Valentine’s Day: Liturgy of Fire – The Spirit Within and Around Us
Dennis - Welcome and Theme: Welcome to our celebration today, a day which marks 47 years from when Ed & Margaret became engaged, and 44 years from when Jeanne and I became engaged. As we gather this Valentine’s Day, we are reminded that love, in all its forms, is a fragile, life-giving gift that must be nourished, cherished, and lived every day. It is not always a smooth ride and it is not always everlasting as fairy tales would have us believe. But as our reading from Corinthians assures us, love is, out of faith, hope, and love, the one that is greatest, for faith and hope flow from Love, the Love that is born within us to share with each other and the world.
Margaret - Opening Prayer: Opening Prayer: Loving God: Be present to those in need in these trying times especially the poorest and those most at risk of being left behind.
Transform our fear and feelings of isolation into the Things We Do For Love. Amen.
Opening Song: It’s Always Love | Carrie Newcomer
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: Ginny & Mike
A reading from Sr. Joan Chittister
At most, there are two ways that can launch us into an experience of real love.
The first is a journey that takes ruthless self-criticism as its base. It means that, however long this relationship lasts, I must regularly ask myself whether or not I am really attending to the other. Do I hear the other and, most of all, do I respond? Have I tried to determine what it is that the other needs from me right now and then, if necessary, negotiate the giving of it? Am I really trying to come out of myself for the sake of the other?
The second consciousness of love is that the world is not a world of one—me. Love makes space for the insights of others, for the opinions of others, for the very separate goals and hopes of others who are also struggling both to be themselves and to enable the one they love to do the same.
As Anna Strong writes, “To fall in love is easy, even to remain in it is not difficult; our human loneliness is cause enough. But it is a hard quest worth making to find a comrade through whose steady presence one becomes steadily the person one desires to be.”
Love is not a mold that makes two people the same person. Love is the dream that enables both of us to be our own best person—together. Love knows no one can fill up in us what we lack in ourselves. But coming to live what we know about love for the sake of others, as well as for our self, is the one thing that can possibly stop the restless sleep that comes with loneliness.
These are the inspired words of Sr. Joan Chittister, and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Second Reading: Donna & Kim
A reading from John Foley, SJ (adapted by Dennis McDonald)
Look at what love is doing. What about love in your own life?
Have you discovered that love is quite a bit more than pretense, more than an ideal, more than just a thing we crave from others, and certainly more than just pleasure? Have you seen that learning to love is the very air inhaled by such everyday importance as work, relaxation, attractions, happiness? Without love’s living atmosphere none of these could breathe, and neither could we.
Jesus says the same in no uncertain terms. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.
“What?” we might exclaim (as I did in college). I thought that law consisted of commands forced upon me from the outside, rules whose violation would bring punishment. What is this about law depending on love?
Take a look.
God does not fail at love. God waits. God says, “how wonderful that you are learning!” God says, “I love every person on earth. And you—you are my beloved. I am at your side as you learn to open to me and to others.”
Do you and I succeed in this? Well, we need laws to help us. But the root of law and of life is fair care of others. It is loving concern under God for human persons. Ultimately this is a replication of God’s love for us.
“Look at what love is doing.”
These are the inspired words of John Foley, a member of the Society of Jesus.
Alleluia - Dennis
Third Reading: Lynn & Bernie
A reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians (13: 1-7, 13)
Even if I can speak in all the tongues of earth—and those of the angels too—but do not have love, I am just a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy such that I can comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge, or if I have faith great enough to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own to feed those poorer than I, then hand over my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, and it is not snobbish; it is never rude or self-seeking; it is not prone to anger, nor does it brood over injuries. Love doesn’t rejoice in what is wrong but rejoices in the truth. There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.
There are, in the end, three things that last: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
These are the inspired words from the First Letter to the Corinthians, and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Homily Starter
Margaret: The Things We Do For Love...
Love in marriage has many ups and downs, it can be finding out what the other needs over 46 years. Love is the Dream we started that enables both of us to be our best persons together. As Joan says. ”Do I hear the other and how do I respond.”
My responses over these years I hope have been for Love. I have a short story that I think demonstrates the things “we all do for Love.”
We were living on Long Island not far from Jones beach, which I loved. Loved our Cape Cod house, loved the friends I had made and my job teaching Pre-K.
Ed was working for the state at the Harlem office. Not a great commute especially when it was raining. “The Things we do for Love.”
He put in for a transfer to Albany. I kind of hoped it would not happen. Well the transfer came through. “The Things we do for Love.”
My response was OK I can do this for the love of Ed, this move will give him more years of a good life and I like “snow. “ We moved and it was a big climate adjustment. Albany broke some records in the winter of 87. 90 inches of snow in Jan. My neighbor joked the snow usually stops by the 4th of July. “The Things we do for Love.”
34 years later we have loved many opportunities that have come our way. We have made wonderful new friends, I have had 20 years of a fantastic teaching job, we have become members of a wonderful new liberating church, and our children have received a great education and grown into amazing adults. “The Things we have done for love.”
Dennis: John Foley, in our second reading, speaks of how the air we breathe in everyday situations helps us learn to love. He states, “without love’s living atmosphere none of these could breathe, and neither could we.” All three of our readings today speak of love not from the fairy tale version of “happily ever after”, but of the work that must go into it. It is the everyday experiences we have with others that encourages us to be open to the other, to see the love imbued in the other by the Divine. This is not always easy, and Foley shares that he thought that was what laws were for, to make sure the rules were followed, or else. But in reality, even the 10 Commandments were all about love and community. The Jewish people were wandering the desert, and if they were going to survive they had to be community, to act out of love toward each other. They had to respect each other, treat each other with dignity, not destroy someone’s reputation, or harm someone physically. They had to respect each other’s possessions, not jealously covet them. They had to honor the wisdom of their elders, not disregard it. John Foley says it this way, “it is the fair care of others. It is the loving concern under God for human persons.” Margaret says, it’s “the things we do for love”. The two commandments of Jesus, love God and neighbor, encompass the 10 commandments. Love is definitely work, no denying that; it is a daily attitude to find the innate love of the Divine in each person we encounter. It is responding to “look at what love is doing” even with all the joy and pain. In the end it’s what am I doing to bring love to others, to be love for others, to grow in love with others? And in the midst of all of this God waits at our side as we constantly learn to be a replication of Divine Love.
Ed: Regarding Paul’s hymn to love which was our third reading, we have heard many times at weddings and elsewhere “Love is patient, love is kind….it does not brood over injuries”. I would like to share something a friend told me just a few weeks ago. He was visiting his widowed mother and there was a couple who would take walks past her house most days. On this particular day as they walked past they appeared to be arguing rather heatedly. My friend’s mother said to him, “How nice it is to have someone to argue with.” What her comment says to me is that we can argue and disagree with someone and still love them.
Perhaps at this time in our country love does not require that we forget or ignore injuries. It would be foolish to pretend the events of January 6th did not happen. So the question becomes how do we acknowledge those events, react to them but not, in Paul’s words, “brood over them”? How do we hate the evil acts of January 6th, but love those who committed them?
Please remember to unmute your microphone when sharing your own reflections.
Shared Homily
Statement of Faith: Dotty & Joan
We believe in one God, 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 God's Word,
bringer of God's healing, heart of God's compassion,
bright star in the firmament of God's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of God's love,
a source of God's wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of God's peace in the world.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the life of God that is our innermost life,
the breath of God moving in our being,
the depth of God living in each of us.
We believe that God's 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.
Jeanne: As we prepare for this sacred meal we remember that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our blessings, our gratitude and our cares and concerns.
We bring to the table…..
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions, Amen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Ed: O Divine Fire of Love, glowing embers dance in our hearts. Our souls are purified by the searing truth that ignites our spirits and by the fire that penetrates the cold around us, setting our hearts aglow with tenderness.
How often have we felt tender love that is without limits or boundaries! How often have we been consumed with delight by love in a human touch! How often have we been embraced through Earth's beauty, a part of the beloved creation that surrounds us! We are energized to work for justice and peace in our world and we raise our voices with grateful hearts as we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in This Place
Margaret: Holy Mystery, may we listen with assurance and excitement as the infinite, boundless, depths of love are revealed within and among us. May we awaken to the promise that we are always, no matter what the obstacles or setbacks we experience, embraced with love and compassion. May we be consumed with such a hunger and thirst for justice that our words and actions inflame others to become signs of justice. May we have eyes to see human need, hearts to care for our sisters and brothers and hands and feet to lighten others' burdens.
Ed: We are thankful for Jesus, and his strong, but gentle presence, whose message of love blesses and transform our lives. He showed us how to live as your new creation.
The night before Jesus died, he gave us a special gift of love divine. He took bread, broke it and shared it with friends who gathered around the table saying:
Take and eat,
This is my very self.
Margaret: Then Jesus took a cup of wine, praised God, shared the cup 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)
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.
Receive the bread and cup, recognizing the Divine Love within you.
Communion Meditation: Love Changes Everything sung by Michael Ball & IL Divo
Ed: May we become Spirit-Fire, as we fan the flames of love over the entire cosmos.
May all of our families and friends, the young and old, the sick and dying and all those in need experience nurturing love this day.
May all creation dance and become one heart, one mind, one spirit with everything. May we touch the earth with reverent awe and live in harmony with all creatures. May we turn away from all efforts to dominate anyone or anything. May we see the divine presence shining in the stars and in the sun. May we embrace the universe's treasures and celebrate life's simple pleasures each day. May love kindle our friendship with all life, as we dwell as one with all of creation.
Let us pray the Prayer of Jesus:
Jeanne: 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
Final Prayer (please extend your hands in blessing)
Margaret: May the Fire of Love ignite our hearts and radiate through us; may the Spirit of truth and justice burn within us forever. May we share the love we have experienced with all of creation and may we live always as instruments of faithful love. Amen.
Closing Song: True Colors | Cyndi Lauper performed by One Voice Children’s Choir
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