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
Today we remember the day that Jesus was baptized by John. As we listen and pray, let us consider the life and story that Jesus was being baptized into. And let us remember with joy that we are baptized into that same life, that same story which continually evolves as we live it.
Opening Prayer (Santa)
Holy One, we stand as your beloved children, each holding deep within us an ember of your creative fire of love. Fan us today with your Spirit, igniting those embers until they envelop the world in holy flame.
Opening Song: Song Like a Seed, Sarah Thomsen
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Gayle
The Stairway of Existence, by Hafiz
We
Are not
In pursuit of formalities
Or fake religious Laws,
For through the stairway of existence
We have come to God’s Door.
We are
People who need to love, because
Love is the soul’s life,
Love is simply creation’s greatest joy.
Through
The stairway of existence,
O, through the stairway of existence, Hafiz
Have
You now come,
Have we all now come to
The Beloved’s Door.
This is the inspired poem by Sufi poet Hafiz, and we affirm his words by saying AMEN.
Alleluia: (Ellen)
Gospel: Margaret
Luke 3: 1-3, 21-22
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
These are the inspired words of the person who gives us the Gospel of Luke, and we affirm them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter: (Denise)
In today’s gospel we hear Luke’s story about two young men. John, the son of the priest Zechariah, would have grown up among priests and scholars, probably somewhere near Jerusalem. Despite his priestly birthright, John’s ministry led him to the desert, where he preached his impassioned calls for repentance. The Hebrew word for repentance is teshuva (te-shoo-vah’), which is derived from the verb that means “to return.” In Greek the word is metanoeo, (met-an-oyo) meaning a change of mind or thought so powerful that it changes a person’s very life. John wasn’t simply calling people to contrition for one particular sin or another. His call was much deeper. It was a call to return, to change course, away from “formalities or fake religious laws,” in the words of the poet Hafiz, to the law of love. John’s was a baptism of remembrance; a call for people to remember who they were, to once again see themselves as part of a larger story. And to symbolically set this new course, John’s followers were baptized by him, not in temple pools, but in the waters of the Jordan River.
We learn too of another young man, one who heard John’s fiery call and followed it to the river. We don’t know much about the life of Jesus prior to his baptism in the Jordan. We believe that he grew up listening to the story of his people and his God at the feet of his parents. But we do know that from the moment of his baptism Jesus was set on a course of public ministry. Like John, but in his own gentle, inclusive way, Jesus would call people to return. To become the light they were meant to be. To remember that they are part of a greater story, and that the Love of the Holy One is at the center of that story. As I read the story of Jesus’s baptism I imagine the crowds of people, Jesus included, each taking a turn one-on-one with the Baptist. I imagine the excitement, the joy, as each person emerges from the water with new purpose, new zeal for who they are, who God is, and the story that brings them together.
And the words spoken at Jesus’s baptism? I believe that Jesus recognized the voice behind those words because he lived the story. It wouldn’t have been strange to him to hear words like these because he knew that he was loved by his Creator. Every child, regardless of religion or culture, is welcomed into this life with that same love by the one who created all of life. Every child who is baptized is baptized into an ongoing story that stretches back to the big bang and circles through the ages and epochs into the far reaches of the universe. And at the center of that story is the door of the beloved, where the love of the Divine One welcomes each and every part of this vast, evolving creation with the words “You are my child. I love you. I am pleased with you.”
What did you hear in today’s readings? Please share your wisdom and your insights.
Shared Homily
Statement of Faith (MT)
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
Santa: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we voice our intentions beginning with the words, “We bring to the table…..”
(Intentions are brought forth)
Santa: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Santa: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together:
All: O Holy One, you have birthed us in goodness, gifted us with life and cherished us in love. In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells; a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth.
In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment, that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with all who sing the ancient hymn of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker
Santa: Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power. We, your creatures, often deviate from that wisdom, thus hindering your creative presence in our midst.
Sending among us Jesus, our brother, you birth afresh in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the gift of Your Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew, amid the variety and wonder of life.
Denise: Please extend your hands in blessing.
All: We believe your Spirit lives within the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape. In this Spirit may they become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world.
Denise: On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift their plate and pray the following:
Denise: When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat; this is my very self.
All lift their cup and pray the following:
Santa: He then raised high 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.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives,
As we share communion, we will become communion, both love’s nourishment and love’s challenge.
Please receive communion with the words, “You are the beloved child of God.”
(consume bread and wine)
Communion Meditation: Hallelujah, Ma Muse
Denise: In faith and hope we are sustained; in grace and dignity reclaimed. In praise, we thank you.
In union with all peoples living and dead, we unite our thoughts and prayers, asking wisdom and courage:
- to discern more wisely your call to us in the circumstances of our daily lives;
- to act justly and courageously in confronting the pain and suffering that desecrates the Earth and its peoples;
- to take risks in being creative and proactive on behalf of the poor and marginalized;
- and to love all people with generosity of heart, beyond the labels of race, creed and color.
And may we ever be aware and alert to the new things Your Spirit makes possible in us, as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty, into the fullness of life to which all are called, participating in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation.
Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways.
Amen.
Santa: Let us pray the prayer 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 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)
BLESSING
Denise: Please raise your hands as we pray together our blessing:
As the story of creation continues to unfold, let us see ourselves clearly within it. Let us hear our names called by our Beloved as we are recognized and valued for the holy people that we are. And let us respond in kind, with fervent love and care for every other creature that shares this amazing story with us. Amen.
Closing Meditation: Think of Yourself by Jan Phillips
https://youtu.be/Rv9zAwi11F8
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.