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
Dave: Welcome and Theme: Our Liturgy today challenges us to recognize that viewing religion as adherence to norms and traditions, rather than a quest for a just world for all, creates little light in the darkness of our world.
Terri: Opening Prayer: Holy One, you have anointed us. Help us to find the wisdom and courage to listen beyond the words of the commandments to the message of your heart. Help us to lose our religion of words and find something new - that unspoiled religion James speaks about – a religion that leads us to the honoring and service of others.
Opening Song: You Have Anointed Me written by Mike Balhoff (Dameans)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOYfShuCdrg
Liturgy of the Word
Sharon B. First Reading from James:
My dear sisters and brothers: Every worthwhile gift, every genuine benefit comes from above, descending from the Creator of the heavenly luminaries, who cannot change and is never in shadow. God willingly gave birth to us with a word spoken in truth, so that we may be, as it were, the first fruits of God’s creatures.
Humbly welcome the word which has been planted in you, because it has power to save you. Act on this word—because if all you do is listen to it, you’re deceiving yourselves.
Pure, unspoiled religion, in the eyes of our Abba God, is this: coming to the aid of widows and orphans when they are in need and keeping oneself uncontaminated by this world.
These are the inspired words of the writer known as James and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Alleluia
Rudy: Gospel Reading: Mark: 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23
The Pharisees and some of the religious scholars that had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. They had noticed that some of the disciples were eating with unclean hands - that is without ritually washing them. The Pharisees and Jewish people, in general, follow the traditions of their ancestors and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow. Moreover, they never eat anything from the market without first sprinkling it. There are many other traditions that have been handed down to them, such as the washing of cups and pots and dishes.
So, these Pharisees and religious scholars asked Jesus “Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of our ancestors but eat their food with unclean hands?” Jesus answered, “How accurately Isaiah prophesized about you hypocrites when he wrote:
‘These people honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human precepts.’
You disregard God’s commandments and cling to human traditions.”
Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand. Nothing that enters us from the outside makes us impure; it is what comes out of us that makes us impure. For it is from within - from our heats that evil intentions emerge. “
These are the inspired words of the Gospel writer known as Mark and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Dave: Homily Starter:
The first reading is attributed to James, an early Jewish Christian, but, in truth, there is lack of agreement regarding who actually created these writings and when. Still, to me, the message of the first reading is an inspired one.
James writes that all of the most cherished and meaningful gifts in our lives come from the Divine and those gifts begin with the Word. It is through living the word that we become saved. As has been discussed in previous liturgies, being saved is not about receiving some reward after death, but rather refers to removing any barriers to our relationship with the Divine so that we can renew this earth by serving others. And, in what I thought was a striking moment of clarity, James writes that in God’s eyes religion comes down to aiding the orphan and widow. It seems almost too simple, but isn’t that really what religion should be all about: reaching out to those in need.
In the gospel, Jesus is questioned by the scribes and Pharisees regarding the fact that some of the disciples do not honor the long-held custom of washing hands before eating. The context in which this interaction is occurring is important. First, the religious leaders who are questioning Jesus are from Jerusalem, the place where Jesus will die. Biblical scholars note that Mark includes this detail in the reading to signal the danger that looms. Second, Jesus knows that this questioning about hand-washing is not sincere but rather an attempt to suggest that he deems himself above the law. Jesus’ words are not intended to discredit or minimize the importance of following Jewish laws but rather represent his objections to the Scribes and Pharisees’ tendency to circumvent the true meaning of the laws while publicly proclaiming their adherence to them. In fact, in a different section of that same passage, Jesus says to the Pharisees “You nullify God’s word in favor of the traditions you have handed down.” According to the authors of The Five Gospels, Jesus’ words that there is no need to worry about what is outside us as a threat but rather what is in one’s heart can be interpreted more broadly to signal that following Jesus is to challenge “the everyday, the inherited, the established” and those social norms thought to be sacrosanct.
Joel Marcus (quoted in an article by Matt Skinner of Working Preacher) notes that the misuse of tradition “turns it into an enemy of God, contorts it into a way of excusing injustice and blinds those afflicted by it to their own culpability for the evils that trouble the world.” Jacob Strauss, in his article entitled The Trouble with Dogma, writes that although religion is often a source of hope, comfort, joy and love, “the substitution of dogma for reality has caused unconscionable death and destruction throughout history and continues to prevent progress all over the world.”
To what reality and dogma might Strauss be referring? Is it the reality that the Church’s teaching against all forms of birth control has had the most dramatically negative impact on the most vulnerable, exposing those living at the margins to HIV and unremitting poverty? Or, perhaps it is the church’s continued stand that homosexuality is inherently wrong, even though we are all made in God’s image? And of course, the long-standing tradition of the church to deny the ordination of all who are called—be they women or men, gay or straight, married or single-- even though we are all a priestly people and the world is in desperate need of healers. We’ve all heard the explanations and excuses for this dogma and recall the words of Isaiah: “These people honor me with their lips while their hearts are far from me.”
In his time, Jesus reminded all who would listen—including the powerful-- that adherence to traditions and laws must be rooted in a desire to bring justice to all people. Today, we are called to do the same.
Terri: Closure
Josie: 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)
Terri: 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.
Community Member: Prayers for the community
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Terri: 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:
Holy, Holy, Holy – Here In This Place by Chris Grundy
Dave: 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:
Terri: 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: Who will speak If We Don’t by Marty Haugen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ70EZqlCys
Joyce: Prayer after communion
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.
Ed: 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
Blessing
Terri: Let us raise our hands in blessing pray together:
Holy One, hold us, envelop us in compassion because we are not yet who you made us to be. When we are tempted to fill up the empty spaces with things that create a deeper emptiness, lead us into the fullness of your grace. Let us walk with you today and every day, as priestly people; and if we stray along byways of our own choosing, turn us around and bring us home to the service of others and justice to all. Amen.
Closing Song: Losing My Religion (L. Daigle)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw6_g0aTwt4
I've been an actor on the stage
Playing a role I have to play
I'm getting tired, it's safe to say
Living behind a masquerade
No more performing out of fear
I'm trying to keep my conscience clear
It all seems so insincere
I'd trade it all to meet You here
I'm losing my religion
I'm losing my religion
Light a match and watch it burn
To Your heart I will return
No one can love me like You do
So why would I want a substitute
I'm losing my religion
I'm losing my religion
I'm losing my religion
I'm losing my religion
To find You
I'm losing my religion
And finding something new
Cause I need something different
And different looks like You
I'm losing my religion
And finding something new
Cause I need something different
And different looks like You
I'm losing my religion
I'm losing my religion
I'm losing my religion
I'm losing my religion
To find You
To find You
To find You
To find You
You
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