 Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via ZoomHere is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 |
Welcome and Theme: Julie: Good morning and welcome to our roomers and zoomers! No matter how you are joining us today, we are so very happy to have you with us. Our theme today is being aware of our call through God’s grace. Opening Prayer: Jean: Through Grace, God is calling us We have a call! To be loved and to love. To be shown mercy and to show mercy. To be forgiven and to forgive. To receive hope and to offer hope. To know joy and to share joy. To feel peace and to bring peace. To be made whole and to offer wholeness. We have a call. Listen! Listen! Do you hear??? (Author unknown) Julie: As we make the transition from the busyness of the world to the peace of our gathering, please take a moment to let the Holy One’s peace settle upon you. Opening Song: Peace Is Flowing Like a River, video by Mary Theresa Streck Liturgy of the Word First Reading In the year that the Ruler Uzziah died, I saw the Holy One sitting on a throne, high and lofty. The hem of God’s robe filled the Temple. Above, seraphim were in attendance. Each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. Calling out to one another, they cried, “Holy, holy, holy is the God of the Cosmos, whose glory fills the earth.” The threshold shook to its foundations at the sound, while the Temple began to fill with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me! I am doomed. For I am of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. Yet my eyes have seen the Ruler of All, the God of the Cosmos.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding a live coal which the creature had taken with tongs from the altar. With this, it touched my mouth and said, “Look, this has touched your lips. Your guilt has fled. Your misdeeds have been blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of God saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I am, send me!” These are the inspired words of the Prophet Isaiah and the community affirms them by saying AMEN. PSALM Margaret and Ed: Psalm 138:1-2a, 2b-3, 4-5, 7-8 R: Your Love endures forever. I give You thanks, O God, with all my heart. R: Your Love endures forever. We praise Your Name for Your love and Your faithfulness. Your Name and Your Word endure. R: Your Love endures forever. All the rulers of the earth will acknowledge You. They have heard the words You have spoken. Let them exult in the ways of God, and sing: R: Your Love endures forever. Though trouble surrounds, You give us life. When wars rage, You stretch out Your hand. The desire of Your heart will come to flourish. Your love, O God, endures forever, R: Your Love endures forever. Second Reading Dear ones, I want to remind you of the gospel, the good news I proclaimed to you. You made this good news your own. You have taken your stand on it. If you hold firm to the word that I proclaimed to you, you will be free; you will not have believed in vain. What I received I also passed on to you at the outset: that Jesus died as a servant of all, according to the Scriptures; that he was buried; that the Christ was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that the risen Christ appeared to Peter, then to Jesus’ closest followers; that the risen Christ later appeared to more than 500 of the disciples at the same time, most of whom are still living, although some have since died; that the risen Christ spent time with James and all the rest of the apostles who were commissioned to continue Jesus’ good work; and that, last of all, the risen Christ appeared to me, as to one untimely born. I am the least of all the apostles and don't even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God; but, by God's grace, I am what I am. This grace was not without effect, for I have reached out to the Gentiles more than all the others. Yet it was not I who did it, but God's grace that was in me. So, whether you heard it from me, or from the others, it's all the same. This is what we proclaim. This is what you believed. These are the inspired words of the apostle we call Paul and the community affirms them by saying AMEN. Alleluia Dennis GOSPEL On leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered the house of Simon and his family. Simon’s mother-in-law was in the grip of a high fever. They asked Jesus to help her. Jesus stood over her and rebuked the fever. The fever left her. She got up immediately and “deaconed” to them, served them at table. At sunset, people who had a variety of diseases were brought to Jesus. He laid hands on each and cured them. Demons departed from many, crying out as they did so, “You are the Chosen One of God!” Jesus rebuked them and forbade them to speak, for they knew he was the Messiah. The next morning, Jesus left the house and went to a desert place. The crowds followed. When they found Jesus, they tried to keep him from leaving them. Jesus said, “I must proclaim the Good News of God’s reign to other towns too. That is what I was sent to do.” And he preached in the synagogues throughout Judea. These are the inspired words of the gospel writer we call Luke and the community affirms that by saying AMEN. Shared Homily Julie: Today’s readings are from the Women’s Ordination Conference’s inclusive lectionary, the Comprehensive Catholic Lectionary. I’ve long dreamed of an inclusive lectionary, usually when laboring to retype readings from the traditional one. One of the things that I really like about this lectionary is that it calls out problems in the readings, like how Paul doesn’t mention the risen Jesus appearing first to Mary of Magdala. Why would he have missed her? Was it because Paul didn’t spend much time in Jerusalem and hadn’t heard of her? Or was it because that, even then, efforts were being made to erase her role and prominence? Fortunately for us, the gospel writers restored Mary to the Easter story, and we know her name. Another sort of restoration happens in the story of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. And I don’t just mean when Jesus restores her to health. I’m talking about the use of the word “deaconed” in this translation. Growing up, the version I heard said that she waited on them, waited on them like a maid, not like a member of the movement. To quote the inclusive lectionary: The Greek word used by this evangelist was already, at the time the Gospel was written, a word describing a formal ecclesial office (deacon/ess). The audience would have heard the verb used in reference to Peter’s mother-in-law in this context. The people that this gospel was written for understood Simon Peter’s mother-in-law to be a deacon. And now we do too. We may not know her name, but we know she had a leadership role in the Jesus movement. Isaiah, Paul, Mary of Magdala, Jesus, Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, each of you, me—we have all been called by God, each in our own way. We each have our role in the movement. And we don’t have to do it by ourselves. As Paul writes, “Yet it was not I who did it, but God's grace that was in me.” Embrace that grace today and in the coming week and see where it takes you! What did you hear? What will you do? What will it cost you? We would love to hear your insights on today’s readings. Please remember to remute yourself when you’re done sharing. Jean: Thank you all for sharing your wisdom with us this morning. Sharon: Statement of Faith
Liturgy of the Eucharist (Written by Jay Murnane) Julie: 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. (Prayers for the community.) We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen. Jean: 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: Here in this Place – Holy Holy Holy by Christopher Grundy Julie: 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: Jean: 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. Julie: You are called, consecrated, and chosen to serve. Please receive Communion with the words, Please accept your call. Communion Meditation/Song Here I Am Lord sung by Chris Bray Prayer after communion: Jean: 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. Let us pray as Jesus taught us: Holy One, you are within, around and among us. Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter Blessing Julie: Let us raise our hands and pray the blessing together: Blessing: May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we call each other to extravagant generosity! May we walk with an awareness of our Call as companions on the journey, knowing we are not alone. May we, like Jesus, be a shining light and a blessing in our time! Amen. Closing Song: I Am Willing, song by Holly Near, video by Donna Panaro |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.