Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via Zoom
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
Lindy: Welcome and Theme: Welcome to the Upper Room Community’s celebration of The Holy Family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and the Holy Family we have become in Christ.
Judy: Opening Prayer
O Blessed Jesus, let us remember the greater part of your life in humility and respectfulness to Mary and Joseph. You came to enlighten our world by sharing your teaching and example. We now have a more encompassing view of our tumultuous everchanging world. Let us hope and pray with hands linked in unity, with voices lifted in joyful noise and with works of blessed dedication. Give us wisdom to make the best choices for this family.
Opening Song:
We Are Unity.. edited by Bhanu..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THv65eAWf78
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Lynn Waterman: A reading from the gospel writer known as Luke, Chapter 2 verses 41-52
Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looking for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
He said to them, “Why were you looking for me?Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them. He wnet down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and Man.
These are the inspired words of the author known as Luke, and the community affirms them by saying, “Amen.”
Lynn Waterman: Alleluia. Open our hearts Holy One, to listen to the words of your son.
Mary Skelly: Alleluia. Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
Bridget: Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia
Mary Skelly:
A reading from a letter written to the Colossians, Chapter 3, verses 12-17
Because you are God’s Chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive whatever grievances you have against one another--forgive in the same way God has forgiven you.
Above all else, put on love, which binds the rest together and makes them perfect.
Let Christ’s peace reign in your hearts since, as members of one body, you have been called to that peace. Dedicate yourselves to thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you. Instruct and admonish one another wisely,. Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns and songs of the Spirit. And whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of Jesus our Savior, giving thanks to God through Christ.
These are the inspired words of the letter of Paul to the Colossians and the community affirms them by saying ‘amen’.
(Pause)
Lindy…Shared Homily
Judy…Homily conclusion and thanks, introduction to Statement of Faith
Statement of Faith (Judy and All)
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.
We bring to the Table
Lindy: 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 blessings, cares and concerns:
(Intentions are brought to the table by the community.)
Lindy: We pray for these and all unspoken concerns of our hearts.
(pause)
We trust that You will heal all of us, each in the ways we most need. Teach us to feel your consolation and how to thrive as you have created us! Thank you for Your love. Hold us in Your arms. For we are Your children. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Judy: Let us join with open hands to pray our Eucharistic prayer together:
Judy and All: Source of Love and Light, we join in unity of Spirit, love and purpose with your people everywhere, those who are living and those who have gone before. With all of creation across billions of galaxies, we open our hearts and souls to become One.
In your loving embrace we are liberated from division, fear, conflict, pride and injustice. We are transformed into wholeness which we resolve to bring to all whose lives we touch. With gratitude, we meld ourselves Your Divine Presence which knows all, shelters all and transforms all into love, abundant and eternal.
Lindy and All: In one voice, we praise your loving, healing ways and the glory of all you have Created:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker
Judy: We thank you, Holy One, for Jesus, a man of courage whose exquisite balance of human and Divine points our way and who strives with us in our time of need. We yearn with passion to live as Jesus, one with you and your Spirit, in peace and justice.
May our desire to be one with you join us to all living things. We seek to heal the differences that isolate us so that we may live in healthful unity with all people, of every ethnicity, skin color, gender orientation or class. May we have the imaginative sympathy and love of your Spirit to move with courage beyond the confines of bias, miscommunication, ignorance and hurt and into the healing place where Divine light and love abide.
Presiders approach table
Lindy: Please extend your hands in the blessing of bread and wine.
Judy and All: Together, we call on your Spirit, present in these gifts - bread that satisfies our hunger and wine that quenches our thirst – to make us more deeply One, living in the fullness of holy compassion and Sophia wisdom.
Ellen: Anticipating the likelihood of betrayal, arrest and pain, Jesus wanted more than anything to be with his friends, to share a meal, exchange stories and create fond memories. To strengthen the bonds of friendship that evening, Jesus washed the feet of his friends in an act of love and humility.
Consecration of the bread:
Lindy: Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.
Consecration of the Wine:
Judy: Then he took the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink of the covenant
Made new again through my life in you.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you. (pause)
Ellen: Please receive communion with the words “As we receive communion, we become communion.”
Communion Meditation:
We Are One Family - Song of Unity & Peace, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i6iLU49A-k
Judy: As we celebrate and recognize you in this bread and wine, we recognize you in each other. Sharing the bread of life and wine transforms us and opens us to your Spirit. Knowing that Jesus spent his time with the lowly and hurting, the needy and shunned, we seek to remain open to how we can bring love, healing, and unity to whomever is in need. We ask for the grace to see with the eyes of Jesus, touch with the hands of Jesus and heal with the heart of Jesus. Amen.
Lindy: Let us pray as Jesus taught the disciples to pray together:
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 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)
Judy: Closing Blessing: Please raise your hands and join together as we go forth as blessed and blessing:
Jesus signaled a new consciousness, a new way of looking at God, self and others. We are this holy family, this kin-dom here and now. May we be mindful that our spirit impacts each and every person we meet. As we are blessed, let us be a blessing.
Closing Song:
We Are Family by Sister Sledge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKflQn-ieDU
Ellen: Closing poem:
Human Family by Maya Angelou
I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy.
Some declare their lives are lived
as true profundity,
and others claim they really live
the real reality.
The variety of our skin tones
can confuse, bemuse, delight,
brown and pink and beige and purple,
tan and blue and white.
I've sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I've seen the wonders of the world
not yet one common man.
I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I've not seen any two
who really were the same.
Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different thoughts
while lying side by side.
We love and lose in China,
we weep on England's moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.
We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we're the same.
I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.
We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.
We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.
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