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phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome and Theme: Lynn and I welcome you to The Upper Room Community Liturgy. Our theme today is Abundant Generosity. You will hear of Elisha, a man of God, feeding a hundred people and the well-known Gospel of the loaves and fishes. But we invite you to expand your vision of this story to focus on the boy with the five barley loaves and two fish. A boy who, while Philip and Andrew struggled with the staggering task Jesus set out for them, willingly and graciously offers, ‘Here, Jesus, you can have these.’
Opening Prayer: As we gather today, may we recognize how richly blessed we are, individually and collectively. We open our hearts and eyes to the needs of the many. May we, like the boy with the loaves and fishes, step forward without invitation or hesitation. Help us share whatever we have not with skepticism but as a radiant reflection of Divine Love and generosity. Amen.
Opening Song “Room at the Table” by Carrie Newcomer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92OM5bdQ4N4
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Jill: First Reading: Kings 4: 42-44
Elisha returned to Gilgal at a time when there was a famine in the land. A man came from Baal-Shalishah, carrying twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe corn, along with some ears of new corn. “Give it to the people to eat, Elisha said.
“How can I serve it to one hundred people?’ Gehazi asked.
Elisha replied, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what Yahweh says, “They will eat and have some left over.” Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of God.
These are the words of Samuel, known as the author of and the Book of Kings and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Brigid: Second Reading: “It’s Rigged” by Rumi
These are the inspired words of the 13th century poet Rumi and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Alleluia: Dennis
Bernie: Gospel Reading: John 6: 1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A huge crowd followed, impressed by the signs he gave by healing sick people. Jesus climbed the hillside and sat down with the disciples. It was shortly before the feast of Passover.
Looking up, Jesus saw the crowd approaching and asked Philip, “Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat? Jesus knew very well what he was going to do but asked this to test Philip.
Philip answered, “Two hundred days wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a mouthful!”
Andrew then said, there is a young boy here with five barley loaves and two dried fish; but what good is that for so many?”
Jesus said to them, “Have the people sit down.” As many as five thousand families sat down on the grass. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting there; he did the same with the fish, giving out as much as they could eat.
When they had their fill, he said to the disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked them up and filled twelve baskets with the scraps.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “Surely, this is the prophet who was to come into the world.” Sensing that they were about to come and carry him off to crown him as ruler, Jesus escaped into the hills alone.
These are the inspired words of the gospel writer known as John and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
------------------ Pause for silent reflection ------------------
Shared Homily: Lynn
Today’s gospel is part 3 in a Hebrew trilogy of miracles of feeding the hungry. In the First Book of Kings, the prophet Elijah in the 9th century BCE, multiplied flour and oil to save a widow and her son from starvation. In today’s reading from Second Kings, the prophet Elisha multiplies 20 loaves to feed 100 during a famine. And ultimately, Jesus multiplies 5 loaves and 2 fish into more than enough for 5,000 families.
We can’t be sure according to the Jesus Seminar, that the story of the loaves and fishes actually happened as reported even though it is the only Jesus miracle appearing in all four gospels. First century gospel writers used the story to place Jesus in a tradition at the core of Jewish culture; the importance of hospitality and responding to the needs of others. They depicted Jesus as feeding more hungry people than earlier prophets to show that he was greater than any who had come before him.
What really happened on that hillside in the story of a spellbinding orator and the young boy ? Is it a story of a generous miracle or is it a story about miraculous generosity?
If it is a divine Jesus miracle, then we are reminded that all things are possible with God. If it is the spontaneous sharing of whatever families have brought for themselves, begun by one young boy, it shows us that we live in a world, “rigged in our favor” as Rumi puts it. Perhaps, the story is a bit of both with Jesus performing the miracle of empowering thousands to co-create.
Either way, the gospel reminds us of what we know is worth living for:
- • we can learn from the least and youngest among us;
- • We take to heart that life is filled to overflowing with surprising grace, a wealth of astonishing, random beauty and blessings beyond our understanding.
- • Like the families on the hillside, we are Jesus with each other and for each other. We are blessed to bring Jesus with us to every hillside, to everyone we meet;
In our second reading, Rumi states that “there is a gold mine in you”. Certainly, the boy in the gospel shines with initiative and kindness. But, not every rock in the mine is gold— miners hoist pickaxes and sift gold from silt to uncover gems. It is the work of our lifetime to search for sparks of the divine or to uncover fiery divine nuggets of gold within ourselves and others.
We are not the sum of our wealth; our time and our hearts are priceless gems aching to be given away. Giving of ourselves requires that others accept help and allow us to shine. Those who are given food in the trilogy of Hebrew stories participate with the givers. The interchange between giver and receiver is a blessed service for both.
Rumi points out that when each of us finds gold, “we lay aside the wonderment of earth’s gifts” from loaves and fishes to fame and fortune and we take up what is foundational – our relationship with the Holy One.
Terri and I wish you a lifetime of prospecting for the gold mine within and withdrawing to the mountain alone in the gracious company of fellow prospectors like the young boy, Elisha and Jesus.
Shared Reflections
Suzanne D. - Let us pray our Statement of Faith together
All: 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.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER OF BELONGING
Lynn: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this table our intentions.
Dennis offers intentions on behalf of the community
Terri: We are a priestly people. We are anointed. With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
O Nurturing, Compassionate One, You are always with us. We are grateful for Your constant loving and unconditional presence. At times we forget that You are holding us, attending to us. We fall and You pick us up. You send strangers, friends and family to our aid. We are never without Your Light and Spirit.
We experience great joy and we experience great pain and suffering. You are with us in the joy and the pain and suffering. When we experience Your presence we long to sing our hymn of praise:
Holy Holy Holy Here in this Place – Holy Holy Holy
Creator and Lover of all beings, we cannot grow in the darkness of this world without Your Light. Our desire to be in Your light is a gift from You. Help us keep our hearts and minds open to You through our love and care for each other and all creation.
Please extend your hands in blessing
All: This bread and wine is a sign of Your nourishment and a sign of Your great love. Your Spirit is upon us and we belong to You and one another.
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, revealing us as one with you, and all creation.
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for the Seder supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet. Once again, he showed us how to love one another.
All lift the plate and pray:
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 the cup and pray:
Lynn: Then he took the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
By Your Spirit we are transformed. Every time we share this bread and wine we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as You love us.
Through him, we have learned how to live.
Through him, we have learned how to love.
Through him, we have learned how to serve. AMEN.
Please receive communion saying: I am richly blessed with the Presence of God.
Communion song: “What Shall I Give to You?” by Sara Thomsen
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UUTs9qa5h3g&feature=share
Lynn: Loving Source of our being, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We live justly, we love tenderly, we walk with integrity in Your Presence.
Sharon: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
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.
- Miriam Therese Winter
Terri - Please raise your hands for our Closing Prayer:
All: We leave today with open hearts and hands, recognizing the simplicity of the young boy’s offer of fish and bread, and the abundance generously and freely shared by the Spirit of the Holy One. “What can we offer each other?” is an important question, but as Jesus demonstrates, the more important question is, “Who can we be for each other?” Amen.
Closing Song: “Stand by Me” cover by Acapella Soul
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