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Welcome/Theme
Welcome to all - in this room and on zoom.
Today we will consider Jesus’ teaching of economic justice & equity. Further,
since Yom Kippur begins tonight at midnight, we stand with our Jewish sisters
and brothers as they mark
this Day of Atonement by fasting, intensive prayer, and abstaining from work,
food, and drink.
Opening Song: The Ghost of Tom Joad – written and
performed by Bruce Springsteen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nbe2O-mJmc
Lyrics:
Men walking along the railroad tracks
Going someplace, there's no going back
Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretching around the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleeping in the cars in the southwest
No home, no job, no peace, no rest
Well, the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and he takes a drag
Waiting for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box beneath the underpass
You got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathing in the city's aqueduct
Well the highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed, everybody knows
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad
Now Tom said, "Mom, wherever there's a cop beating a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me, Mom, I'll be there
Wherever somebody's fighting for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helping hand
Wherever somebody's struggling to be free
Look in their eyes, Ma, and you'll see me"
Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
Opening Prayer: The Conversation by Jan Phillips
A conversation in the year 2050 between a boy and his
grandfather
Grandpa, did you know it was happening?
Well, sort of.
There was news about it, but it didn’t seem too real.
How did it feel when you couldn’t eat the fish
anymore?
Well, that was hard.
We never thought that would happen.
Didn’t they warn you?
Not really. I guess some tried to, but not in a big
way. Not like on television, or even
much in the newspapers. You had to
really want to know. People just didn’t
care that much. We were pretty busy then.
Pretty caught up in our own lives.
What about the forests? Didn’t you know how much we needed them just
to breathe?
People never thought about that connection, son. We
needed that timber. Companies needed it for their business. That’s what was important back then.
Business.
But why would you let
them take away everything we needed? Why
did you let them make all those stupid things out of plastic? Why didn’t you save some of the oil for us?
I swear, we never thought we’d use it up. We weren’t
trained to think about the future. No
one taught us how to think. We did the
best we could do, day by day.
I thought you were smart. You had your own business, didn’t you?
Yes.
If you were so smart, why didn’t you stop them from
ruining all the water? Didn’t you ever think
that I might want to swim like you used to?
It’s not like that.
Oh yes, it is.
If you were so smart you would have known what was happening. But you
didn’t care. It’s your fault.
It’s not my fault, son. There were millions of us
here. Everyone was to blame.
Then why didn’t they stop it? Why did they ruin things for us? Why didn’t
you care enough to do something? Why?
Why? WHY?
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: The True Fast
(Inspired by
Isaiah 58, read on Yom Kippur, Author Unknown)
The gates are
swinging open, heavy brass and gold,
while outside in the autumn chill, the unhoused stories unfold.
We strike our breasts for private sins, we skip the morning bread,
but hunger is a systemic ghost that demands to be unfed.
This is the fast
the Sovereign seeks: to break the heavy yoke,
to tear down every ledger where a worker’s spirit broke.
Not just to share a single loaf, or hand a coat away,
but to rewrite the very laws that keep the poor at bay.
The ram’s horn
shakes the sanctuary, a sharp and piercing cry,
it asks us why the corporate tower reaches for the sky,
while minimum wage remains a floor that drops into the deep.
Awake, it screams to comfortable souls, awake from structural sleep.
These are the
inspired words of an anonymous author inspired by Isaiah, and the community
affirms them by saying “Amen.”
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia written
by Josh Blakley
https://youtu.be/CnWAjWvArto?si=irRy_4SK92-VTF12
Gospel: A reading from the anonymous writer known
as Matthew (Mt 20:1-16a)
Jesus told his
disciples this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o'clock,
the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.'
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o'clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o'clock,
the landowner found others standing around, and said to them,
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
'Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.'
When those who had started about five o'clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So, when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'
He said to one of them in reply,
'My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
These are the inspired words of the anonymous writer known as Matthew and the
community affirms them by saying “Amen.”
Shared Homily
The Jewish High Holy Days, the
International Day of Peace and the Fall Equinox represent a confluence of
noteworthy days. As you all know, last Friday, we remembered those lost 25
years ago on September 11th. Rosh Hashana began at
sunset last Friday as well. Tonight, at sunset, Yom Kippur begins and tomorrow
September 21st is the International Day of Peace, and the eve of the
Fall Equinox. Rosh Hashana is the celebration of the Jewish New Year,
marking the anniversary of the creation of the universe and humanity. Yom
Kippur is the Day of Atonement in which forgiving those you have hurt is a
starting point. September 11th and September 21st
are days to immerse ourselves in a desire for peace. And the Fall Equinox
is about balance, transition and the natural cycle of release; it marks the
exact moment when the sun sits directly above Earth's equator, creating nearly
equal amounts of daylight and darkness. As we consider the transition of this
season, when nights grow longer, might we be aware of the opportunity to slow
down and reflect on where forgiveness and peace manifest in our lives.
When Mary Beth suggested our meaningful
opening song, I had to research Tom Joad from the Springsteen song. He is a
fictional character from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, which was
a story about migrants heading west during the Great Depression and the Dust
Bowl. However, “Springsteen’s song isn’t about Tom Joad’s life in the
1930s – it takes his story and weaves its themes into present day America:
homelessness, unemployment, migrant workers, poverty, people living under
bridges and people being pushed to the margins.”[1]
Which brings us to today’s Gospel story of
the workers in the vineyard. If I were among the workers hired at dawn, I would
certainly be cranky when I learned that those hired at 5pm got the same wage as
those of us who worked all day. “Hey - wait a minute! That isn’t
fair!” In this story, Jesus’ deeper message is about justice and equity.[2] The early workers
agreed on a fair daily wage and that is what they received. Maybe those workers
still waiting at 5:00 p.m. to be hired were people who had been pushed to the
margins. Perhaps they stood there hungry and unwashed, their clothes worn and
tattered, and the people hiring simply looked past them. Jesus, who is all
about justice for the poor, is emphasizing that it is up to the landowner (and
to us) to be extravagantly generous to those who are suffering.
In our first reading, The True Fast, the
author has created a poem inspired by Isaiah 58. God is calling us to wake up
to the needs of those who are suffering in an unjust society. The poem is a
call to action. It reminds us of the unhoused, the hungry, the worker whose
spirit is broken. It speaks of rewriting laws that keep the poor at bay. The
powerful image of corporate towers reaching for the sky, while minimum wage
drops into the deep describes the injustice that oppresses so many. The
last line of the poem is the loudest call to action. “Awaken, it screams
to comfortable souls, awaken from structural sleep.”
Although I have mixed feelings about the
power and impact of AI, I still asked my friend ChatGPT to reflect upon Tom
Joad, Yom Kippur and the Fall Equinox. I was stunned by the words as they
formed on the page. How did ‘it’ know what I was struggling to say? Here is the
result of Chat’s synthesis of my ideas throughout this reflection.
“Perhaps this is what the turning of the
season asks of us: to notice who is standing at the edge of the vineyard, who
has been overlooked, who is carrying a burden we cannot see. Yom Kippur invites
us to reckon with what we have done and left undone. The Fall Equinox reminds
us that balance is never permanent; it is something we continually seek. And
Tom Joad reminds us that our lives are bound together - that another person’s
hunger, loneliness, or injustice is not entirely separate from our own.
As the days grow shorter and the leaves
begin to fall, may we make room for both reflection and renewal. May we
acknowledge where we have fallen short, forgive what can be forgiven, and open
our eyes to those who are too often unseen. And may we remember that even as
one season ends, we are given the grace to begin again.”[3]
1Text generated
by ChatGPT, OpenAI, September 16, 2026, https://chatgpt.com/
[2] Fugelsang,
John, Separation of Church and Hate, pg. 186
[3] Text generated by
ChatGPT, OpenAI, September 17, 2026, https://chatgpt.com/
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
Prayers of the Community
As we prepare for the sacred meal, 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 the unspoken
blessings, cares, and concerns held in the
silence of our hearts. AMEN
Eucharistic Prayer
Please join us in the praying of the
Eucharistic Prayer.
Great Mystery surrounding us, we lift our
hearts to understand that our spirits are
one. You are with us, and we live.
Everything lives because of you, and everything is
one. Your wisdom moves among us like the
wind, and we are blessed.
So now we enter the oneness of creation,
attune ourselves to join in the harmony, let us embrace that oneness with
thankfulness and joy.
And so, we join with all of creation and
sing in glory for the beauty that encircles us.
Holy, Holy, Holy: Music - John
Bacchus Dykes, words by Peter Mayer, video by Denise
Hackert-Stoner
https://youtu.be/A4kiEGVb3E8
Creator of the whole universe, we glory in
the environment, especially forests, that
surround us. May we have the vision and
strength to protect all forest ecosystems and
the whole of Your creation, which have
been corrupted by human exploitation, pollution,
and destruction, so that the whole of
creation may be renewed and made whole,
We join with the earth and with each
other, to bring new life to the land, to restore the
waters, and to refresh the air.
We join with the earth and with each other
to renew the forests, to care for the plants, to
protect the creatures.
We join with the earth and with each other
to celebrate the seas, to rejoice in the sunlight,
to sing the song of the stars.
We join together as many and diverse
expressions of one loving mystery: for the healing
of the earth and the renewal of life.
We join together and call the Spirit upon
the gifts of the earth, bread and wine, as we bless them and remember our call
to be the Body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he died, he sat at a
table with friends and relived with them his work,
his teaching and wisdom of the universe.
Then he went among them as servant, washing
their feet, touching their hearts.
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 the Bread of Life for all who
hunger for peace and justice.
Pause
Then he took the cup of blessing, spoke
the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink the Cup of Compassion for a
broken world.
Pause
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 the blessed bread and cup
with the words: “I care about the future.”
Communion Meditation: Raise up the
Good, Emmaus Productions, Monica Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94xx-TS_8kU&list=RD94xx-TS_8kU&start_radio=1
Post-Communion Prayer
Mystery of Life present in the whole
universe and in the smallest of your creatures,
embrace with tenderness all that exists.
May the power of divine love rain down upon us,
that we may protect life and beauty. Help
us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of
this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the
world and not prey on it, that we may sow
beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch
the hearts of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach
us to discover the worth of each thing, to
be filled with awe and contemplation, to
recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey towards divine
light and love. We are thankful for the
pulse of life that fills us each day. May we be
encouraged and strengthened for our
struggle for justice, love and peace in the world.
Amen.
(adapted from Laudato Si Prayer by Pope
Francis I)
Prayer of Jesus
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Our Father, Holy Mother,
Creator of the Cosmos, source of life.
You are in my mind, in my garden, in my
cup of wine and loaf of bread.
Blessed be your names:
Mother, Allah, Goddess, Beloved, Great
Spirit, Radiant One,
Yahweh, HaShem, Sophia
Your presence has come, your will be done
On earth as it is in the cosmos.
May we give each other strength, mercy
Tenderness and joy
And forgive each other’s failures,
Silence, pettiness, and forgetfulness
As we ask to be forgiven
By those we’ve hurt.
Lead us home to ourselves and each other,
To clarity, to oneness
And deliver us from the darkness
Of our ignorance and fear.
So, we pray and so we receive. Amen
By Jan Phillips
BLESSING
Let us raise our hands and pray our
closing blessing:
Blessed are you, Lord God,
maker of all living creatures.
On the fifth and sixth days of creation,
you called forth fish in the sea,
birds in the air, and animals on the land.
You inspired St. Francis to call all
animals
his brothers and sisters.
We ask you to bless each of us,
By the power of your love,
enable us to live according to your plan.
May we always praise you
for all your beauty in creation.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your
creatures! Amen.
(Blessing in honor
of St. Francis of Assisi)
Closing Song: Peace Train written
by Yusaf/Cat Stevens, performed by Playing for Change (Featuring Yusaf!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QpjR6-Uuks&list=RD0QpjR6-Uuks&start_radio=1
