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Lynn: Welcome and Theme –
Welcome to our celebration of Holy Thursday, known traditionally as ‘Maundy Thursday’ because Maundy is Latin for mandate or commandment. The prescription Jesus gives to his beloved friends and followers during their Passover supper is to love each other as he has loved them. The tenderness and kindness of this love even in the face of danger for Jews in occupied Palestine is our inheritance straight from Jesus. It is a courageous love, a dedicated and insistent love, a love to last in our time and for all time.
Jean: Opening Prayer:
Loving God, fill my heart with the love that you freely give. Make my spirit a spirit of joy, happiness and love for both my friends and enemies. Help me to love as abundantly as you have loved me. I am only able to love because you loved me first. Amen.Opening Song: Come Be in My Heart by Sara Thomsen
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Ann: First Reading: An excerpt from The Last Week
As a Passover meal, the Last Supper resonates with the story of the exodus from Egypt, a story of bondage deliverance and liberation. The first Passover occurred on the evening just before the tenth plague of death to the firstborn in every Egyptian household. In this context, the Passover meal of lamb had two meanings: the blood was put on doorposts so that they would be literally passed over and delivered from the threat of death and secondly, the lamb was food for the journey.
We realize now that the Passover lamb is a sacrifice in the broad sense of the word but not in the narrow sense of substitutionary sacrifice. There is no mention of sin or guilt, substitution or atonement. Rather, the point is participation with God through gift or meal. Meals were always one of the most distinctive features of Jesus’s public activity. He often taught at meals, banquets were topics of his parables and his eating with outcasts with was a controversial topic among the Pharisees. Jesus’s meals were about inclusion in a society with sharp social boundaries.
It is important to note that within this more private meal setting, Jesus must have known that the noose was tightening, that the cross was approaching. He could not have been oblivious to the hostility of the authorities, and he may have regarded his arrest and execution as inevitable — not because of divine necessity, but because of what he could sense happening around him.
These are the inspired words of Marcus Borg and Dominic Crossan and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Second Reading: The Last Supper that Lasts Forever
Take and eat, this is my very self.
For with you and in you, I am my very self.
In me, you are a genuine article, true to yourself.
To be otherwise would be to miss out
on the wisdom of the Holy One
who has, with every loving intention
created you to be exactly who you are
and precisely who you are becoming.
Take and drink. Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
This drink is the fountain of eternal life,
springing up, rushing and abundant.
With this drink, your thirst for justice is to be quenched,
your hope for peace is to be fulfilled.
your faith in tomorrow is to be rejuvenated.
When you love one another as I have loved you,
I am with you always, even to the end of time.
(Lynn Kinlan 2021)
This reading is based on the inspired words of our Upper Room prayer of consecration and the community affirms it by saying, Amen.
Dennis: Gospel Acclamation
Judy, Bernie and Dave: Gospel of John 13: 1-15, 34
It was just before the feast of Passover and Jesus sensed that the hour had come near for him to pass from this world to Abba God. He had always loved his own in this world but now he showed how perfect this love was. On this day, he would tell those gathered at table a new commandment: “love one another as I have loved you.”
During supper, Jesus rose from the table, took off his outer garments and wrapped a towel around his waist. He then poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of his followers and friends of many years and dry them with the towel.
Jesus silently approached Peter with basin and towel.
Peter: “Rabbi, you’re not going to wash my feet, are you?”
Jesus: “You don’t realize what I’m doing right now, but later you’ll understand.”
Peter: “You’ll never wash my feet!”
Jesus: “If I don’t wash you, you will have no part with me.”
Peter: “Then, Rabbi, wash not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus: “Any who have bathed are clean all over and only need to wash their feet.”
After the washing of feet, Jesus returned to the table and said to all those assembled,
Jesus: “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me “Rabbi” and “Master”—and rightly, for so I am. If I then—your rabbi and master—have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done.
These are the inspired words of the gospel author known as John and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Homily Starter by Lynn Kinlan
John’s gospel allows us to be a fly on the wall, watching Jesus and his inner circle in an upstairs room celebrating how God delivered their people from slavery in Egypt. But this Passover is not like any other Passover. This is also Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday. This evening is also about giftedness.
The first gift expressed in our second reading, was of his “very self” to always be “among” them; our Upper Room doesn’t imagine Jesus in earthbound terms of body and blood which are fleeting. We believe in an Easter Jesus who transcends to remain with us always.
The next gift is foot washing. What was he thinking when he came up with that? Our first reading suggests that it was only a matter of time before imperial Rome had to act on the draw of boisterous and loyal crowds around Jesus. People were calling this Jesus “the heir of David’, the King of a thousand years before Jesus who had reunited the tribes of Israel. The Roman military flooded Jerusalem with an armed presence designed to prevent trouble. Jesus was living on borrowed time.
Our hearts break for him on this evening in a rented Upper Room as he faces his own mortality. For years, he has tried to prepare his followers for the time when he will no longer be with them but in Spirit. He has done all he can to embrace outcasts and everyone else he encountered walking the dusty roads. Is it enough? Do they get how deeply he loves them? Do they see how much he believes in them? Do they really?
If Peter is any example, Jesus unsettles, even shocks them by washing feet. Now foot washing was a thing in those days. Roads outside of Rome were beaten dirt paths; it was a luxury to kick off sandals if water were near and wash your feet. Priests did so before entering the tabernacle, wealthy people had slaves wash the feet of visitors to their homes. For a Rabbi to perform this duty was humbling, maybe even embarrassing.
What better way to show love than to wash feet including probably, the feet of Judas? What better way to show the way to serve? And Peter, feeling less than, feeling unworthy, tries to keep Jesus at arm’s length. John’s story is about divine love and human resistance to it.
Shortly thereafter, Jesus summarizes the ten commandments with a singular new one— “love one another as I have loved you.” This is his third gift of the evening.
So, how does Jesus love? We all know ….He loves without exceptions, without boundaries, without judgement. But also, with daring and in defiance of tradition. His is not the love of being popular or being the doormat that permits another to take advantage; Jesus’s love is self-protective, true to self, true to the call to see ouselves as blessed, sacred covenant people. Jesus’s love fiercely exerts God’s will on a world that would easily disregard what it means to wash each other’s feet.
The readings carry our Lenten journey near to its end. What did you hear?
Shared Reflections
Deven and Kathie: 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.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Lynn: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we share our intentions.
Intentions – Holy Thursday 4/1/21 (Dennis McDonald)
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.
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.
When their love for you failed, Your love remained steadfast.
All: Open our hearts to your love.
Because of love, you gave us prophets to challenge and guide: Visionaries, dancers, dreamers, and scoundrels. All: Fill our hearts with your love.
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.
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.
Teach us, as Jesus did, to love our neighbors, Our unhoused neighbors, Our immigrant neighbors
All: Set our hearts on fire with your love.
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.
Teach us, as Jesus did, to love our LGBTQ neighbors, our heterosexist neighbors
All: Set our hearts on fire with your love.
Teach us, as Jesus did, to love our neighbors who see race as a barrier to loving others.
All: Set our hearts on fire with your love.
Teach us, as Jesus did, to love and empower others, O Source of all creation, and to love our neighbors as you have loved us.
All: Set our hearts on fire with your love. Amen.
Jean: With open hearts and raised hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice:
O Compassionate One, we treasure how you accompany us in times of loneliness and danger as well as in moments of sweet gratitude and joy. Your love and light are a beacon, helping us to see the way. You guide us with the example of Jesus and the saints to strive to love without exceptions, to respect every living being without boundaries and to make our world more glorious with each passing day.
Sometimes, the striving to love is a challenge too great and we falter; but we are drawn back again and again to your tender care, your constancy and the tender giftedness of belonging to You. We acknowledge Your gift of our companions on this earthly journey. Their divine sparks sustain us, inspire us and dare us to become who we have been created to be. May all that we do flow from our deep connection in You and with all of creation. Knowing You as the fountain of all love, we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
Lynn: Holy One, our hearts are filled with gratitude for our brother Jesus, whom You sent to show us the way. On this Holy Thursday, we imagine the bittersweet mix of love and uncertainty that may have filled his heart during the Last Supper in Jerusalem. During an era of Roman military might, Jesus bravely spoke to crowds of thousands and was paraded in public with Hosannas. In a time of entrenched religious traditions, he radically proclaimed a new vision of Sophia wisdom and love for the dispossessed that was the hearsay of the Passover holiday week.
Thank you for sending among us such a model of humble generosity and extravagant love as Jesus. We pray for the courage and strength of character to live as he lived and love as he loved.
Jean: Please extend your hands in blessing as we pray together:
Just as Jesus sat with seder companions, we come together, aware of your Spirit in us and among us. We are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be a light in the darkness.
Anticipating the likelihood of betrayal, arrest and death, Jesus wanted more than anything to be with the group of women, men and children who had supported him over his years of public ministry. He wanted to share a meal, exchange stories and create fond memories.
To show the depth of his tender love and imprint indelibly the kind of service they were all called to, Jesus washed and dried their dusty feet. Then, he spoke the newest commandment: to love one another as he loved them.
All lift the plate and pray:
When he returned to his place at the table, Jesus lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift the cup and pray:
Lynn: 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.
(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 communion saying: We are the Face of the Holy One.
Communion Song: How Could Anyone Ever Tell You by Shaina Noll
Lynn: Prayer after Communion: As we participate in memory of Jesus in this eucharist, may we become ever more ourselves and recognize the call to be of service to those in need. May we live each day awakening to Your Spirit and living with gratitude and harmony so as to glorify Your holy name.
Alice: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy One, you are 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.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
Jean: Closing Blessing
Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together:
ALL: May the Fire of Love radiate through us to warm the hearts of those who may see things differently.
May the Spirit of truth and justice simmer within us and warm those in need.
May we always believe and persist as Jesus did — even in times of disappointment and betrayal.
May we love extravagantly but also with a sense of self-protection so that we remain true to ourselves and our call to be One in the Spirit. AMEN.
Closing Song: Until All are Fed by Bryan McFarland
How long will we sing?
How long will we pray?
How long will we write and send?
How long will we bring?
How long will we stay?
How long will we make amends ?
Chorus: Until all are fed we cry out!
Until all on earth have bread.
Like the One who loves us
each & everyone
We serve until all are fed.
How long will we talk?
How long will we prod?
How long must we fret and hoard?
How long will we walk
to tear down this façade?
How long, how long, O Lord?
How can we stand by
and fail to be aghast?
How long til we do what’s right?
How could we stand by
and choose a lesser fast?
How long til we see the light?
On the green, green grass
They gathered long ago
to hear what the master said.
What they had they shared-
Some fishes and some loaves
They served until all were fed.
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