Please join us between 4:30 and 4:55 pm 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
Opening song
What Shall I Give https://youtu.be/UUTs9qa5h3g
Opening Prayer: Holy One, we ask you repeatedly what is it you ask of us? In Scriptures, in Jesus, and in the manner of all creation you have answered our question over and over. Help us to live your answer every day and care for one another and all of creation. Amen
LITURGY OF THE WORD
A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah (58:6-11)
This is the sort of fast that pleases me. Remove the chains of injustice! Undo the ropes of the yoke. Let those who are oppressed go free and break every yoke you encounter! Share your bread with those who are hungry and shelter homeless poor people. Clothe those who are naked and don’t hide from the needs of your own flesh and blood. Do this, and your light will shine like the dawn and your healing will break forth like lightning! Your integrity will go before you, and the glory of the Holy One will be your rearguard. Cry out and the Holy One will answer: “I am here”. Remove from your midst all oppression, finger pointing, and gossip. If you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your shadows will become like noon. The Holy One will always guide you and give you strength.
These are the inspired words of the Prophet Isaiah. The community affirms them. Amen.
Alleluia Celtic Alleluia
A Reading from the Gospel writer known as Matthew
The disciples of John the Baptizer came to Jesus and said, “Why is it that while we and the Pharisees fast, your disciples don’t?” Jesus replied, “How can the guests at a wedding feast mourn while they are still all together? The time will come when the guests will be left alone, then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth onto an old cloak, because the patch will pull from the cloak and the tear will get worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins. If they do the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the skins will be ruined. No, they put new wine into new wineskins and both will be preserved.”
These are the inspired word of Matthew a disciple of Jesus. The community affirms these words AMEN.
Shared Homily
Now that we are in the Lenten season, of course, it is time to talk about fasting! In the past I never understood fasting except with the idea of sacrificing in an attempt to make me good enough or holy enough. We gave up something for Lent. We gave up candy as kids, meals and alcohol as adults. No one I encountered whether family, friend, or stranger ever benefitted from my fasting. This gospel tells us Jesus was not too keen on fasting either. He said there is “no need to fast while we are at the wedding feast all together.” Wedding feast? Where is this wedding feast? Maybe the wedding feast Jesus is talking about is life, everyday life, here and now, and we are all here together.
And then Jesus quickly changes the discussion from fasting to new wine poured into new wineskins. I think Jesus is saying to all of us get ready… His teachings are the new wine, we are the new wineskins. We are asked to transform, to change and love and live out his teachings. Jesus showed us how the Holy One loves. Our life is a wonderful wedding feast. Fasting? Not so much. Loving and caring for each other? Absolutely.
Let us pray our Statement of Faith together
Statement of Faith
All: We believe in one God, 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 God's Word,
bringer of God's healing, heart of God's compassion,
bright star in the firmament of God's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of God's love,
a source of God's wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of God's peace in the world.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
The life of God that is our innermost life,
the breath of God moving in our being.
The depth of God living in each of us.
We believe that God's 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.
Eucharistic Prayer of Belonging
As we prepare for the sacred meal we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your concerns beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.
We are a priestly people. We are anointed. With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
All: O Nurturing, Mothering one, You are always with us. We are grateful for Your constant loving and unconditional presence. At times we forget that You are holding us, attending to us. We fall and You pick us up. You send strangers, friends and family to our aid. We are never without Your Light and Spirit.
We experience great joy and we experience great pain and suffering. You are with us in the joy and the pain and suffering. When we experience Your presence we long to sing our hymn of praise:
Here in this Place – Holy Holy Holy by Christopher Grundy
All: Creator and Lover of all beings, we cannot grow in the darkness of this world without Your Light. Our desire to be in Your light is a gift from You. Help us keep our hearts and minds open to You through our love and care for each other and all creation.
Please extend your hands in blessing
All: This bread and wine is a sign of Your nourishment and a sign of Your great love. Your Spirit is upon us and we belong to You and one another.
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, revealing us as one with you, and all creation.
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for the supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet. Once again he showed us how to love one another.
(All lift the bread)
All: 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.
(All lift the cup)
ALL: 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.
Bread and wine are transformed by Your Spirit and we are transformed when we open ourselves to Your Spirit. Every time we share this bread and wine we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as You love us.
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 the bread and cup with the words: I will live what you ask of me.
Communion Song:
Would you Harbor Me?” Sung by the Three Altos
Communion prayer:
Loving Source of our being, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We live justly, we love tenderly, we walk with integrity in Your Presence Amen.
Let us pray together the prayer of 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 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.
The Prayer of Jesus as interpreted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together
May we continue to be the Face of God to each other. May the certainty of our connectedness to one another and all creation ignite us to love more fully. May we, like Jesus be a shining light and a blessing for all.
All: Amen.
Closing Song
Love Large – video by Deven Horne and Mary Theresa Streck
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