Photo by Dennis McDonald
Welcome Prayer
Presider: Denise Hackert-Stoner
Welcome,
friends, to this, a gift of time and space; a time to breathe in the sweet
scents of autumn, to feel the crunch of leaves under our feet, to sit in silent
prayer indoors or out, to quietly share thoughts with a friend, or to create
art without interruption.
Let us take
a moment of gratitude for this holy time, for this holy space.
PAUSE
Opening
Prayer:
Holy One,
you are with us always in our everyday lives.
But at this special time, we open ourselves to the presence of your
Divine Love in a mindful way. We drink
you in, allowing you to fill us, as you fill these beautiful surroundings. In
deep gratitude, we pray, Amen.
First Reading:
Falling in Love with What Is, by Tias Little
The journey
itself becomes the guide, the teacher. You only have to leave your self-willed
agenda behind, slough off your doubts and be open to where the path takes you.
As the early Taoist saying goes, “If you fall in love with the road, the Way,
you will forget the destination.” The journey itself is never about
accomplishing anything. It is never about gain. And it is never about getting
anywhere rather than where you are.
On the path everything is constantly changing and everyone you meet unique and different... Each day we cannot know what lies ahead. You only have to take courage and welcome the new territory in front of you. It is an exercise in trust. When you make a habit of receptivity, you learn to love the world and yourself in it just as it is.
Second
Reading: The Avowel, by Denise Levertov
As swimmers
dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.
Scripture Reading: From Psalm 91 (Psalms for Praying, Nan Merrill)
Those who dwell in the shelter of Infinite Light, who abide in the wings of
Infinite Love, will raise their voices in praise;
“My refuge and my strength; in You alone will I trust.”
For You deliver me from the webs of fear, from all that separates and
divides;
You protect me as an eagle shields its young, your faithfulness is sure, like
an arrow set upon the mark.
I will not fear the shadows of the night, nor the confusion that comes by day,
nor the dreams that awaken me from sleep, nor the daily changes that life
brings.
Though a thousand may deride this radical trust, ten thousand laugh as I seek
to do your Will, yet I will surrender myself to You, abandoning myself into
your Hands without reserve.
For You have sent your angels to watch over me, to guide me in all my ways. On
their hands, they will bear me up lest I dash my foot against a stone. Though I
walk among those who roar like the lion, or are as stealthy as the adder, in
your strength will I be saved. Amen.
Closing
Prayer: As we enter the darkness of this
holy night may we rest in that Love which is pure, glorious, enduring, and
true. And may we arise in the morning as
messengers of that Love. Amen.
Closing Song: As the Moon by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/qkDwd0uv178
Feel free to stay here in the Healing Center as long as you wish. Throughout the weekend feel free to use the art supplies in main room downstairs, make use of the private sitting rooms for quiet conversations, walk the trails here at the Center, write about your experiences in the journals provided in the main room. You are free to borrow one of the books we brought from our collection at the Upper Room as well, or simply sit quietly. You might, while making your way around this chapel or the rest of the Healing Center, find small writings typed on paper. Think of these as "Easter Eggs," little surprise words of wisdom for you to enjoy. You will be invited to share them at our Sunday morning liturgy if you wish. We will meet for breakfast tomorrow morning, followed by morning prayer.
Morning Prayer
Presider: Denise Hackert-Stoner
Opening
Prayer: Psalm 118, adapted by Nan Merrill
This is the
gate to Life;
those who
know Love shall
enter
through it.
I give
thanks to You, O Beloved, who
answer our
prayers
and invite
us to new Life.
The stone
which the builders rejected
has become
the foundation
of our
lives.
This, O
Eternal Listener, is your work;
it is
marvelous in our eyes.
This is the
day which You have made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
First
Reading
Once upon a
time, when women were birds,
there was the simple understanding that
to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk
was to heal the world through joy.
The birds still remember
what we have forgotten,
that the world is meant to be
celebrated.
~ Terry Tempest Williams
Second
Reading
All around
us, to right and left, in front and behind, above and below, we have only to go
a little beyond the frontier of sensible appearances in order to see the divine
welling up and showing through. But it is not only close to us, in front of us,
that the divine presence has revealed itself. It has sprung up universally, and
we find ourselves so surrounded and transfixed by it, that there is no room
left to fall down and adore it, even within ourselves.
By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us,
penetrates us and molds us. We imagined it as distant and inaccessible, whereas
in fact we live steeped in its burning layers. As Jacob said,
awakening from his dream, the world, this palpable world, which we were wont to
treat with the boredom and disrespect with which we habitually regard places
with no sacred association for us, is in truth a holy place, and we did not
know it.
~ Teilhard
de Chardin
Scripture
Reading: Genesis 28:10-17
Jacob left Beersheba and set out
for Harran. When he reached a certain
place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the
stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He
had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top
reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on
it. There above it stood the Holy One, who said: “I am
the the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will
give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your
descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to
the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on
earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and
will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to
this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have
promised you.”
When Jacob awoke from his
sleep, he thought, “Surely the Holy One is in this place, and I was
not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How
awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this
is the gate of heaven.”
Closing
Prayer: May we recognize every day as a
day made by our Beloved. May every place
we find ourselves, every road we walk upon, be seen in our eyes as a gate to
heaven. And may the actions of our lives
be the altars we build in gratitude.
Amen.
Closing Song: When Jacob Awoke by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/HiKLgFOP7cA
Saturday Mid-day Prayer
Presider: Anne Samson
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As I thought about what to include in today’s midday prayer, the Wisdom of Ecclesiastes came to mind: it focuses a lot on how we use our time and we are wisely taking this time for our renewal. But when I re-read Ecclesiastes, I found it quite disheartening, primarily because most of its awesome wisdom is prefaced by negative statements. The tone of the book is set right at the beginning, as the teacher—identified as the son of David, who we assume is Solomon—is quoted as saying
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
And it ends with his final quote of
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
“Everything is meaningless!”
With effort, I culled some of the good stuff for our use today.
Please join me as I read, if you are so inclined.
The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.
(Ecc. 7, 8-14)
Let’s conclude our midday prayer with this beautiful “oldie.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zx6j4vI8lE
EVENING PRAYER
Presiders: Dennis McDonald and Elaine Pfaff
WELCOME
: We welcome one another to this time of
prayer together!
INTRODUCTION: I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be
with you on this in-person retreat!
On-screen presence in Upper Room is richer than anything I hoped it
could be. Yet I miss the experience of
singing together in person. So, the idea
for this gathering popped up – a time we could immerse ourselves in song,
particularly in the meditative practice of chanting.
Virtually
all the world’s sacred traditions have a powerful practice of sacred
chanting. Chanting goes straight to the
heart. Prayerful chanting in a community
creates a powerful resonant field and pulls us further into coherence and unity
of intention in whatever language is being sung. No doubt we’ve all had the experience of
being moved by music or song in an un-familiar language. Our hearts somehow understand beyond literal
translation.
It’s
magical how it works. A gateway in
over-lapping worlds
Speaking
of over-lapping worlds, we are approaching All Saints and All Souls Day at the
beginning of November. And so, we
lovingly and intentionally bring into our gathering the holy company of loved
ones gone before us.
CANDLE
LIGHTING: All participants light their
candles while speaking the names of beloveds in the fullness of God.
LITANY
OF SAINTS: Sung response, Pray WITH Us
SILENT
REFLECTION
UBI
CARITAS: Where there is love and
compassion, God is there.
https://youtu.be/C-nKwJkqpW4?si=MUy_O6sQ6fTrVixD
Ubi caritas et amor
Ubi caritas
Deus ibi est
ANTIPHON: {recited alternately in two parts 3 times}
Where there is love,
there is God
Here there is Love
God is here
Our beloveds rest in
God with us
SILENT
REFLECTION
VENI
SANCTE SPIRITUS
https://youtu.be/D866MGVFA2o?si=ogu5EP1REjAuyODS
Veni Sancte Spiritus
(3x)
Come,
Holy Spirit, from heaven shine forth with your glorious light.
Veni Sancte Spiritus.
Come,
Mother of the poor, come, generous Spirit, come, light of our hearts.
Veni Sancte Spiritus.
Come
from the four winds, O Spirit, come breath of God; disperse the shadows over
us, renew and strengthen your people.
Veni Sancte Spiritus.
SILENT
REFLECTION
CLOSING PRAYER/SONG: Peace
to You – Weston Priory (Norbert
https://youtu.be/DLX7I9x-5f0?si=IP6v5VU8bGxjMNop
Liturgy Fall Retreat October 25, 2026
Presider: Denise Hackert-Stoner
We come together to
celebrate. We celebrate a weekend spent
in joy and in prayer, among dear friends.
We celebrate our world as it is, a world approaching the darkness of
winter, a world full of uncertainties and wonderful possibilities. And we celebrate the knowledge that like the
autumn leaves that fall, each one leaving behind a bud that contains next
spring’s leaf, everything we need to co-create those bright possibilities for
our world is right here.
Opening Prayer:
Holy One, help us to have
the faith and wisdom of a tree, sure in its deep trust that the darkness of
winter is not an end, but only a time of rest and waiting. Help us to know that, like the tree, we have
everything we need to bloom once more.
Opening Song: Be Still by John McCutcheon
https://youtu.be/ic3LlVs0bjY?si=OsLBOKBA9dyC3axE
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading :
The Wild Geese, by Wendell Berry
Horseback on Sunday morning, harvest over,
we taste persimmon and wild grape,
sharp sweet of summer's end.
In time's maze over fall fields,
we name names that went west from here,
names that rest on graves.
We open a persimmon seed
to find the tree that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us, pass,
and the sky closes.
Abandon, as in love or sleep,
holds them to their way,
clear, in the ancient faith:
what we need is here.
And we pray, not for new earth or heaven,
but to be quiet in heart,
and in eye clear.
What we need is here.
These are the words of
poet Wendell Berry. We affirm his words
with Amen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC4nbwmQDVw
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
When Jesus got the news
(of John the Baptist’s death), he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way
place by himself. But unsuccessfully—someone saw him and the word got around.
Soon a lot of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake to where
he was. When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their
sick.
Toward evening the
disciples approached him. “We’re out in the country and it’s getting late.
Dismiss the people so they can go to the villages and get some supper.”
But Jesus said, “There
is no need to dismiss them. You give them supper.”
“All we have are five
loaves of bread and two fish,” they said.
Jesus said, “Bring them
here.” Then he had the people sit on the grass. He took the five loaves and two
fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread
to the disciples. The disciples then gave the food to the congregation. They
all ate their fill. They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. About five
thousand were fed.
These are the words of
the gospel writer known as Matthew. We
affirm his words with Amen.
Homily Starter:
“What we need is here.”
A whole tree, inside a
seed. A new leaf in the bud as a dead
leaf falls. A supper for 5,000 in a few
loaves and fishes. Why do we doubt that
everything we need is right here?
This weekend has been a
feast of communion, with one another and with the beautiful world of
nature. It has been, in the true sense
of the word, a retreat. We have
retreated from the uncertainty of the wider world. But I hope that, like the leaves with their
buds, like the tree with its seeds, like that crowd of people who tracked down
their grieving teacher because they couldn’t bear to be away from him, we have
come to recognize the peace that is within, the wisdom that lives in our very
bodies and minds, the faith that knows for certain, that yes, what we need is
here, and with it we can meet the world with clear eyes and quiet hearts.
I invite you now, if
you wish, to share a moment, an insight, or, perhaps, one of the little Easter
Egg notes you may have found during your stay here. We would love to hear your thoughts.
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.
Eucharistic Prayer
As we prepare for the
sacred meal we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your concerns or
blessings, beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We pray for these and
all unspoken concerns. Amen.
We are a priestly
people. We are anointed. With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as
one voice:
O Nurturing, Mothering
one, you are always with us. We are grateful for Your constant loving and
unconditional presence. At times we forget that You are holding us, attending
to us. We fall and you pick us up. You send strangers, friends and family to
our aid. We are never without Your Light and Spirit.
We experience great joy
and we experience great pain and suffering. You are with us in the joy and the
pain and suffering. When we experience Your presence, we long to sing our hymn
of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker
https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI
Creator and Lover of
all beings, we cannot grow in the darkness of this world without Your Light.
Our desire to be in Your light is a gift from You. Help us keep our hearts and
minds open to You through our love and care for each other and all creation.
Please extend your
hands in blessing
This bread and wine is
a sign of your nourishment and a sign of your great love. Your Spirit is upon
us and we belong to you and one another.
We thank you for Jesus,
simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, revealing
us as one with you, and all creation.
On the night before he
died, Jesus gathered for the supper with the people closest to him. Like the
least of household servants, he washed their feet. Once again he showed us how
to love one another.
Back at the table, he
took the Passover Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to
them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.
Then he took the cup of
blessing, spoke the grace, and offered it to them 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.
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, “What we need is here.”
Communion Meditation: May the Christ Light, Kathy Sherman
https://youtu.be/tY0Rj9Yd2lk
Loving Source of our
being, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We live justly, we
love tenderly, we walk with integrity in Your Presence.
Let us pray together
the prayer of Jesus:
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 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.
The Prayer of Jesus as interpreted by Miriam Therese Winter
Through Jesus, we have learned how to live.
Through Jesus, we have learned how to love.
Through Jesus, we have learned how to serve.
AMEN.
Please extend your
hands and pray our blessing together
May we learn from every
leaf that falls. May we learn from every
tree that stands. May we learn from
every dear soul we meet. May we know
that everything we need is here.
All: Amen.
Closing Song: Blessings by Hollow Coves
https://youtu.be/5M3JL9sHS5Q
