Upper Room Sunday Liturgy, July 28, 2024 - Presiders: Mary Theresa Streck and Deven Horne and Mary Ann Matthys

 Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

Theme: “Mary Magdalene, her legacy is our legacy”

Welcome

Mary Theresa: Last Sunday, we celebrated Mary Magdalene, our Tower of 

Strength. Today we continue that celebration focusing on Mary Magdalene’s legacy as first apostle, her lost Gospel and powerful teachings. We welcome our guests, Lisa Ling, Shannon Luibrand and the filming crew from CBS. We also welcome Bridget Mary Meehan who will be leading us in our homily. 

And so we pray:

Opening Prayer

Deven:  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

Gathering Song: I am willing by Holly Near, video by Donna Panaro, ARCWP

https://youtu.be/6YqHxm7l5Ew?si=I204BfToJi8LMh1Y

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: (Donna) “Mary Magdalene did not look away” by Cameron Bellm

Mary Magdalene did not look away, did not flee.

She stayed and she wept

And she fixed her gaze on the cross, on the tomb.

And because she did not look away,

Jesus, who told stories, became her story, too.

And because she did not look away, she heard him

When he said that the story hadn’t ended, 

That despite a terribly tragic turn, 

The story was really only just beginning.

His story was her story, and her story is our story—

A story of abiding, a story of prophetic witness,

A story of love unfathomably deep.

When we carry spices for anointing,

When we carry wine for celebration,

When we bear witness to love,

May we lift our voices, as she lifted hers—

Tell our story, tell her story, tell his story—

May we say, too, “We have seen the Lord.”

These are the inspired words of Cameron Bellm and we affirm them with, Amen.

Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips 

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

Gospel: (Deven) A reading from the Gospel of Mary

Mary 4:8-10, 5:1-10

Then Mary arose, embraced them all, and began to speak to her brothers: 

 “Do not remain in sorrow and doubt, for his Grace will guide you and comfort you. 

 Instead, let us praise his greatness, for he has prepared us for this. 

He is calling upon us to become fully human .

Thus Mary turned their hearts toward the Good, and they began to discuss the meaning of the Teacher’s words.

Peter said "how is it possible that the Teacher talked in this manner with a woman about secrets of which we ourselves are ignorant? Must we change our customs and listen to this woman?  Did he really chose her and prefer her to us?" 

 Then Mary wept,  and answered him: 

“My brother Peter, what can you be thinking? 

Do you believe that this is just my own imagination,  that I invented this vision?

 Or do you believe that I would lie about our Teacher?” 

At this, Levi spoke up: “Peter, you have always been hot-tempered, and now we see you repudiating a woman, just as our adversaries do.  

Yet if the Teacher held her worthy,  who are you to reject her?

  Surely the Teacher knew her very well, for he loved her more than us. 

 Therefore let us atone, and become fully human  so that the Teacher can take root in us. 

 Let us grow as he demanded of us, and walk forth to spread the gospel, without trying to lay down any rules and laws other than those he witnessed.”

These are passages from the Gospel of Mary and we affirm with, Amen.

Homily: Bridget Mary Meehan

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

Statement of Faith  

Mary Theresa: Let us pray our 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.

Prayers of the Community  

Deven: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to the table our prayers and intentions, beginning with the words I bring to the table.  

Deven: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen. 

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Mary Theresa: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice. 

All: Nurturing One, we are united in this sacrament by Your Love, whose presence we are as we proclaim the liberating power of your Spirit through our humanity and divinity. Your Spirit is rising up in all who work for humanity’s healing and well-being. With thankful hearts, and in the company of all holy women and men, we sing:

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

https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI?si=B9nrtbaddQSzooLU

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

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

Mary Theresa: Please extend your hands in blessing.

 
All: You 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.

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. 

 

(Lift plate)

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.

  

(Lift cup)

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.

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.

Mary Theresa: Please receive communion with the words: Go share the Good News!

Communion Song: Beauty of the Dancer by Sara Thomsen

https://youtu.be/zH-yELyNNMk

Prayer After Communion

All: O Divine Love, your transforming energy is within us and just as you called Mary Magdalene, you also call us to go forth and to share the good news  rising up within us.  May Mary Magdalene, Tower of Strength, accompany us on our journey to live the fullness of our humanity and divinity in every moment of our lives. 

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. 

Deven: 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 

Blessing

Mary Theresa: Please extend Your hands as we pray our final blessing.

May our lives radiate the love of the Holy One. 

May we live justice and equality in our church and world.  

May Mary Magdalene be our model of courage and faithful service.  

We go forth in the spirit of Mary Magdalene, first apostle, 

rejoicing that Love is within us.

celebrating Love outside of us.

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

Please join in singing our closing song: Standing on the Shoulders.

Closing Song: Standing on the Shoulders by Earth Mama

https://youtu.be/gjjKXuceRYQ?si=RfnZOZO1VJYkBfOo

Liturgy prepared by Rev. Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, and Rev. Dr. Mary Theresa Streck, ARCWP

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests: https://arcwp.org 

Bridget Mary’s Blog: https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2024/07/blog-post.html

 

Upper Room Saturday Liturgy, July 27, 2024 - Presider: Denise Hackert-Stoner

 Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

Welcome:  Welcome to our gathering this evening, as we consider what is enough.

Opening Prayer:  Holy One, we gather on this summer evening in joy and in hope.  Joy that we are together in one another’s company.  And hope that our fellow humans and every created thing will experience the fullness and contentment that comes from having enough. 

 

Opening Song:  Gather Us In by Marty Haugen https://youtu.be/ZAxeGOmKE4c

LITURGY OF THE WORD

  

First Reading:  2 Kings 4:42-44

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,
twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits,
and fresh grain in the ear.
Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."
But his servant objected,
"How can I set this before a hundred people?"
Elisha insisted, "Give it to the people to eat."
"For thus says the LORD,
'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'"
And when they had eaten, there was some left over,
as the LORD had said.

This is a story by an ancient storyteller.  We affirm the wisdom of this story with Amen.

Alleluia:  Jan Phillips 

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

Gospel:  John 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes
and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip,
"Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
"Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little."
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?"
Jesus said, "Have the people recline."
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
"Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted."
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves
that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

This story about Jesus is told to us by the writer we know as John.  We affirm the wisdom of this story with Amen.

  

Shared Homily

I’ve told this story before, so I apologize if it sounds familiar.  But I think there is an important lesson in it, which may be worth repeating.  When my daughter was four years old and in pre-school, her teacher pulled me aside at pick up time, concerned because Emily refused to play a group game with the rest of the class.  In the car on the way home I asked Emily about it.  Why didn’t she want to play with the rest of the class?  Emily had an immediate response, which I remember to this day: “because there weren’t enough chairs for everyone.”  As it turns out, the game was musical chairs.  As you know, there is always one fewer chair than players, so that when the music stops and everyone scrambles to find a chair, one person will always be left without one.  Emily hated that game.  Because there weren’t enough chairs for everyone.  Because the children were expected to scramble.  Because it was a cut-throat game in which there was a loser in every round.  It was a horrible game that taught a horrible lesson.  Because there actually were enough chairs, but people kept taking one away every time.  It was a lesson in human-created scarcity.  Sometimes four-year-olds are the best teachers.  

In tonight’s readings, despite all odds, despite all appearances, despite all doubts, it turns out that there is enough for everyone.  Everyone has enough.  Twenty barley loaves feed 100 people.  Five barley loaves and two fish feed a hillside full of people.  In both cases there are leftovers.  What are these two readings telling us?  Are we to take away that Elisha and Jesus have super powers and can multiply food?  That makes a good story, and might convince us to believe something about those two individuals.  But then where would that leave us?  What would we have to learn from that about our own lives?  

I would like to suggest that both Jesus and Elisha were a lot like 4-year-old Emily.  They knew the world in which they lived.  Elisha was prophet during a period of great corruption in Israel, and many people were suffering as a result.  Jesus lived during the Roman occupation, and again, many people were suffering.  Both men saw the resources that were available, understood that those resources were being consumed and hoarded by the few while the many were left without.  They figured out how this game would go, and they refused to play.  I think that these are subversive stories about visionary men who knew that all could be fed, against all odds, despite all appearances, despite all doubts.  There could be enough for everyone.  And there still could be, if only we choose to walk the path they trod.  There could be enough.  Enough food.  Enough chairs.  Enough jobs.  Enough room.  Enough love.  Enough.  Enough. Even a four-year-old knows this.

What did you hear in tonight’s readings?  Please share. 

  

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. 

 

Prayers of the Community

As we prepare for the sacred meal, we voice our intentions beginning with the words, “We bring to the table…..”  

We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.  

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Please join in praying our Eucharistic prayer together:  

 

O Holy One, you have birthed us in goodness, gifted us with life and cherished us in love. In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells; a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth. 
 

In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment, that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with all who sing the ancient hymn of praise: 

 

Holy, Holy Holy: Karen Drucker 

https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI

Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the generosity of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation speaks unceasingly to your creative power.  We are witnesses to the wealth of that creation which overflows with abundance enough to sustain every one of your creatures.
  

Please extend your hands in blessing.  

 
Holy One, Your Spirit dwells within the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape.  They are gifts of wisdom, light and truth, and remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to 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 within them, he bent down and washed their feet.

All lift their plate and pray the following:

When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:

Take and eat; this is my very self.

All lift their cup and pray the following:

He then raised high 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.

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.

Please receive communion with the words:  There is enough.

Communion Meditation:  God of Abundance By Kit Mills

https://youtu.be/SAqqVXxvuGI

In faith and hope we are sustained; in grace and dignity reclaimed. In praise, we thank you. 
 
In love we unite our thoughts and prayers, as we seek wisdom and courage: 
- to discern more wisely your call to us in the circumstances of our daily lives; 
- to act justly and courageously in confronting the pain and suffering that desecrates the Earth and its peoples; 
- to take risks in being creative and proactive on behalf of the poor and marginalized; 
- to love all people with generosity of heart, beyond the labels of race, creed and color.

-  to invite all to the table of plenty, where there is enough food, enough drink, and enough love for everyone.
 
And may we ever be aware and alert to the new things Your Spirit makes possible in us, as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty, into the fullness of life to which all are called, participating in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation. 
 

Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways. Amen.  

 

Let us pray the prayer Jesus: (Miriam Therese Winter)   

O Holy One, who is within, around and among us,

We celebrate your many names.

Your Wisdom come.

Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us,

Each day you give us all we need;

You remind us of our limits, and we let go.

You support us in our power, and we act with courage.

For you are the dwelling place within us, 

the empowerment around us,

and the celebration among us, now and forever.  Amen  

BLESSING

Let us pray together our blessing:

May we walk the path of abundance walked by Elisha and Jesus.  May our hands be open and may our hearts be full.  May we bestow both blessings and bread.  May our lives reflect the extravagant love of our Beloved.  Amen.

Closing Song: At This Table by Idina Menzel 

https://youtu.be/n9Xf4cHOcwQ