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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155
phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome and Theme:
Denise: Welcome to this gathering of dear friends, the Upper Room Community. Wherever you are on this planet, you are present with us today, and we give thanks to the Spirit who drew you to us. Today we reflect on what it means to keep Jesus in the boat of our lives.
Opening Prayer:
Gayle: Divine Spirit, the noise and turbulence surrounding us is sometimes overwhelming. In those times we fear that we might drown in it. Come to us today as a quiet breeze, a calming voice, a gentle hand. Be our sanctuary, reminding us to live as our brother Jesus lived, so that we may be sanctuary for one another. Amen.
Opening Song: Sanctuary, Carrie Newcomer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjOioWTVAl4
Liturgy of the Word
Readings
Bridget: First Reading “Credo”
I believe in Jesus Christ
who was right when he,
like each of us,
just another individual who couldn’t beat city hall,
worked to change the status quo
and was destroyed.
Looking at him I see
how our intelligence is crippled,
our imaginations stifled,
our efforts wasted,
because we do not live as he did.
Every day I am afraid
that he died in vain
because he is buried in our churches,
because we have betrayed his revolution
in our obedience to authority
and our fear of it.
I believe in Jesus Christ
who rises again and again in our lives
so that we will be free
from prejudice and arrogance,
from fear and hate,
and carry on his revolution,
and make way for his kingdom.
These are the inspired words from Dorothee Soelle’s “Credo” and the community affirms them by saying Amen.
Alleluia
Ann: Gospel – Mark 4:35-41
On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
These are the inspired words from the gospel attributed to Mark, and the community affirms them by saying Amen.
Shared Homily
Denise: Homily Starter:
Today’s gospel tells a vivid story. A boat tossed about by wind and waves, a terrified crew, a sleeping Jesus, who upon awakening both calms the storm and then oddly, it seems, rebukes his companions for their lack of faith. The images are dramatic and visual, evoking deep responses among listeners today, just as they would have done for the People of the Way in the first century. Theologian John Dominic Crossan suggests that this narrative may be a parable written about Jesus, a deep truth wrapped in story, and passed among the followers of Jesus in the years and generations after his death, eventually to be recorded by the author of this gospel. If this is the case, then what is the truth wrapped in this parable?
For me, imagining the challenges faced by the early Jesus movement helps answer that question. We can imagine the turbulence in the decades that followed the death of Jesus; the threat and reality of Roman persecution, internal debates among the people about what made a true follower of the way; who was in and who was out. Mark’s gospel was written right around the time of the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, and the people of the early Jesus movement faced an uncertain future. It must have seemed like the boat of their burgeoning faith was sinking fast. We can imagine that in the midst of this storminess the void of the absent Jesus must have loomed large. The people needed a strong reminder that it was in following the way of Jesus that would keep them afloat, that Jesus himself had told them this time and again while he walked the earth with them. It was in living as Jesus lived, not living with Jesus that would bring salvation to the teetering world. By remaining faithful to the way of Jesus, the way of healing, forgiveness, justice and love, they might retain their identity as People of the Way, despite the storm that raged around them.
Twenty-plus centuries later, we still find ourselves tossed about by the tempests of the world. The strife of division and discord is evident in the church and in the wider society, and like Dorothee Soelle, we might fear that Jesus has left, or been evicted from our boat. For Dorothee though, it is the continuous act of Christ rising in our own lives that calms the storm. Even when we give in to despair, and fail again and again to follow the way, it is Christ who rises in our own selves, and who calls us back to the way of Jesus, who continues to ask us today, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
What are your thoughts about today’s readings? We would love to hear your thoughts.
Shared thoughts on the readings from the community
Thank you for your thoughtful, wise, and sacred sharing. In the spirit of keeping Jesus in the boat of our community’s faith journey, we proclaim our Statement of Faith.
Jim: 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
(Written by Jay Murnane)
Gayle: As we prepare for this sacred meal we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our prayers for the community.
Prayers for the community….
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Denise: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of all creation. Through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We give thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.
We open our awareness to the goodness of all of creation and we remember our responsibility to serve. You invite us to build the earth into a community of love rooted in justice. You placed confidence in us, for you made us and you know that we are good.
In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all the faithful servants who have gone before us and we sing:
Here in this place
Gayle: We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, and revealing us as one with you and all of creation.
He lived among us to show us who we are and challenged us to know you. He taught us the strength of compassionate love.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet, so that they would re-member him.
(All lift their plates and pray the following)
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, this is my very self.
(pause)
(All lift their cups and pray the following)
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 become Communion both love’s nourishment and love’s challenge.
You are called, consecrated and chosen to serve.
Please receive Communion.
Communion Meditation/Song
“How Can I Keep From Singing” by Pete Seeger
https://youtu.be/UxQhxKPbFTY
Prayer after communion:
Denise: Holy One, we are willing to do everything Jesus did, to re-create the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates hope, of a light that illumines people and confronts the darkness of every injustice and inequity.
We trust you to continue to share with us your own spirit, the spirit that animated Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. Amen.
All: Amen.
Denise: 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
Closing Prayer:
Gayle: Today is Fathers Day. On this day let us honor, support, and remember the men in our lives who were and are father figures to us, whoever and wherever they are. We offer this beautiful passage from Meredith May’s book “The Honey Bus” in prayer and thanksgiving for these very special men.
[After coming home from a disastrous first meeting, at age 9 or 10,with my maternal grandfather, a demeaning and judgmental man, I ran to my Step Grandfather and told him:] Mom said, “you’re not our real grandpa.” Grandpa was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he lifted me up and sat me on one knee. He reached for Matthew and put him on the opposite knee. “Now you two listen, and you listen good,” he said. “Pinch my arm.” We checked his face to see if he was serious. “I mean it. Hard as you can.” I squeezed and dug half-moons into his forearm with my fingernails. “Do you feel skin?” We nodded. “Then, I’m real. I’m your grandpa.” … I felt better, but something was still gnawing at me. “What’s step mean?” I asked. “Step just means you’re lucky because you get to have more than one grandpa.” “But Mom said…” Grandpa leaned in until our noses were almost touching and locked eyes with me. “Sometimes she gets confused,” he whispered softly, so only I could hear. He was telling me that it was okay to make up my own mind about whom I wanted for a grandpa. And it was an easy choice because Grandpa’s life had room for us, and wasn’t complicated by tangled family history. He was the adult who looked forward to seeing us, enjoyed teaching us new things and truly cared about our opinions. He loved us the way a parent should.
Blessing:
Gayle: Please raise your hands in blessing. May those who were and are father figures to us be remembered with love on this day, even if they may have fallen short of our expectations. May we find ways to reach out to others, whether kin to us or not, and truly care for them as we are cared for by the Creator who breathed us into this world.
Closing Song:
“Oh My Children” by Sara Thomsen
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