Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via ZoomHere 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
Welcome everyone. We are in the process of setting up our new space and making sure our technology is working well so we can continue to share liturgy together. In the midst of Covid we have become a new and I daresay improved community. We are here for each other, and we are a blessing for each other. May we continue to see each other with eyes of love and live our lives to the fullest.
Opening Song: You Can Relax Now
https://youtu.be/z-mfPQIEaUA
Opening Prayer
Holy One, help us have the courage to awaken to greater truth, greater humility, greater care for one another. May we place our trust in what matters and what lasts, trusting in your eternal peace and presence. Amen (Edwina Gately)
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: (Terri)
A reading from The Brothers Karamazov
Love people even in their sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you have perceived it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.
These are the inspired words of Dostoevsky and the community affirms them by saying: AMEN
(Dennis) Alleluia
Gospel: (Deven)
A reading from the Gospel of Mark
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother."
He replied and said to him,
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions
These are the inspired word of a disciple of Jesus and the community affirms them by saying: AMEN
Shared Homily
The recent Gospels we have heard at liturgy are full of people following after Jesus asking him questions. There are Pharisees who are asking him questions to try and trip him up. There are people who are curious and may be hoping what they have been hearing is true. Maybe they are looking for a miracle. And then there are those like the young man in this gospel who are seekers trying to do the right thing, trying to live a better life.
Today’s gospel question is “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And what does Jesus do with this question? He sidesteps it by asking another question. “Why do you call me good? God alone is good. Jesus focuses the young man’s attention away from his goal of inheriting eternal life and refocuses his attention on what is really important---recognizing the goodness of the Holy One and living life now.
What happens to us when our focus is on the Holy One? What do we see? What do we experience? We see as the first reading suggests and what we have been sharing during our Season of Creation liturgies and prayers. We see and experience the Holy One in all creation. We love every grain of sand, every leaf, every ray of light, every animal, and plant. We love everything.
Jesus was attuned, saw and loved all of creation including each of us.
Jesus looked at the young man and loved him. Jesus looks at us and loves us.
In our amazing, loving, full of awareness moments, and I say moments because we often find it hard to stay focused, we are free to give all that we have, our gifts, talents, treasures, indeed we give our very selves. As John Shelby Spong said we are free “to live fully, to love wastefully and to have the courage to be all that we can be”. In those moments we have not just inherited eternal life we are living eternal life right here, right now.
(Mary B)
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
Ginny: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to the table our blessings, cares, and concerns.
Dennis:
We bring these and all deeply held blessings, cares, and concerns to the table of friendship and peace.
Kathie: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice:
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us as we set our hearts on belonging to you. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all creation.
You know our limitations and our essential goodness and you love us as we are. You beckon us to your compassionate heart and inspire us to see the good in others and forgive their limitations. Acknowledging your presence in each other and in all of creation, we sing:
Song: Here In This Place
https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ
Ginny: Guiding Spirit, when opposing forces in us tug and pull and we are caught in the tension of choices, inspire us to make wise decisions toward what is good.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, and for all our sisters and brothers who have modeled for us a way to live and love in challenging times. Inspired by them, we choose life over death, we choose to be light in dark times.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful 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 faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
Community lifts the plates
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.
Community lifts the cup
Kathie: 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.
We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. Please receive communion with the words: We are loved.
Communion song: Beauty in You – Karen Drucker
Ginny: Loving source of our being, you call us to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity in your presence.
(Ann)
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
Holy One, your transforming energy is within us and we join our hearts with all who are working for a just world. We pray for wise leaders in our religious communities. We pray for courageous and compassionate leaders in our world communities.
We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to your Spirit, for it is through living as he lived that we awaken to your Spirit within,
moving us to glorify you, at this time and all ways. Amen.
BLESSING
Please extend your hands in our final blessing.
ALL: May the Fire of Love ignite our hearts and radiate through us.
May the Spirit truth and justice burn within us.
May we continue to see the face of the Holy One in everyone and in all creation.
May we be a blessing in our time. AMEN.
Closing Song: Canticle of the Turning, Rory Cooney
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