Friday, October 30, 2020

Upper Room Liturgy - November 1, 2020 - All Saints and All Souls Day Liturgy - Presiders: Julie Corron, ARCWP, and Tim Perry-Coon

Don’t forget the time change! We fall back one hour this week.


Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via Zoom
Here is the Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155

phone-in for (audio only).
Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155


November 1, 2020 Liturgy of the Beatitudes


Welcome and Theme: 

Julie: Good morning and welcome to the Upper Room. Our liturgy this morning celebrates All Saints and All Souls Day with the theme of Extravagant Blessings. We are indeed blessed to have you with us today.


Opening Prayer: 

Tim: Holy one, we celebrate today to connect with each other and to remind us of Your presence. We belong to You and You belong to each of us. Today we consider our saints, those who inspire us to get up when we feel beaten down, to speak when others cannot speak, to see clearly the path we must follow, those who have gone before us or are around us now. May we always be aware of your presence and great love. AMEN. 


Peace and Opening Song: Julie: Before we begin the Liturgy of the Word, let us take a moment to settle ourselves, find a bit of peace within ourselves and each other. Please join us in singing Namaste. https://youtu.be/Hxf8QFTkYY8

LITURGY OF THE WORD

 

Readings 


Bridget: Our first reading is from Nadia Bolz Weber.


What if the beatitudes aren’t about a list of conditions we should try and meet to be blessed? What if these are not virtues we should aspire to but what if Jesus saying blessed are the meek is not instructive –what if it’s performative? …meaning the pronouncement of blessing is actually what confers the blessing itself. Maybe the sermon on the mount is all about Jesus’ seemingly lavish blessing of the world around him especially that which society doesn’t seem to have much time for, people in pain, people who work for peace instead of profit, people who exercise mercy instead of vengeance. So maybe Jesus is actually just blessing people, especially the people who never seem to receive blessings otherwise. I mean, come on, doesn’t that just sound like something Jesus would do? Extravagantly throwing around blessings as though they grew on trees?

So if you are here mourning, or feeling forsaken, abused, unseen, or no-longer-useful. If you, perhaps like myself, are all too aware that it is not your strength and virtue that qualify you to be called a saint, but your need for a God who makes beautiful things out of dust, then this meal we are about to eat is for you. It is as much for we who believe we have no need for it as it is for we who believe we are not worthy of it. And know that it is not your ability to do for yourself, but your hunger that qualifies you to be fed. For it is a beatitude meal: the broken, blessed and given body of Christ. So as you come, behold who you are. And as the blessings Jesus pronounced on the mount so long ago – know that it is here that you become what you receive.

These are the inspired words of Nadia Bolz Weber and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.


Alleluia   


Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12A


Bernie: A reading from Matthew.


When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountainside, and after he sat down and the disciples had gathered around, Jesus began to teach them:


“Blessed are those poor in spirit:
the kindom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who are mourning:
they will be consoled.
Blessed are those who are gentle:
they will inherit the land.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice:
for they will have their fill.
Blessed are those who show mercy to others:
they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are those whose hearts are clean:
they will see God.
Blessed are those who work for peace:
they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted because of their struggle for justice:
the kingdom of heaven is theirs.


“You are fortunate when others insult you and persecute you, and utter every kind of slander against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven is great.”


These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Matthew and the community affirms them by saying AMEN!


(Pause)


Homily Starter: 

Tim: During the years attending Catholic elementary school, I was enthralled by the litany of saints during Mass on the Solemnity of All Saints: “St. Peter, pray for us. Saint Brigid, pray for us.” I was thrilled whenever my patron saint, Timothy, was included in the litany! To me, sainthood was an achievement which seemed unreachable to me—only a special few achieved sainthood. As I got older in my teen years, the Gospel reading of the Beatitudes, always read on November 1, was a path I could strive to follow. 


As my spiritual journey continued after college, I was a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps down in a flood-ravaged area of West Virginia; 2 years later I joined the Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers, the Glenmary Home Missioners, to become a priest. During this time as a volunteer, and the 4 years of my Glenmary study and experience, I strove through prayer and sacrifice and work to live a virtuous life. Yet, I began experiencing what is described by Nadia Bolz Weber, the author of today’s first reading, a disconnect. My path to move from sin to a virtuous life, a theme throughout my Catholic upbringing, the “...list of conditions we should try and meet to be blessed,” was not inspiring me anymore. The prayers and sacrifices of mine, my “good works,” seemed too self-serving, insular from the world. A hierarchical church, lacking inclusivity, concentrating on rites and rituals that emphasized personal sacrifice and salvation and so often silent on society’s justice concerns—I could not continue on. 


While I continued to love the Catholic church, sainthood and the church seemed much bigger than the Roman Catholic church. Nadia Bolz Weber writes that in the Beatitudes, perhaps Jesus was “...blessing the world around him especially that which society doesn’t seem to have much time for, people in pain, people who work for peace instead of profit, people who exercise mercy instead of vengeance.” She implies we can be saints while also being sinners. Take off one’s blinders, look around. Accept the blessing, recognize the saints in all the religions, all genders, races, sexual orientations, cultures. Accept that I can be a saint, today—it is my choice.


So, again we return to the Beatitudes, and the saints around us.


During March and April, I felt so powerless watching my beloved New York City close down as COVID spread, and simultaneously the country and the world. Hospitals filled up, nurses, doctors, first responders and health care staff had and continue to make the difficult decision to treat the infected and risk their lives with infection:

“Blessed are those who show mercy to others...”


I felt stunned by the incredible death toll of my fellow New Yorkers—500 a day, 600, 700, 800 a day, funeral homes overflowing! And for every  person who died throughout the world, there is a friend, a spouse, a child, a parent, a family left to say goodbye in a new, socially distant manner, no church or temple or mosque with open doors:

“Blessed are those who are mourning...”


I watched as our school teachers were asked to immediately learn how to and then begin their teaching online, many students lacking computer resources, with many teachers simultaneously caring for their own young children, with cafeteria workers suddenly needing to get nutritious lunches to student homes:

“Blessed are those who are gentle...” 


I read and watched as cars across the country lined up for hours, in order to receive food they, the newly unemployed, now needing help to put food on the table. Unprecedented and staggering. And I read about the workers and volunteers at the food banks and food pantries who just accepted the challenge, working tirelessly, risking their own health, people donating food, all working to feed the hungry

“Blessed are those whose hearts are clean...”


And then, there was an 8 minute 46 second video, George Floyd tortured and killed, a death we could not ignore, unveiling the unjust daily killing of black men and women in this country, a systemic, long-standing police racial bias that was graphically and clearly exposed. An up swelling of Black Lives Matter demanding reform:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice...”


In mid-October, I read about the remaining 545 immigrant children who were separated from their parents at the border of Mexico over 2 years ago, who have yet to be reunited with their parents. I read about the parents and children living in inhumane conditions on the Mexican border, awaiting their turn to plead for asylum in this country, hoping for a better, safer life, and the people advocating for them:

“Blessed are they who are persecuted because of their struggle for justice...”

 

We and others continually strive to be better, to seek justice, to remain aware of and concerned for the poor, to allow grace to flourish. We do what we can, with the gifts and energy we have. The Spirit is within each of us, we are connected to each other throughout the world, and remain connected even when we have let go of our last breath within the communion of saints. 


This Upper Room community is filled with much wisdom. Please, consider sharing your thoughts.


Shared Homily


Homily Wrap Up: 

Julie: Thank you all for your heartfelt and insightful comments. You are a blessing to our community.


Statement of Faith: 

  
Tim: 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.

 

Julie: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns.  Dennis will read the intentions.


Liturgy of the Eucharist


Tim:  With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:

O Holy One, the first passion of Jesus was his passion for you and for justice so that all may reap the beauty and bounty of Creation in equal measure. Jesus lived to incarnate your justice for all the world according to your covenant with Israel. In solidarity with Jesus, and with all the faithful men and women who have gone before us, we lift up our hearts and sing:



Holy, Holy, Holy https://youtu.be/nTewBnxBy30


Words and Music by Karen Drucker


We are Holy, Holy, Holy. 

We are Holy, Holy, Holy.

We are Holy, Holy, Holy.

We are whole.



Spirit divine, Come to me

Feeling love, Healing me .

Open my heart, Allow me to see,

Beauty & love, Lives in me.


You are Holy, Holy, Holy…


Julie:  Holy One, we celebrate the life of your son and our brother, Jesus. He lived his life and walked forward to his death knowing that you were leading him. We walk forward in his pathway and follow his teaching.


We are standing in the right place with Jesus when we let go of money, possessions, pride and privilege, to become vulnerable and open to you, to accept poverty of spirit and reliance on you. 


We are standing with You when we are compassionate for all human beings, and when we extend empathy and love to everyone, especially the poor, oppressed, and mournful. We remember all those who suffer and die each year from war, poverty and unjust disease. We mourn for them, and for all creatures we destroy, and for the earth itself.


Tim: We are blessed when we are gentle, nonviolent, courageous and humble, like your saints. We pray to grow in awareness of our unity with all of creation and co-create with You our earth as a sanctuary of peace.


We rejoice, O Holy One, as we join the lineage of Your prophets of justice and peace. We, Your daughters and sons, continue to work with Your grace as we arise and walk forward in the footsteps of our peace-loving brother, Jesus.


Julie: On the night before he died, Jesus did more than ask us to remember him.  He showed us how to live in humility and generosity when he washed the feet of his friends.


All lift their plates and pray the following:


Tim: At the table, he took the Passover Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:

Take and eat of the Bread of Life

Given to strengthen you

Whenever you remember me like this

I am among you.  (pause)


All lift their cups and pray the following:


Julie: Jesus then raised a cup of blessing, spoke the grace 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. (pause)


Tim: 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.


Julie: You are the face of God and a blessing to us all.


All consume their bread and wine at this time.


Communion Meditation/Song: We Are All Angels by Karen Drucker https://youtu.be/DwsQFuivQrU



Prayer after communion: 

 

Tim: Holy One, we trust You to continue to share with us Your own Spirit, the Spirit that filled Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, his loving and healing that all honor and glory is Yours. Amen.


Julie: 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


Tim:  Let us raise our hands and bless each other.


May we be blessed with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships.

May we seek truth boldly and love deeply. 

May we continue to be the face of the Holy One, and 

May our names be a blessing in our time.


Julie: Please join us in singing Anthem by Tom Conry

https://youtu.be/HP2gwC5TGFs



The Eucharistic Prayer is adapted from Beatitudes for Peace by John Dear.


Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Moment of Oneness: - October 28, 2020 - Loving our Neighbor



Here is the Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6407485611
Meeting ID: 640 748 5611
If you're not able to attend by Zoom, feel free to dial in by calling:
+1 646 558 8656
Meeting ID: 640 748 5611


Moment of Oneness: Loving Our Neighbor 

Created by Kathleen Bellefeuille-Rice, RCWP


Opening Prayer: Words of Valerie Kaur (from See No Stranger pages 310-311) Reader 1: Love is a form of sweet labor: fierce, bloody, imperfect, and life-giving—a choice we make over and over again. Love can be taught, modeled, and practiced. It engages all our emotions: Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger protects that which is loved. And when we think we have reached out limit, wonder is the act that returns us to love. 

Reader 2: “Revolutionary love” is the choice to enter into labor for others, for our opponents, and for ourselves in order to transform the world around us. It is not a formal code or prescription but an orientation to life that is personal and political, rooted in joy. Loving only ourselves is escapism; loving only our opponents is self-loathing; loving only others is ineffective. All three practices together make love revolutionary, and revolutionary love can only be practiced in community. 

Reader 1: Seeing no stranger begins in wonder. It is to look upon the face of anyone and choose to say: You are a part of me I do not yet know. Wonder is the wellspring for love. Who we wonder about determines whose stories we hear and whose joy and pain we share. Those we grieve with, those we sit with and weep with, are ultimately those we organize with and advocate for. When a critical mass of people come together to wonder about one another, grieve with one another, and fight with and for one another, we begin to build the solidarity needed for collective liberation and transformation—a solidarity rooted in love. 

Reader 2: Loving Source of Life, we stand before you with open hearts to discover the ways of Revolutionary Love. Help us to learn to love all our neighbors, to wonder about those who are different than us and to see no stranger in the faces we meet. All: Amen. 

3. Litany of Loving by Chett Pritchett, 2011. (adapted for this service) 

Reader 1: Holy One, Out of love, you swept over the waters and hovered over the face of the deep. Your love created all that was, all that is, and all that will be. All: Open our hearts to your love.

Reader 2: Out of love, you brought your people out of oppression. Your love gave them a law and a land. All: Open our hearts to your love. 

Reader 1: When their love for you failed, Your love remained steadfast. All: Open our hearts to your love. 

Reader 2: Gracious One, Because of love, you gave us prophets to challenge and guide: Visionaries, dancers, dreamers, and scoundrels. All: Fill our hearts with your love. 

Reader 1: Because of love, you sent Jesus of Nazareth, the full expression of your love. He healed the sick; he ate with sinners; he loved with abandon. All: Fill our hearts with your love. 

Reader 2: Because of love, Jesus called together his disciples so that we might walk in the way that leads to love. All: Fill our hearts with your love. 

Reader 1: Passionate One, Teach us, as Jesus did, to love our neighbors, Our unhoused neighbors, Our immigrant neighbors All: Set our hearts on fire with your love. 

Reader 2: Teach us, as Jesus did, to love our neighbors of different faiths or who have no faith at all. All: Set our hearts on fire with your love. 

Reader 1: Teach us, as Jesus did, to love our LGBTQ neighbors, our heterosexist neighbors All: Set our hearts on fire with your love. 

Reader 2: Teach us, as Jesus did, to love our undereducated neighbors, our neighbors who see race as a barrier to loving others. All: Set our hearts on fire with your love. 

Reader 1: Teach us, as Jesus did, to love and empower us, O God of all creation, to love our neighbors because out of love, you first loved us. All: Set our hearts on fire with your love. Amen. 

Reader 2: And so together we sing...

4. Song: We Are One by Joyce Johnson Rouse/Earth Mama 

https://youtu.be/DHCnT5PT-ew 


Refrain: We all live on the same earth, we fish and swim in the same oceans, we breath the same air and gaze at the very same moon, we feel the warmth of the same sun, We Are One! 

I have sisters in Nicaragua, their skin is burning, from the chemicals used in the fields, where they make their living. I have brothers in Indonesia, their eyes are stinging from the burnings of the rainforest trees to clear them for grazing. 

Refrain: We all live on the same earth, we fish and swim in the same oceans, we breath the same air and gaze at the very same moon, we feel the warmth of the same sun. We Are One! We Are One! We Are One! We Are One! 

2) We have elders in ancient forests, who mourn the passing of species of flowers and birds crowded out by our taking. And there are children in war-torn countries, they are all of our children, they can’t remember a nighttime of peace with no shooting or crying. 

Refrain: We all live on the same earth, we fish and swim in the same oceans, we breath the same air and gaze at the very same moon, we feel the warmth of the same sun. We Are One! We Are One! We Are One! We Are One! (repeats 2 more times)

Closing Prayer

Reader 1: Our response to this Franciscan blessing is Amen! May the Holy One bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. All. Amen 

Reader 2: May Holy One bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. All. Amen

Reader 3: May Holy One bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. All. Amen 

Reader 4: And may Holy One bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. All. Amen 

Reader 5: With hearts on fire, let us go forth from here empowered to live a life of Revolutionary Love by loving our neighbors and seeing no stranger among us. All: Amen.

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Celtic Spirituality - Week 2 - led by Lindy Sanford-Martinez

Intro to Celtic Spirituality: Seeing the Holy One in All Creation

Week Two


Blessing Each Moment



A blessing is a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal and strengthen.  John O’Donohue 



“Like billowing clouds,

Like the incessant gurgle of the brook

The longing of the spirit can never be stilled.”

Hildegard of Bingen



(Open with discussion of what we have seen in Nature this past week.)

     Blessing Each Moment is a Celtic practice that helps bring loving attention to daily life by using little prayers to celebrate ordinary tasks we do each day. There is a beautiful book of Scottish blessings called the Carmina Gadelica, collected by Andrew Carmichael in the 19th century in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. It is filled with blessings of the day’s unfolding.


       Celebrating ordinary tasks with short prayers are expressing gratitude for the activities of the day.  The Jews use a mezuzah on their doorways to act as a constant reminder of God's presence. Some Christians wear a necklace with a cross or a fish on it as a reminder of their faith and gratitude.   The steam rising from my coffee, sunrise, a bird singing from a tree branch outside, the doorbell announcing a friend’s arrival, remembering that every meal that nourishes my body. Getting into the car, turning on the range to cook dinner, walking the dog, laying down to rest.   Gratitude for all these things bring us closer to God. 



Practice: 


      Consider using a short prayer of gratitude or two you already know this week.  Or you might write a brief one or two that you would like to use.  My first prayer each morning is “Blessed be God, blessed be God forever.”  as I take my first sip of coffee!  

       

      Did Blessing Each Moment brighten your days?  How did expressing your commitments and your gratitude affect you?  Write a paragraph or two in your journal about this practice.


We rise today,

Through the strength of heaven:

Light of the sun, radiance of the moon.

Splendor of fire, speed of lightning,

Swiftness of wind, depth of sea,

Stability of earth and firmness of rock.

We rise through the strength of heaven

We rise today


Monday, October 26, 2020

Anointing of Tom Going - Dennis McDonald, ARCWP, and Mary Theresa Streck, ARCWP

On Monday, October 26, Dennis and Mary Theresa anointed our beloved Tom Going. We presented him with a prayer shawl from the Upper Room Community. 


Opening Song: May the Longtime Sun by Sara Thomsen

https://youtu.be/Zgf6CzjAx40



Anointing 


MT: Let us gather around Tom as we invoke the grace and blessing of the Holy One on him. 


ALL:  Glory be to you Source of all being, Eternal word and Holy Spirit Sofia, as it was in the beginning is now and will be forever. Amen 


MT: Loving Source of Life, from our mother’s womb you pronounced our names and you have soothed us saying, “Do not worry about tomorrow”. 


DM: We thank you that you pour out your Spirit upon us within each day.


We thank you that your loving blessings are sufficient for us within each moment that we live. 


ALL: We pray for our beloved brother Tom that he will know your peace in his heart.  We ask for a peace that surpasses all understanding and guards his heart and mind. A peace offered by Jesus every minute of every day.


DM: May Tom rest into your promises and lean back into your love for him with total confidence in your loving providence. Remove from his heart all painful anxiety.  


ALL: We believe with a most lively and unlimited confidence that we are safe in the arms of your Divine Providence when we are most vulnerable. 


MT:  Tom, the same spirit that moved in Jesus dwells in you and fills you with love and peace beyond all imagination.  All of your loved ones and the communion of saints join us in prayer. In their name and in the name of the Holy One we now anoint you for your healing journey.  


Anoint with oil (invite family if they wish to do so)


Tom, bless your mind, and bring it rest. 

Bless your eyes, and give them rest.

Bless your ears, and give them rest

Bless your arms and hands, and give them rest

Bless your heart, and give it rest. 


DM: The Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community presents you with this prayer shawl and we pray:

The Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community presents you with this prayer shawl and we pray:

O loving one, renew Tom this day in your love.

Grant him life as a gift of your faithfulness.

Grant him light to journey by,

Grant him hope to sustain himself.

May this mantle be for Tom a sign of your healing presence.

May it warm him when he is weary.

May it surround him with ease of his suffering.

Tom, receive this shawl.

Curl it around you,

Close it over you,

And enter into

The warm peaceful quiet stillness of God's love.

Amen


MT: We believe we exist in the Divine, beyond the many names we use: Breath of Life, Creator, Source, and Sustainer of everything that exists. Everywhere we look, this energizing presence comes to visible expression. We believe that each of us gives this presence and source a unique way of doing so, as has TOM in his life. 

 

DM: Everywhere we look, we can observe the perpetual rhythm of new life, followed by death, followed by new life. So we do not believe that death is the final end of anything. Rather, it is a transformation in the continuation of the ebb and flow of existence in ways we do not understand. 


MT: We give thanks for the many ways, Tom, that your life has touched ours. We give thanks for the generosity of your loving ways. We give thanks for your faithfulness and delight in life. We give thanks for the ways you nurtured, encouraged, and supported us. We give thanks for your courage. We give thanks for the life you share with us. Amen.  


ALL: TOM, you are embraced by the Holy One and by all who are praying for you.  May you feel the power of divine love healing, comforting and strengthening you. In the name of the Source of All Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit Wisdom. Amen.


Closing Song: Berakah - the Blessing by Jan Novotka




https://youtu.be/awJwUf6fq7k