is an act of personal transformation in which we experience the infinite love within us that makes us whole and transforms everything

3.     Our purpose is to become “the child of true humanity,” which means fully human and fully divine.

4.     There can be no spiritual authority outside of us that is greater than the voice of Spirit within us.

While these teachings are uplifting and  reflect contemporary theological thought, they were probably jarring to some of the early Church Fathers and bishops in the 3^rd and 4^th  centuries who were working with the Roman Empire to codify scripture and Christian belief  under a patriarchal system of male dominance that has perdured for centuries.

I believe that the church’s history would have been completely different if Mary Magdalene’ gospel had not been buried in desert for almost 2 centuries. In Praying with Women of the Bible, originally published by Liguori, a mainstream Catholic publisher, I proposed a few creative spiritual exercises to dialogue with Mary Magdalene ,
such as Imagine Mary of Magdala present at the Vatican today addressing the roles of women in the Church. What would she say or do? What questions or thoughts would you like to share with her?

 Here's how my conversation would go:

I love you, Mary, for being  a radiant reflection of the feminine face of God epitomized by compassion, courage and understanding despite the rejection of the male disciples.Thank you for starting a holy shakeup that continues to empower us in our work for inclusivity and justice in the Church and world despite the discrimination and oppression of the patriarchy.

In Joan Chittister’s words,  Mary Magdalene is a role model for women in leadership in the church and society today because:

“She calls all of us to faith and fortitude, to unity and universalism, to a Christianity that rises above sexism, a religion that transcends the idolatry of maleness, and a commitment to the things of God that surmounts every obstacle and surpasses every system.” (Joan Chittister, A Passion for Life p. 46)

Community Sharing: What did you hear in our readings today?

Communal Statement of Faith

All: (Presider 2) We believe in one God, 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, a source of God's wisdom and truth, 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.

Prayers of and for the Community

Presider 1: We now remember all those who are suffering especially from Covid and systemic and institutional racism. Our response is: All: Your Love calls us to action.

Presider 2: For all those suffering from Covid and all families who have lost a member due to the pandemic. All: Your Love accompanies us.

Presider 1: For all those suffering the loss of family members due to systemic, institutional racism and police use of deadly force. All: Your Love comforts and challenges us.

Presider 2: That the Federal and State governments will provide PPE and all safety measures needed to protect medical staff, patients, and all workers in essential industries. All: Your Love empowers us.

Presider 1: We pray for our MMOJ intentions. (Katy shares)

For what else should we pray?

Presider 2: Holy Mystery we respond to the needs of our sisters and brothers in loving prayer and solidarity. Amen

Preparation Of The Gifts

Presider 1:  Blessed are You, Holy One, through Your divine providence we have this bread, to share, the Bread of Life. 

All: Blessed are You, Holy One, forever.  

Presider 2:  Blessed are You, O Loving  One through Your divine providence we have this wine to share, our spiritual drink. 

All: Blessed are, You, Holy One, forever.

Presider 1:  Nurturing One, we are united in this sacrament by the love of Christ, whose presence we are as we proclaim the liberating power of your Spirit Sophia, in our humanity and divinity, calling us to build the unity of Love in a more compassionate and just world.  All:  Amen.

Eucharistic Prayer

Presider 2: Your Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, is rising up in all who work for humanity’s healing and well-being especially now during this Covid pandemic and systemic racism. With thankful hearts, in the company of all holy women and men, your liberating Spirit rises up within us, works through us and we sing:

All:  Holy, Holy, Holy (adapted from Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker)

https://youtu.be/orKBBIj5LZA

We are Holy, Holy, Holy…3x , You are Holy, Holy, Holy, I am Holy, Holy, Holy, We are Holy, Holy, Holy

Presider 1: O Heart of Love, Your Spirit moved through Mary of Magdala as she taught us that we are unified and undivided in continuous communion with you.  Your Spirit moves through  our humanity and our divinity. Your Spirit moves through the love within us, expanding out in widening circles to embrace all people and creation in our evolving universe.

 Please extend Your hands in blessing.

All: (Presider 2)  Pour out Your Spirit Sophia anew upon this bread and wine and upon us as we become more deeply the Christ Presence in our world.

All (Presider 1): On the night before he died, Jesus came to table with his family and the women and men he loved. Jesus took bread blessed and broke it, saying, “Take, eat, this is my body. Do this in memory of me.”                         (pause)

All (Presider 2) : After supper, Jesus poured a cup of wine and shared it with his friends, saying,

“This is the cup of the covenant of my love. As often as You drink of it, remember me.”

Presider 2:  Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:

All: Christ has died in all those who have passed away from the Coronavirus and from police brutality.

Christ is rising in all those working for the well-being of humanity; searching for a vaccine, treatments and dismantling institutional racism and sexism.

Christ comes each day in our ministry, prayers and actions for a renewed world with justice and equality for all.

Presider 1:  Embracing Presence, we remember all the companions who have gone before us:  Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mary of Magdala, and all holy women and men who are rising up in loving service to heal our world.  We pause now to remember our personal communion of saints. 
(pause)

(Presiders hold bread and wine)

All: Presider 2: For it is through living as Jesus lived, and loving as he loved, that we awaken to Your Spirit empowering us to work for justice and equality for all citizens in our country and for the life of your planet Earth. 

All: Great Amen (Sung) Linda Lee Miller

 https://youtu.be/Dy76fpfkNsg

The Prayer of Jesus

Presider 1:  Let us pray as Jesus taught us. “Our Father and Mother…”

Sign of Peace: Peace is flowing like a River by Carey Laundry

Presider 2:  Jesus said to his disciples, “My peace I leave You.  My peace I give You.” 

(Let us place our hands in front of us, palms up, as we sing, “Peace is flowing like a river…” you may change “captives” to “peoples”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YRM-eHgXCY

Peace is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me. Flowing out into the desert, setting all the people free. Love is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me. Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free. Healing's flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me. Flowing out into the desert, setting all the people free. Alleluia

Communion

Presider 1: Please join in praying the Litany for the Breaking of the Bread All:

All: Holy One, You call us to speak truth to power; we will do so.

Holy One, You call us to live the Gospel of healing and justice; we will do so. Holy One, You call us to be Your presence in the world; we will do so.

Presider 2:  This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Blessed are we who are called to Christ’s table.  All:  We are the Body and Blood of Christ for the world.                         

Pease receive/share Eucharist now.

Communion Meditation Song: Standing on the Shoulders by Earth Mama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elh77GtHWPU&t=102s

Presider 1: Thanksgiving: Please unmute yourself if you have a thanksgiving to share.                      

Concluding Rite

Presider 2:   The Holy One is within You. As you go forth to continue your ministry for justice and equality, and peace for all life and earth itself, may you be a radiant reflection of Christ in our world. All:  And also within You.

Presider 1: Please extend Your hands as we pray our final blessing.

All: We go forth in the spirit of Mary Magdalene, first apostle, to live the Christianity we have not tried yet.

We rejoice that Love is within us.

We celebrate Love outside of us.

We go forth, called to action, to move mountains!

Closing Song: 

Recessional: Women of the Church by Carey Landry verses 4 and 5, music played by Linda Lee Miller

 https://youtu.be/5BsHW1FkdBY

Refrain
Women of the Church, how rich is your legacy!
Women of the Church, how great is your faith!
Women of the Church, wellsprings of integrity,
Lead us in the ways of Peace!

3. Living signs of service and strength,
hands of healing, hearts of love,
women of vision, voices for the voiceless,
lead us in the ways of Hope.

4. Women of compassion and care,
bearers of God’s life-giving light,
centered in prayer while working for justice,
lead us in the ways of Peace!

5. Women martyred in our time,
Laid down their lives for the poor,
Moments of courage, who stood with those oppressed,
Help us all to walk your path.
© 2005, 2010, 2011, Carey Landry. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.

If you would like to add your intercession to our MMOJ Community Prayers book,

Please send an email to katyrcwp@tampabay.rr.com

If you would like to invite another person to attend our liturgy please refer them to

www.marymotherofJesus.org where the day’s liturgy is found. Zoom instructions are also included there.

Please support our community, send your check to:

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community

% St Andrews UCC, 6908 Beneva Rd., Sarasota, FL 34328

Liturgy adapted from Mary Magdalene Liturgy written by Bridget Mary Meehan and Mary Theresa Streck, Prayers of Community from Liturgy on June 20^th by Katy Zatsick

  

"The Oneness We Share" by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP from A Promise of Presence by Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver

Mi Pham: Unsplash

In Christ there is no few or Greek, slave or citizen, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28 (INT)

The term "global village" is used a lot these days to describe how closely interconnected and interdependent the world has become. The Internet is one example of a modern-day tool that millions of people use to access information and communicate with individuals and groups across national boundaries and continents. Chat rooms bring people together in cyberspace to discuss a wide variety of topics. Even surgery and medical proce­dures that were once thought impossible are using this technology to save lives. In a very real sense, we can say that the world is becoming a smaller place as the human family gets to know one another better through the information highway.


Yet, in his letter to the Galatians, Paul tells us of a bond we share in Christ that is deeper than ever could be ours on the Internet. Each of us is part of a spiritual community so intimate that it transcends our individual differences of race, national origin and gender. Our communion is closer and more profound than anything we can imagine. In other words, all of us are sisters and brothers who belong to God's great family. We have gifts and limitations, similarities and differences, smiles and tears, fears and hopes to share. We have much to give and receive from one another. We are like a beautiful tapestry interwoven with many colorful threads that create a stunning work of art. The oneness we share in Christ is a mystery of grace so awesome that words barely evoke a glimpse into the reality.


DAY 1

Make this your prayer today:

God of Nations and Generations, help me to accept people who are different from me-those from different nations, races, cultures and religions. All belong to your family- everyone, everywhere. May your love live in us and give birth to a spirit of understanding in our hearts that will bring us together to serve one another more generously each day. Break the bonds of frustration, fear, hate and prejudice that separate us. Reveal your kindness as we strive to heal one another's hurts and, in the process, experience our own brokenness and the path to true freedom and universal peace. May we love you face to face in our sisters and brothers everywhere and be like a rainbow of bright, bold, brilliant colors splashed across the sky, reflecting your glorious presence everywhere.


DAY 2

Draw a large circle on a piece of paper. In the circle write the name of a place, city, town, nation, race or gender that you want to celebrate communion with. Pray for a deeper appreciation of the giftedness and the needs of others. Consider doing this each day for a week, adding different names to your circle each day.



DAY 3

As your prayer today, reflect on how you can grow more open and receptive in your relationships with others. Think about how your beliefs are often the result of past conditioning and your own thought system. Accept this reality and ask God to help you learn from the differences of others.


DAY 4

Let an act of loving kindness be your prayer today. By your practice of loving kindness, you are capable of bringing about a more just and compassionate world. It can be as simple as smiling at your neighbor, opening a door for someone, speaking respectfully to a stranger, or making a telephone call to a friend who is lonely.



DAY 5

Reflect on the meaning of Paul's words that in Christ, all people are one. Who are the people you find hard to accept as God's family? As your prayer today, ask God to give you a new heart.


DAY 6

Pray for people who are outcasts, rejected by today's churches and societies. As each name or group comes to mind, hold them in your heart and ask God to make up for the love they needed but did not receive. Ask God to help you love them with the love God is pouring into your heart for them.


DAY 7

Use the following prayer to profess your loving communion with

God's family, or make up one of your own:

Nurturing God, you have birthed me into a wonderful family. I bring before you this day all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope to become. Let me hold hands with my sisters and brothers around the globe, so that together we might laugh like children sharing popsicles together on a summer's eve. In drying each others tears and sharing each others fears, may we celebrate your vision for us in the love that we share.  BMM

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests: Our Inclusive Communities and Values

https://arcwp.org/inclusive-catholic-communities/

https://arcwp.org/constitution/

We believe:

1. Equality

We believe women and men are created whole and equal by God and as baptized persons can equally represent Christ. We ordain women and men in Apostolic Succession as a matter of justice and faithfulness to the Gospel. Because equality is a human right, we are called to work for structural, systemic change that eliminates discrimination and sexism in the church and in the world.

2. Justice

We strive to live as justice makers in right relation to self, to others, and to the earth. Aware of the interconnectedness of all, we believe that action on behalf of justice is constitutive to the Gospels. Because we understand how unjust structures marginalize people on the basis of class, race, gender, sexual orientation, and mental and physical challenges, we collaborate to create alternative structures that are inclusive of all and are deeply based in the traditions of social justice within our church.

3. Accountability

Accountability is a hallmark of our commitment to circular leadership.  We are co-responsible to live our vision of a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals.  We are called to be open to the Spirit as our movement evolves and grows. As models of empowerment, we are united in vision and mission, and respectful of our differences, and we open ourselves to ongoing discussion and prayer in actualizing this responsibility. 

4. Collegiality

Our vision is to live as a community of equals in decision making as an organization and within all our faith communities. We make decisions by using a circular model including consensus and/or democratic vote of all members. We reject all forms of domination and control.

5. Prophetic Obedience

We are called by the Spirit to read the signs of the times and to respond in solidarity with the human rights and justice movements of our times. As disciples of Jesus, we stand on the margins with the marginalized, advocating for justice rising up in our church and world.  Illumined by the mystical and prophetic tradition, we use the insights of evolutionary, feminist, liberation, womanist, and mujerista theologies in our spiritual and professional ministerial development.    

6. Spirituality:

Spirituality is at the heart of our commitment to the Holy One. We are called to be women and men of prayer and action.  All of life is sacrament, a sign of God’s presence that reflects our holiness as co-creators in the community of life. Through conscious awareness and committed activism, we work for a more just, peaceful and egalitarian church and world where all beings thrive together.  As members of the Community of the Baptized, we are aware that the entire church celebrates sacraments. We preside at sacramental liturgies in inclusive, empowered, egalitarian communities where all are welcome to experience God’s extravagant love. 

7. Compassion:

Compassion allows us as healers to enter into the journey of others in times of heart break, grief and loss.  In all our communications, we strive for deep understanding, and we respond with openness to listen, to learn, and to love and to share God’s faithful presence always with others in their struggles. 

 IN SUMMARY

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) is an international community within the International Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement.   As a community of equal disciples, our calling is first and foremost to follow Jesus the Christ, our model of liberation, and to grow in unity with all in the heart of God. Aware of our deep connectedness to one another, and to the community of creation, our mission is to live Gospel justice and inclusiveness by ordaining women and men as equals and partners in the Roman Catholic Church.

"Ask What You Will" by Regina Madonna Oliver sfcc from A Promise of Presence, Weekly Prayer Reflections and Daily Prayer Activities in A Promise of Presence by Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver

Unsplash

"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

John 15:7-8 (NRSV)



I really didn't want to tell B that she had to leave. She didn't need another rejection in her life. B was without funds to provide a month's rent plus the required deposit on an apartment of her own. That is why she was temporarily camping out in our guest room. But it wasn't working. My cousin, E, a physically-challenged woman in middle age, was more than B's nerves could take. More than once B had verbally abused my cousin.



"Oh, God," I prayed. "I don't want to have to tell B to leave. She has suffered so much rejection and is so alienated. But I can't

in conscience let this abuse continue."What can I do?" I kept up this anguished cry hour after hour, whenever I thought of the hopeless situation. Within a day or two, without any prompting from me, B came to me and said, "This is not working, and it's not fair to E. My nerves are bad, and I respond to her whining and nagging with an anger I can't control. I really have to leave."


One time, a novice was totally frustrated by her inability to pray despite all her best efforts. When the novice confided this to her spiritual director, the spiritual director said, "Have you asked God for the gift?" The novice was surprised. She had not thought of prayer as being God's gift to her. She had presumed it was sup­ posed to be her gift to God.


Whatever our need, despite our total inability to do anything for ourselves, we only have to turn to God and ask for the gift. The promise is there: "Ask what you will and it will be done for you."





DAY 1

Bring to mind something you need-perhaps something you desperately need, something you have tried to take care of yourself but simply cannot resolve, something that is literally beyond you, something you cannot control. Bring that need to God in your prayer today. Every time the thought troubles you, knock on God's door. Tell God, "help," and keep it up. Don't get discouraged. Then relinquish your need to God. Let God hold the burden. Don't try to carry it again yourself. At the right time, you will see that God answers. Make this your prayer today:



Look, God. I can't do this. I dump it at your door. I give it into your hands.



DAY 2

Ask another person to pray with you today. This can be done in person, on the phone, by fax or by e-mail. Because God is com­puter-literate and God's imagination is big enough to create the universe, God can certainly understand that two or three can gather in many different ways. And where two or three gather, where is God? Indeed, in the midst of those gathered, be that on the tele­ phone, via the fax message, in the e-mail dialogue, or in the living





room. If it is one of those wonderful days when your burdens are light, think about someone you know who is suffering a crisis, and communicate with that person. You might even have the occasion to pray with her or him, or at least to say, "You are in my prayers about this."



DAY 3

Get in touch with your needs today. Sometimes you may need to get below the surface, where everything seems smooth, to become aware of pressing needs deep within. There, in that deeper place, God's Spirit is at work, pruning and grooming you, in the trans­ forming process that gradually forms you, more and more, in the image ofJesus. Today, ask God to help you get in touch with your needs. Speak to God's Holy Spirit at work in you. Make this your prayer today:



Spirit of God, thank you for your transforming action within me. I want to be open to what you are doing. I want to be willing to be changed and transformed by you. I will not be afraid of you, because I know that you love me tenderly. You do only what is for my good.



DAY 4

Make this psalm your prayer today:



Thank you Adonai, for you are good! Your love is everlasting!

Thank you, God of gods! Your love is everlasting!

Thank you Sovereign of sovereigns, Your love is everlasting!

you alone perform such great marvels. Your love is everlasting!

Your wisdom made the heavens. Your love is everlasting!





You spread the land out over the waters. Your love is everlasting!

You made the great lights; Your love is everlasting!

the sun to govern the day,

Your love is everlasting!

moon and stars to govern the night. Your love is everlasting!

(Add your own personal words of praise),

Your love is everlasting!

(Continue until you run out of praises and lapse into silent awe.) Psalm 136: 1-9 (IP)





DAY 5

Is there a letter you should write to someone today? Is it a long overdue letter because you got so busy with your daily concerns? Is it a letter of apology? Is it a belated birthday letter? Is it a "thank you for being my friend" letter? Is it a "just to let you know I love you" letter? Maybe it's just a couple of sentences attached to one of those cards that "says it all." Send that letter as your prayer today.



DAY 6

Get in touch with the news today. What is happening in your neighborhood? In the national news? In the world? Which of the happenings of this day tug at your heartstrings, make you angry,

- frustrate you? Bring this situation and your feelings about it to your

prayer today. Place it confidently in God's hands. Rest peacefully in God's presence, sure in the knowledge that God is in charge. Resolve to bring the larger problems, the social problems, the

world problems, to God in prayer regularly, for this is God's world.

Know that the concerns of the world are the concerns of God. Trust that God brings about resolution to problems through your

prayers. Join your heart with God's immense heart oflove as you





pray about the immense, seemingly insoluble problems of the world. The Berlin Wall came down and we have seen the demise of Communism. Believe it! Your prayer does matter. Your prayer contributes to world-transforming changes.



DAY 7

Make this your prayer today. It was the prayer of Mary, Queen of

Scots, while imprisoned:



0 Domine Deus, speravi in te; 0 God, I have hoped in you;

0 Care, mi fesu, nunc libera me. 0 my dearest Jesus, free me now!




In dura catena, in misera poena,


desidero te! Languendo, gemendo, et genuflectendo,

Adora, imploro ut liberes me!


In harsh bondage, in wretched

punishment, I desire you!

Languishing, groaning, and kneeling before you,

I adore, I implore that you liberate me!

RMO

(From book A Promise of Presence by Bridget Mary Meehan sfcc and Regina Madonna Oliver sfcc

published by ACTA)

"Infinite, Boundless Love" -all God's people are loved as if each of us was Jesus. by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

Unsplash: İlknur Türkay

"As my Abba has loved me, so have I loved you. Live on in my love."

John 15:9 (INT)


Did you ever watch loving parents holding their small children? Sometimes a toddler will climb all over Daddy, or an infant
will sleep peacefully in Mother's arms. These families are "living words of Love." They are examples of Jesus' dream of love for all of us.

Jesus' love for us is the same as God's love for Jesus: infinite, boundless, tender, passionate, eternal, beyond our wildest dreams. Think of it! You and I and all God's people are loved as if each of us was Jesus. We share the same inheritance as the Jesus of history. And all of us are called to truly live every moment of our lives in the depths of so great a love.


What does this mean to us? It is a bit overwhelming-such good news that we need time to absorb it, contemplate it, share it, celebrate it. Perhaps this is the perfect time to let this dream of love wash over us like the soothing waters of a hot shower after a hard day of work or like the rain that soaks the earth, preparing the soil for the sprouting of life-filled seeds.


As we become aware that we are transformed- insofar as we have allowed God's transformation to inform us- we are this loving Jesus-presence in the world around us. We are the love of Jesus in our relationships with everyone. How does this change our world?


DAY 1

Close your eyes and visualize God as a loving parent holding you close. Be aware that your loving God wants to heal any hurts or wounds in your life that might block you from experiencing infinite, boundless, deep love. Rest in God's embrace and allow yourself to receive from God the love that you have needed but have not received.


DAY 2

Consider how you can celebrate love in your life today. As ideas and thoughts emerge, reflect on what difference these would make if you tried them. Make a specific plan to adopt at least one of these ideas. As you do so, be aware that you are a "living word ofLove" this day.


DAY 3

Converse with God about your dreams. If you would like, write a conversation between you and God. As you do so, use words, impressions or pictures to express anything you are aware of.


DAY 4

Invite God to reveal to you any relationships or areas in your life in which you need to feel Divine Love. Open yourself to the fullness of the Holy One's love for you, and let this love energize your love of self and others.


DAY 5

Imagine ways you can understand other people more deeply. Practice holding thoughts ofloving kindness about one or two people whom you find irritating. Imagine accepting these people as God accepts and loves them. Let go of any negative or hostile thoughts about them. Every time you think of these people, look deeply into their hearts with understanding and compassion-the way God always looks at you and at them.


DAY 6

Affirm God's dream of love by repeating one of the following prayers, or create your own positive statement of God's love for you. Repeat it throughout the day.

(Your name), I love you as I love Jesus. (Your name), I smile at you this day. (Your name), I give you boundless love. (Your name), I love through you.

(Your name), you are my radiant reflection.

(Your name), your love heals and comforts.


DAY 7

Make this your prayer today:

0 God of Dreams, reveal your Spirit gifts within me that I might be able to nourish these seeds of your hope, ready to serve you in good times and in bad times all the days of my life. May I walk hand in hand with my sisters and brothers as we create a world of compassion and justice thatwill circle the globe with hope. Together, may we all dream new dreams of living in your infinite, boundless love forever and ever.

BMM

( From A Promise of Presence by Bridget Mary Meehan sfcc and Regina Madonna Oliver sfcc published by ACTA)

Little Sisters Victory in Supreme Court Setback for Catholic Women and Primacy of Conscience in Family Planning by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, Letter to Editor in Sarasota Herald Tribune, July 13, 2020

Birth control ruling pro-church, anti-woman

https://www.heraldtribune.com/opinion/20200713/mondayrsquos-letters-teachers-birth-control-ruling-buchanan-bill-more

In response to the Supreme Court ruling that permits the Little Sisters of the Poor to exclude birth control coverage from their insurance policies, the public needs to know that millions of churchgoing Catholics ignore the Catholic Church’s teaching against birth control; they follow their consciences and receive sacraments.

Unsplash

Pope Paul VI issued this controversial teaching in 1968 in opposition to the recommendations of the majority of the Pontifical Commission, which favored use of artificial contraceptives for family planning.

Paul VI feared undermining church authority. As both priests and people rose up in opposition, this is exactly what happened.

The real question is, how can a supposedly pro-life institutional church refuse to support the most effective means of avoiding unwanted pregnancies?

The Roman Catholic Church consists of the entire membership, 1.3 billion people, not just the hierarchy alone. All the baptized, including women, are spiritual equals through whom the spirit speaks.

The Catholic Church teaches that there can never be a spiritual authority outside of us that violates the voice of conscience within us.

The Little Sisters victory is a setback for women who follow their consciences in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

Bridget Mary Meehan, Sarasota

May Your Healing Spirit Flow Through Us to Heal and Transform the Upheavals in Our World Today- Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

Jesus said, "Out of your heart shall flow rivers of living waters."
May it be so each day!

Unsplash: Barb Canale

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Invites All to Attend 2 Liturgies in honor of Mary Magdalene July 18- July 25, 4 PM on Zoom

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community warmly welcomes all to to join us for a special Mass on Zoom in honor of Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles. Discover her lost gospel and powerful teachings on the Christ presence and their relevance in the twenty-first century with Rev. Bridget Mary Meehan and Pat MacMillan.
July 18th , 4 PM Saturday, Meeting ID 862 40868327, Password 1066
For more information, contact Pat MacMillan @ 941 475 4238. 

https://marymotherofjesus.org/

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community warmly welcomes all to to join us for a special Mass on Zoom in honor of Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles. Discover her lost gospel and powerful teachings on the Christ presence and their relevance in the twenty-first century with Rev. Kathryn Shea and Rev. Mary Theresa Streck
July 25th , 4 PM Saturday, Meeting ID 862 40868327, Password 1066

For more information, contact Pat MacMillan @ 941 475 4238. www.marymotherofjesus.org

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Invitation to Zoom Liturgies- All Are Welcome, Saturdays, 4:00PM

Lucile Murray Durkin Scholarship Recipients Include Anne Tropeano ARCWP

Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community - Liturgy of Transformation - July 12, 2020 - Presiders: David DeBonis and Kathleen Ryan, ARCWP

Liturgy of Transformation

Dave: Welcome and Theme 

Kathie and I welcome everyone here today as we consider our roles as sowers of the Word and how our very uniqueness makes us the most powerful messengers. 

  

Kathie: Opening Prayer:  The Holy One is calling. What do we hear? We hear, we are loved, and in all ways we are enough. We hear love one another, as I love you. Let us answer the call with a heart full of gratitude and a resounding yes! Amen.

Opening Song: Turn, Turn, Turn

https://youtu.be/pKP4cfU28vM

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: A reading from Reverend Nadia Bolz-Weber.

In this first reading, Reverend Nadia Bolz-Weber discusses her experience speaking at the 2012 Lutheran youth Gathering in the Superdome.

“Some of your parents and pastors were really upset that I was your speaker tonight. They thought someone with my past shouldn’t be allowed to talk to thousands of teenagers. And you know what I have to say about that ‘They are absolutely right.’ Somebody with my past of alcoholism and drug use and promiscuity and lying and stealing should not be allowed to talk to you. But you know what? Somebody with my present, who I am now, should not be allowed to either. I am a sarcastic, heavily tattooed, angry person who swears like a truck driver. I am a flawed person who really should not be allowed to talk with you.   But you know what? That’s the God we are dealing with people!”

The kids went nuts. Clapping, screaming, on their feet.  I was floored. I had no idea they were even listening.

“Let me tell you about this God.” I told them that this is a God who has always used imperfect people, that this is a God who walked among us and ate with all the wrong people and kissed leapers. I told them that this is a God who is especially present to us in the most offensively ordinary things: wheat, wind, water words. I told them that this God has never made sense.

“And you don’t need to either, because this God will use you, this God will use all of you, and not just your strengths, but your failures, and your failings. Your weakness is fertile ground for a forgiving God to make something new and make something beautiful so don’t ever think that all you have to offer are your gifts.”

After the talk a young girl hugged me and said “I think you saved my life tonight.”

Sometimes the fact that there is nothing about you that makes you the right person to do something is exactly what God is looking for.

These are the inspired words adapted from the book Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber and the community responds by saying AMEN.

Alleluia:   Spirit of the Living God

Gospel: A reading from the Gospel of Matthew.

Later that day, Jesus left the house and sat down by the lake shore. Such great crowd gathered that he went and took a seat in a boat, while the crowd stood along the shore. He addressed them at length in parables:

“One day a farmer went out sowing seed. Some of the seed landed on a footpath where birds came and ate it up. Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. This seed sprouted at once since the soil had no depth but when the sun rose and scorched it, it withered away for lack of roots. Again, some of the seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and chocked it. And some of it landed on good soil, and yielded a crop thirty, sixty, even a hundred times what was sown. Let those who have ears to hear, hear this!”

These are the inspired words of a disciple name Matthew and the community responds by saying AMEN.

(pause) 

Dave: Homily

I think the various types of soil described in today’s Gospel reading usually receive the most attention and I have to admit it is difficult to resist assigning certain people or groups to the various soil types. (I tried to resist it but could not).  Theologian Elizabeth Johnson, in her analysis of this Gospel reading, cautions us against doing this and believes that each of us most likely represents several different kinds of soil, depending on the day and the specific circumstance that we face.  

But thanks to a very insightful and encouraging analysis of this Gospel passage by Elizabeth Johnson, I believe that the more useful message in this gospel is don’t let our “imperfect soil” interfere with our role as sowers.

Johnson suggest that just as it appears that the sower carelessly scatters his seed without any strategy, wasting much of it on bad ground where there is little chance of a growth, so too Jesus spends his time with tax collectors, sinners, lepers, the marginalized. One might question whether this is the best way to spread his message. And Jesus leaves his mission in the hands of the apostles, who had shown themselves to be less than a reliable group. Once again, the question could be asked, where is the strategy in that?  

Johnson explain it: “Jesus' investment in his disciples shows that he simply will not give up on them, in spite of their many failings. We trust that he will not give up on us either, but will keep working on whatever is hardened, rocky, or thorny within and among us.”

Johnson suggests that we “avoid playing it safe, sowing the word only where we are confident it will be well received.”  She calls us to be creative and “take risks for the sake of the gospel” by generously “sowing the word, even in perilous places.”  The priests and deacons of the Upper Room community have created the soil to allow those of us who are willing to live out this creative and risk-taking approach.   

And in our first reading, we have another excellent example of this. We hear from Nadia Bolz Weber -an admittedly imperfect messenger -taking the Word to a potentially perilous place—a Superdome full of teenagers! And what is the message she delivers. She essentially tells the young people that God needs them and will use them---all of them. That they are chosen not despite their weaknesses but because of them.  Weber echoes the words of Elizabeth Kulber-Ross who notes “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, suffering, struggle, loss”  

So, let’s really try to take the words of the first reading to heart. “Don’t ever think that all you have to offer are your gifts.” The Divine will use it all—the joys and the tears, the successes and the failures, the light and the darkness because all of these make you the person you are.  

We are called to continue, with all of our own imperfections, to generously and relentlessly work the soil in the expected, as well as the unexpected places and, like Jesus, to believe that we can produce something truly beautiful.

Shared Reflections

Kathie: Statement of Faith

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.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

 Dave:  As we prepare for the sacred meal, we   bring to the table our prayers and intentions.

            “We bring to the table all those suffering from COVID including their families and caregivers.

            We bring to the table all those who have experienced racism in the past and present and we pray that all will open their hearts to truly understand this suffering.

            We bring to the table our government officials that they hear and listen to the guiding wisdom of the spirit.

            We bring to the table our sister Nancy who is dancing in heaven with all our family and friends who have crossed over ahead of her. .

            We especially bring to the table Suzanne, Jeanne and Dennis as they experience this great loss.

            We bring to the table Patsy Gunn, the mother of Rev. Shanon Sterringer, who crossed over recently. May Shannon and her family be filled with peace.

            Finally, we bring to the table all who are present on zoom today and all who could not join us that they will experience and know the love of the Divine.

           

Presider 1: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen. 

Kathie: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice:

O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us as we set our hearts on belonging to you. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all creation.

You know our limitations and our essential goodness and you love us as we are. You beckon us to your compassionate heart and inspire us to see the good in others and forgive their limitations. Acknowledging your presence in each other and in all of creation, we sing:

https://youtu.be/9LKivUf48AA

Blessed be our God! 

Blessed be our God!  

Joy of our hearts, source of all life and love!  

God of Heaven and Earth! 

God of Heaven and Earth! 

Dwelling within, calling us all by name!  

Alleluia, sing! Alleluia, sing! 

Kathie: Guiding Spirit, when opposing forces in us tug and pull and we are caught in the tension of choices, inspire us to make wise decisions toward what is good.

We thank you for our brother, Jesus, and for all our sisters and brothers who have modeled for us a way to live and love in challenging times. Inspired by them, we choose life over death, we choose to be light in dark times.

Dave: Please extend your hands in blessing.

All: We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.

All: On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at 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. 

Everyone please lift plate as we pray:

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)   (Community consumes the bread)  

Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:

Take and drink.

Whenever you remember me like this,

I am among you.

(pause)   (Community drinks from the cup)

We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace.

All: Holy One, your transforming energy is within us and we join our hearts with all who are working for a just world.  We pray for wise leaders in our religious communities. We pray for courageous and compassionate leaders in our world communities. 

We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to your Spirit, for it is through living as he lived that we awaken to your Spirit within,

moving us to glorify you, at this time and all ways.

Amen.

Kathie Presider 2: Let us pray as Jesus taught us: 

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 that 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.  

Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter 

Dave: Loving source of our being, you call us to live the gospel of peace and justice. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity in your presence.

BLESSING

Dave:  Please extend your hands in our final blessing.

ALL:  May the Fire of Love ignite our hearts and radiate through us.

May the Spirit truth and justice burn within us.

May we continue to be the face of the Holy One, and

May we be a blessing in our time.

AMEN.

Closing Song: Go Light Your World

Words and music by Chris Rice

https://youtu.be/TUTWR4vVIjU