Holy Mystery, Creator of all life, I take this moment, this one precious moment to be in your light and embrace. “When I rise up, let me rise up joyful like a bird. When I fall, let me fall without regret like a leaf” Wendell Berry
Reading – Letter to the Upper Room Community by Eugenie Mukeshimana
As theearly morning mist settles over thevalleys of Ivuko Eco-Farm, wearereminded each day thattransformationbeginsslowly—seedbyseed,treebytree,personbyperson.Becauseofyour encouragement, partnership, and belief in our mission, Ivuko continues to grow into a place of restoration, opportunity, and hope for the surrounding community.
Aseveningapproaches,thehillsarebathedinwarmgoldenlight—adailyreminderofwhy protecting these landscapes matters so deeply.
Ivukoissteadilybecomingwhatweenvisioned:asanctuarywherenature,community,learning, and healing come together.
Everystepforwardismadepossiblethroughcollaborationandthesharedbeliefthatsustainable agriculture can transform lives and communities.
Second Reading – Replenishing the Earth by Wangarai Maathai
Human beings have a consciousness by which we can appreciate love, beauty, creativity, and innovation or mourn the lack thereof. To the extent that we can go beyond ourselves and ordinary biological instincts we can experience what it means to be human and therefore different from other form of life. We can appreciate the delicacy of dew or a flower in bloom, water as it runs over the pebbles, or the majesty of an elephant, the fragility of the butterfly, or a field of wheat or leaves blowing in the wind. Such aesthetic responses are valid in their own right, and as reactions to the natural world they can inspire in us a sense of wonder and beauty that in turn encourages a sense of the divine.
Indeed, it’s because of this connection that people who are religious should be closest to the planet and in the forefront of recognizing that it needs healing.
Addressing it requires a new level of consciousness, where we understand that we belong to the larger family of life on Earth.
Affirmations and Intentions
May Earth’s song reach us in our deepest and wildest places.
May it be heard as we move upon her, as we partake of her sustenance, as we nestle in her waters and grasses.
May we hear the voices of the stones, the winds and the waters, creatures and plants above the human chatter, softly but not silently so we can heed them when we must.
May all those who try to conquer Earth’s powers learn instead from compost and humus and take from them humility, knowing any force conquered is lost forever to the conqueror.
May compassion wrack the polluter’s heart, so stunned by Earth’s gifts their poisons cannot be released.
At long last, may Earth’s protectors throw grand parties where victory is declared in a mighty sign of relief.
May this exultation resound in ocean depths, reverberate in humpback flesh and please all the watery souls.
May whale and wolves rejoice with weird shouts that all is well.
May we have a world’s celebration where everyone stays put, our roots seeking amusements together deep in the Earth, our branches entwined in the winds.
May our grandchildren’s grandchildren share legends of when we brought about the end of the time of arrogance and waste.
May they toss stones from shores, hearing our names echo in the ripples.
So May It Be
Silence to add your own intentions.
Closing Prayer: Source of all creation, we express our gratitude for the beauty with which we have been blessed. Instill in us a responsibility for using it wisely.
Closing Song: GRATEFUL: A Love Song to the World | Empty Hands Music | Nimo feat. Daniel Nahmod
Saying the Holy Rosary is a special focus of prayer and meditation that provides for each of us a state of contemplation and mystical connection.
When aligning to the Grace of Mary, we can have a sense of purpose in praying for others and ourselves. It can be a singular and private prayer or a community endeavor.
For those of us who are becoming steeped in Original Blessing Theology, the traditional prayers of the Holy Rosary can be daunting. When changing the wording to better reflect the concepts of Blessing Theology, it seems important to keep a sense of the timing and inflection of the prayers as we have learned them.
The Companions' Rosary is an attempt to combine the prayers of the rosary within present-day theology of original blessing.
To all whom feel called to pray in this way, prayers and blessings to you. May we all continue to connect, in whatever way we can, to the Holy One, to Mary and to each other.
And so it is.
The Sign of the “Cross”. A Shield of Protection and Love.
The sign of the cross can impress on us the concept of a theology of sacrifice and atonement. The sign of the “cross”, here, building on the trinity and St. Paul's greetings, can also be a Shield of Protection and Love.
In the name of Peace (hand at the forehead)
And Love (hand at the heart)
And Grace (The Infinity sign across from one shoulder to the other, and back to the heart.)
AMEN.
Rose Aglow,
DETrees, 2017
THE COMPANIONS’ ROSARY
Praying the Holy Rosary
In Original Blessing Theology
The Sign of Protection and Love
In the name of Peace and Love and Grace. Amen.
A Simple Companions’ Creed
I believe in the Holy One, Lover, Creator, Enhancer, WHO IS Infinite and Present all at the same time.
Our Field of PEACE in all things.
I believe in Jesus, Friend and Companion, who shows us the Face of God in our human form.
Our Sign of LOVE in all things.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, Our Heart and Soul, moving within and among us.
Our Show of GRACE in all things.
I believe in this, our creed, in our communion of angels and saints and in life everlasting. Amen.
The Prayer of Jesus
(From 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 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 Hail Mary
Hail Mary, Full of grace, Our God is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother and Friend,
Be with us now, at our hour, and beyond. Amen.
The Glory Be
Glory and Joy Be to Peace and Love and Grace.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without End. Amen.
Hail Holy Mary
Hail Holy Mary, Mother and Leader, Our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope. You show us how to live with Courage in our convictions. You teach us to stand by each other with unending support and love.
Thank you for being with us now. Walk this path with us as you did with your son, Jesus. May we follow his example of inclusive love, as you taught him.
O Clement, O Loving, Sweet Mary of Nazareth. Be with us as we look to you.
Praying the Companions’ Rosary
1.Make the Sign of the Protection and Love.
2.Say the Simple Companions’ Creed.
3.On the first bead, say The Prayer of Jesus.
4.Say The Hail Mary on each of the next three beads.
5.Say TheGlory Be on the fifth bead.
6.For each of the five decades, announce the Mystery or a special intention then say The Prayer of Jesus
7.While fingering each of the ten beads of the decade, say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery or Intention. Then say a Glory Be.
8.After saying the five decades, say the Hail, Holy Mary.
Diagram from USCCB, Accessed 9-29-19
A PRAYER FOR YOU
For all who say the Companions’ Rosary, a special Blessing from our Lady and Above. The Angels watch over you in Peace, Grace and Love.
Welcome, as we conclude our celebration of all that is, the beautiful Season of Creation.On this, the feast day of St. Francis, let us see the scripture of the natural world as he did.Let us be glad.Let us rejoice.
Opening Prayer
Holy One, you have gifted us with being.Through eons of evolution, through seasons of becoming, you have led us to this time, to this place.Like our brother Francis before us, our gratitude overflows as we greet you in all we encounter this day. Amen.
Opening Song:Brother Sun (Giving Glory)-Liz Vice from The Porter’s Gate
The older I get, the less use I have for certainty.
Certainty has never made me pull over because the sunset looked like God dropped a jar of peach jam across the whole midwestern sky and decided to be lazy and not clean up.
Certainty has never made me gasp at rain on hot pavement.
Certainty has never found me in the cereal aisle, holding Captain Crunch, suddenly remembering that everyone I have ever loved was made from stardust, hunger, and a series of decisions we probably should have slept on.
No. It has always been awe.
Awe was the first church.
Before steeples. Before committees. Before men got involved and started making rules about skirts.
Awe was there with its wild hair and muddy feet, saying:
Look. Look again. Look until looking becomes love.
These are the words of poet Matt Moberg, and we affirm his words with Amen.
Gospel Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker video by MTStreck
Second Reading: The Canticle of the Creatures, St. Francis of Assisi (Names of God Revised by Denise)
Praised be You, Great Maker, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.
Praised be You, Blessed One, through Sister Moon and the stars, In the heavens, you have made them bright, precious and fair.
Praised be You, Beloved, through Brothers Wind and Air, And fair and stormy, all weather's moods, by which You cherish all that You have made.
Praised be You, Holy One, through Sister Water, So useful, humble, precious and pure.
Praised be You, My Touchstone, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, Source of Wonder, through our Sister, Mother Earth who sustains and governs us, producing varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Amen
These words are attributed to St. Francis, follower of the Way of Jesus.We affirm these words with Amen.
Homily Starter
“Look
until looking becomes love.”
I ask
myself, “how many sunsets have you seen?” “How many wildflowers have you seen?”
“How many smiles have you watched as they transformed faces?” And of course, I
don’t know the answers. Many. Many, many.
But how many have I looked at?
Really looked at, until my looking became love? Way fewer.
We are
busy people. All of us. We have demands put on us,
responsibilities. We are always moving
from here to there, from one place to another.
The sunsets, the beautiful songbirds, the bright insects, the sweet
wildflowers, the brilliant and complicated human beings, they are there, on our
routes, while we move, constantly, from place to place.
The gift
of St. Francis, and the gift of this Season of Creation, for me, has been that
bright call to stop. Sometime during the
day as I move from one task to another, somewhere along the way as I move from
one place to another, this wonderful season, and the great saint of the natural
world, have called me to stop. So that,
like Francis, the Earth and her creatures might become for me both choir and
choir master. So that they reveal themselves as the words and the melody that
have echoed in every scripture ever written, in any religious tradition. So that I might learn their songs of praise
and wonder. So that, like Francis, I
learn to not just hear, but listen; not just see, but look. Until listening and looking become love.
What did
you hear in today’s readings? Please
share your thoughts.
Statement of Faith (for Season of Creation)
We believe in God, who creates all things, who embraces all things, who celebrates all things, who is present in every part of the fabric of creation. We believe in God as the source of all life, who baptizes this planet with living water.
We believe in Jesus Christ, seen in the suffering one, the poor one, the malnourished one, the climate refugee - who loves and cares for this world and suffers with it.
And we believe in Jesus Christ, the seed of life, who came to reconcile and renew this world and everything in it.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, who moves with God and who moves among and with us today.
We believe in everlasting life in God. And we believe in the hope that one day God will put an end to death and all destructive forces. (Lutheran Theological College, South India, adapted)
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
adapted from Diarmuid O’Murchu
Prayers of the Community
As we prepare for the sacred meal, we are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your concerns beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.
Eucharistic Prayer
With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:
O Holy One, you are always with us. In the blessed abundance of creation, we gather to celebrate Your nourishing gift of life. May our hearts be open as You invite us to participate in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation. May we be ever aware of Your Spirit within and among us as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty into the fullness of life.
We are grateful for Your Spirit whose breath inspired the primal waters, calling into being the variety and abundance we see around us. Your Spirit sustains and animates our every endeavor, inviting us to act in wisdom and in truth.
In gratitude and joy, we embrace our calling and we lift our voices to proclaim a song of praise:
As a community, we gather in the power of your Spirit, refreshing wind, purifying fire and flowing water, for the variety and diversity of Creation. We seek to live as Jesus taught us, wise and holy as Spirit-filled people, courageous and prophetic, ever obedient to your call.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
Your Spirit resides within and around us and all of creation, including the bread and wine on this table.You have gifted us with wisdom, light and truth, which 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 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. When he returned to his place, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat;
This is my very self.
Jesus then raised a cup of blessing, spoke the grace and offered the wine 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:Let my looking become love.
Holy One, your transforming energy is always moving within us and working through us. 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.
Prayer of Jesus
Let us pray as Jesus taught us with an eye toward this Season of Creation:
Generous Creator, the intricate and elegant biodiversity of our world is your hallowed autograph on our lives, on our souls and in our hearts.
We yearn for the wholeness of being in harmony with Your will and with all living things.
Each day we draw on your creative, life-giving energy with gratitude, joy, and awe as we find nourishment in seed and field, river and forest.
May we be stewards and co-creators with you in caring for the gifts of Your Creation.
We acknowledge our shortcomings, especially our neglect of the environment. We seek to be reconciled with those we have hurt and we resolve to do better.
With your unfailing wisdom and the wind of Your Spirit, inspire us that we may reach out and love one another and care for the world, our home.
Strengthen us to work for local and global justice so that we may one day reap a harvest of equality and fairness as if they were wildflowers, propagating spontaneously, unerringly and in surprising abundance. Amen.
Lynn Kinlan
BLESSING
Let us raise our hands and bless each other.
As we travel through our busy days may we note the call to stop.May we take the time to wonder at the beauty that surrounds us in nature and in the people making this journey with us.May we look.Until looking becomes love.Amen.
Closing Song: Let the River Run, Carly Simon video by DHS
Note:I was so happy to learn of Matt Moberg’s poem “All’ve It” just in time for Season of Creation.It’s a very long poem, and well-worth reading in full.You can find it here:
