Upper Room Sunday Liturgy, Trinity Sunday, May 31, 2026 - Donna and Kim Panaro

Zoom:   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155  
phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-865

Light Love Life 

Welcome and Theme 

Welcome to the Upper Room on Trinity Sunday. As we explore the great mystery of the Trinity may we be inspired to live in the flow of the fullness of life, love and generativity. Please hear our opening song as a love song to us from the Trinity. 

  

Opening Song:  Water is Life by Sara Thomsen

https://youtu.be/5rkDa7-vQvQ?si=2hrz4u88Y7Vo242X

 

LITURGY OF THE WORD

  

First Reading: Excerpts from Divine Dance by Richard Rohr

The authentic Christian life and living inside the flow of Trinity are the same thing—and this flow will always be characterized by two seemingly contradictory things. First, you’re going to be constantly yearning and longing for more, the way the Three endlessly desire to give themselves and flow outward. It’s a kind of sacred discontent, a holy dissatisfaction, and a holy desire for more life, love, and generativity. This does not arrive, however, out of a sense of emptiness or scarcity, but precisely because you have touched upon deep contentment and abundance. There’s always still more I can do, more I can include and experience; there are more people I can serve. There is more that God wants to give me, and more God wants to ask of me. Any of these will show themselves at different times in the life of a mature Christian. Never “I am fully there, and I have it all.” A person who is smug is not inside the Trinitarian flow. How can fullness and still yearning for more so beautifully coexist? I have no answer to that, but I know it to be true.

These are the inspired words of Richard Rohr and the community affirms them by saying: Amen

 

Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia Misa Delgado Book1 by Lester Delgado  

https://youtu.be/uilfwfd-U_g?si=Ah4b3OlLRYtVsq6R

Gospel: A reading from the anonymous writer known as John (Jn 3:16-18)

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God

Shared Homily

On this Trinity Sunday we will explore a complicated concept of the Trinity that came to us from Theophilus of Antioch in 180 A.D.: Three persons one God. How can that be? The concept of Trinity points to a great mystery that theologians have been describing in many ways for centuries. Richard Rohr says, “Metaphor is the only possible language available to us when we speak of God, and surely when we dare to speak of the mystery of the Trinity.” Therefore, we have a plethora of metaphors to draw on as we think about the Trinity. I like what Rohr says at the end of the first reading. He says even though this mystery seems hard to understand he “knows it to be true.” I think that is something we can all relate to. Even though we have trouble explaining a mystery like the Trinity we often come to know that the Trinity truly are real.  

The sign of the cross is what many people who are Catholic grew up with that teaches the Trinity is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Other words for the Trinity are Creator, Redeemer and Advocate. Hildegard of Bingen had a vision of a mandala-like image of the Trinity. In her image God is an outer ring of light, the incarnate Jesus is a sapphire blue human, and the Holy Spirit is a gentle glowing fire that connects the Father and the Son. Julian of Norwich described the Trinity as Creator, Companion/Redeemer and Indwelling Love. To guide our discussion today I would like to offer three L’s as a way to think about the Trinity: Light, Love and Life. 

When we apply the three L’s to the gospel reading it is described like this: God is light who sent Jesus who is Love into the world so that we could know and experience the Spirit of abundant or eternal Life. In his book, The Divine Dance, Richard Rohr speaks of the Trinity as the abundant flow of love between the three aspects of the Trinity that we have been created to join or continue. This brings me to the homily helper that I have sitting on the friendship table.

Our first reading speaks of being in the flow of life-giving love. This fountain helps us see the flow. Each bowl is emptying itself into another bowl and then becomes filled again. The water in the fountain could represent love that flows in the Trinity. We are invited to stay connected to this flow so that we can live a life full of meaning and purpose. Rohr points out that once we are part of the flow we experience a deep contentment that motivates us to want more opportunities to give of ourselves. We seek to empty ourselves which can ironically fill us. Love begets Love. 

In closing I would like to say one more thing about the Gospel reading that seems connected to an understanding of the Trinity. The word believe is in the reading three times. The Greek word for believe is Pisteuo which means trust and reliance. Unlike the modern English concept of belief as intellectual agreement, Pisteuo implies a wholehearted allegiance and surrender. A truer understanding of John 3:16 is that whoever relies on or surrenders to the abundant love of God will have eternal life. I would elaborate by saying eternal life could more accurately mean a full life with loving relationships connected to the outpouring love of the Trinity. This is a life described in the first reading as one that flows from abundant love into a holy desire for more life, love, and generativity. 

I believe the gospel reading teaches that because God loves the world so much, if we rely on and surrender to the mystical love of the Trinity, we can have the kind of life God wishes us to have, one that is in the Trinitarian flow where “fullness and yearning for more beautifully coexist.”  

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

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

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

Presider 1: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together:  

 

All: 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: Holy, Holy, Holy by Peter Mayer

https://youtu.be/A4kiEGVb3E8?si=gidHOsHmSb3AC3OZ 

ALL: Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power.  We, your creatures, often deviate from that wisdom, thus hindering your creative presence in our midst. 
 
Sending among us Jesus, our brother, you birth afresh in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the gift of Your Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew, amid the variety and wonder of life. 
 

Presider 2: Please extend your hands in blessing.  

 
All: We invoke Your Spirit upon the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, that they may become gifts of 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 and for the sake of living fully, 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: Rise up and live.

Communion Song: Mystery by Jeremy Geffen and Jim Scott, sung by Susan Osborne

https://youtu.be/sxtQfJg3iFk?si=iyiCB-U7KoNkVYyO 

Prayer after Communion:

In faith and hope we are sustained; in grace and dignity reclaimed. In praise, we thank you. 
 
In union with all peoples living and dead, we unite our thoughts and prayers, asking 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; 
- and to love all people with generosity of heart, beyond the labels of race, creed and color. 
 
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.  

 

Presider 1: Let us pray the prayer 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 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

Presider: Let us pray together our blessing:

May Light embrace you and inspire you to create beauty and know great Love.

May Love flow out from you and fill you.

May you experience the Spirit of abundant, eternal Life.

Closing Song: Love Changes Everything

https://youtu.be/MQEVx6plEI0?si=-D6F_wTtSCM3iXkC

 

Upper Room Saturday Liturgy, May 30, 2026 - Presider: Denise Hackert-Stoner

Zoom:   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155  
phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-865

Welcome, as we gather to celebrate our gifts as a community, in gratitude and love.

Opening Prayer

Holy One, open our minds and our hearts as we gather to listen to your Word.  Amen.

Opening Song: Berakah, The Blessing by Jan Novotka

https://youtu.be/awJwUf6fq7k

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading:  From “Truly Human in a Partially Human World,” by Ilia Delio

Ultimately, it was love that got Jesus into trouble. He loved to the point of tears and did not hold back those tears in the face of death. He healed the unclean, embraced women and raised the dead to life. The humanity of Jesus reveals the openness of the soul to the infinite love of God. His humanity is our humanity; his divinity is our divinity as well. Jesus is not the great exception to what we are but the epitome of what we can become.

These are the prophetic words of Theologian Ilia Delio.  We affirm her words with Amen.

Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips 

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

Gospel:  A reading from the ancient writer known as Mark (11:27-33)

Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem.
As he was walking in the temple area,
the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders
approached him and said to him,
“By what authority are you doing these things?
Or who gave you this authority to do them?”
Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question.
Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 
Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”
They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”– 
they feared the crowd,
for they all thought John really was a prophet.
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”
Then Jesus said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

These are the words of the ancient writer we know as Mark.  We affirm his words with Amen.

Homily Starter  

A first reading of today’s Gospel might give us the impression of Jesus as a canny lawyer finding his way out of answering a difficult question.  And maybe that’s what he was trying to do:  avoid answering a question that might get him into trouble.  But let’s look at the question.  Actually, there are two: “by what authority are you doing these things?” And “who gave you this authority?”

Jesus was a healer.  It was an ability, a gift he shared with many who needed healing.  In his time, many people believed that the ability to heal either came from a benevolent God or from evil spirits.  So, the question was put to him:  which is it?  

Let’s think, for a minute, how we might answer these, or similar, questions.  I know a person with a beautiful singing voice.  If he were asked, “by what authority are you able to sing like that?” and “who gave you this wonderful gift?” I wonder how he would answer.  My daughter has the ability to de-escalate tension in any situation she walks into.  Who gave her that ability?  Who gave her such authority?  

Of course, we now know that talents like these are the result of many things.  Genetics and environmental factors each play roles in forming them, and they are a part of the whole person who carries these gifts; a whole person who is an expression of Divinity. 

Ilia Delio reminds us that like us, Jesus was a whole person.  The gifts he shared were part of his personhood.  And like us, his personhood was an expression of the Love that is God.  Jesus was completely open to that Love, and it flowed through him in the form of healing.  It flows through my friend in the beautiful sound of his singing.  It flows through my daughter in the peace she brings to tense situations.  

So how to answer a question like, “who gave you the authority” to do this or that?  There is no straight answer to the question.  DNA?  Supportive role-models?  Luck?  None of these or a combination of all?  We can’t answer the question simply.  But in all cases, because we are human persons full of the Love that inhabits us, we, like Jesus, can embrace our gifts, whatever they may be, and celebrate and share them, knowing that they are a living expression of the Divine within us.

What did you hear in today’s readings?  Please share your thoughts. 

Shared Homily 

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 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 prayers beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”

We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

adapted from Diarmuid O’Murchu

With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:

Gracious God, source and sustenance of life, redeeming presence to the pain and brokenness of our world, Holy Spirit, who enlivens and inebriates all that exists, we beseech your healing power upon us and all we pray for today.

Down through the ages, you rescue us from darkness. You light up our ways with wise and holy people. You restore our spirits and you revive our dwindling hope.

May the Spirit of life and wholeness transform us that we may be refreshed in our inner being and be empowered to bring mercy, love, and healing to those whose lives we touch.

For all you bring to our lives, and for all we seek amid pain and suffering, we acclaim your love and greatness, and we join with all creation to sing our hymn of praise: 

Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker video by Denise

https://youtu.be/9XywpRw3OPw

Source of our health and wholeness, healer of body, mind, and spirit, we come before you as we are.  We thank you for these bodies, in all their strengths and frailties.  We thank you for our minds, ever enquiring, ever expanding in your knowledge.  We thank you for our hearts, strengthened in your love, yet ever breakable.  We know you love us as we are, even as you call us to become even more. 

Please raise your hands in blessing:

We ask you to awaken anew in our hearts the empowering grace of your abundant Spirit as she infuses these gifts of bread and wine, and all here present, with the transforming energy of life. 

As we gather around this friendship table, we recall God’s blessing and love from ages past, and we celebrate anew the gift of life which we share among us at this Eucharistic feast.

The bread we break and the cup we share are symbols of our world of abundance where all are invited to partake of the fullness of life.

On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for supper with the people closest to him. Like a household slave, he washed their feet. Once again, he showed us how to love one another.

All lift the plate and pray:

Back at the table, he took the Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.

All lift the cup and pray:

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.

We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity. 

Please receive communion saying: “My gifts are an expression of your Love.”

Communion Song: What Shall I Give by Sara Thomsen video by Denise

https://youtu.be/t9rYcvSSRQQ

Prayer After Communion

In faith and hope we are sustained,
In grace our dignity reclaimed,
In praise we thank our God.

Grant that we may strive to create a world where suffering and pain are diminished, where justice and peace are restored, and where all people can live in health and wholeness, united in acclaiming the God of life, whose abundance is offered to each and to all, bringing your Kin-dom into being.

This prayer we make in the name of our healing and nurturing God through, with, and in whom we offer these gifts, sources of life, love, and goodness, now and forever.  Amen.

Let us pray as Jesus taught us:

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 (Miriam Therese Winter) 

BLESSING

Let us raise our hands and bless each other.

May we embrace the gifts given to us through the Love that birthed us.  May we share them widely and in great joy, knowing that we are growing the Kin-dom.  Amen. 

Closing Song: I Am the One Within You by Karen Drucker 

https://youtu.be/2xpa1U_Pa-E