Holy One, Beloved of our hearts, we take time from our busy week to be with You and this community. You bless us and we are grateful for your presence here and we are grateful for the members of this community who are a blessing for each other. We rely on your guidance in these challenging times as we choose to make a difference through prayer and action.
Mediation: Groundings with The Many - Rooted in Love (about 7 1/2 minutes)
"When you're working for a better world, sometimes it's hard to take care of yourself and stay grounded. That's why we created Groundings."
O my Beloved, lover of life and of everything, you help us to love in our very small way what You love infinitely and everywhere. We thank You that we can offer just this one prayer and that will be more than enough, because in reality every thing and every one is connected, and nothing stands alone. To pray for one part is really to pray for the whole, and so we do.
We rely on your help each day to stand for love, for healing, for the good, for the diverse unity of the Body of Christ and all creation, because we know this is what You desire: as Jesus prayed, that all may be one. We offer our prayer together in your holy name. Amen
(adapted from Prayer for the Community by Richard Rohr)
Closing Prayer
Holy One, we hold close to our hearts all those who are suffering the loss of their loved ones as they prepare funeral services this week. We pray for them and we pray for each other that we may work for an end to violence in our community, our country and our world.
Amen.
Remembering the victims of violence in Buffalo and Uvalde:
Welcome to all. The church calendar tells us that Easter season is over and today we celebrate letting go of the ascended Jesus. Today can become a starting point for us to rise to the moment, to seize the chance to have Jesus live on in us and in our love. Ours is a moment of trying to comprehend the violence f yet another mass shooting in the US. How do we reconcile ascension and mass suffering?
Opening Prayer: Steve
Gentle and loving God, we celebrate today that the gift of Jesus lives on in our lives and in our love. As co-creators with you, we know all things are possible and yet our hearts break with the families of Uvalde. We are thankful to come together to share eucharist, reveal hope, and explore the opportunities to rise with the eternal Jesus. Amen.
Opening Song: Christ Has No Body Now but Yours by various artists
First Reading: Dare to Stand in Your Suffering by Henri Nouwen
I really want to encourage you not to despair, not to lose faith, not to let go of God in your life, but stand in your suffering as a person who believes that she is deeply loved by God.
When you look inside yourself, you might sometimes be overwhelmed by all the brokenness and confusion, but when you look outside toward him who died on the cross, you might suddenly realize that your brokenness has been lived through with you long before you touched it yourself.
Suffering is a period in your life in which true faith can emerge, a naked faith, a faith that comes to life in the midst of great pain. The grain, indeed, has to die in order to bear fruit and when you dare to stand in your suffering, your life will bear fruit in ways that are far beyond your own predications or understanding. . . . consider the verse from psalm 69:”Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up of the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, Holy One out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me,”
These are the inspired words of Henri Nouwen with the psalm quotation added by
The Henri Nouwen Society and we affirm them. AMEN.
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Second Reading: “Risen Life” by Carlo Carretto
This is what it means to believe in the resurrection:
Every peace treaty is an act of faith in the resurrection.
Every agreed commitment is an act of faith in the resurrection.
When you forgive your enemy
When you feed the hungry
When you defend the weak
you believe in resurrection.
When you have the courage to marry
When you welcome the newly born child
When you make your home
you believe in the resurrection.
When you wake at peace in the morning
When you sing to the rising sun
When you go to work or service with joy
you believe in the resurrection.
These are the inspired words of Carlo Carretto from Blessed Are You Who Believed and we affirm them. AMEN
Lynn: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Alleluia
Jesus is our gift and also our giftedness. His love raises us up.
Gospel: Acts: 4-11
On one occasion, Jesus told them, not to leave Jerusalem. “Wait, rather for what God has promised, of which you have heard me speak,” Jesus said. “John baptized with water but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
While meeting together, they asked, “Has the time come, Rabbi? Are you going to restore sovereignty to Israel?”
Jesus replied, “It’s not for you to know times or dates that Abba God has decided. You will receive power when the Spirit comes upon you; then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.”
Having said this, Jesus was lifted up in a cloud before their eyes and taken from their sight. They were still gazing up into the heavens when two messengers dressed in white stood beside them. “You Galileans—why are you standing here looking up at the skies?” they asked. “Jesus who has been taken from you—this same Jesus will return, in the same way you watched him go into heaven.”
These are the inspired words of the author of Acts and we affirm them. AMEN
Starter Homily and Shared Insights
Lynn: What is the human heart to do in a moment such as this; a moment when years of pandemic virus haunt us still, when an escalating war that target civilians in Ukraine drags on, when gun rights are considered sacred and privacy rights are not.
The church calendar for today marks the ascension of Jesus and we composed this liturgy originally on that theme of trying to understand the gospel scene of Jesus transporting into heaven. Yet, events call us to consider ascension in light of other Jesus moments today. At the last minute, we changed the readings to consider the purpose and resurrection that life in Jesus brings.
We look back at Jesus praying alone in Gethsemane while his friends fall asleep. Mathew describes the scene: “Going a little farther, Jesus fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “Abba, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” We can think of the persecution of Christians after Jesus (and Jews ever since Jesus) and all the dark moments in history to know with certainty that our hearts are not the first hearts to despair. Neither do we believe that it is God’s will that suffering and pain afflict us.
The generous love of the Holy One gives us everything we need including free will, independence of thought and sometimes, willfulness that can be humanly misdirected. Suffering is part of our lives. The author of Original Blessing Mathew Fox points suggests, “loss and darkness are necessary to wake us up to a deeper path in our lives.”
We are grownups—we have known moments of fear and despair. We also know that as believers in resurrection, we move on, we move forward and we are changed. Perhaps, wiser, hopefully more empathic and certainly stronger.
Maybe we find that our lives bear fruit” or that we find “a deeper path in our lives” quite unexpectedly. Today, our hearts may be in mourning but may our souls lead us beyond ‘thoughts and prayers’.
What did you hear in the readings? What will you do? What will it cost you?
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.
Steve: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to the friendship table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your concerns beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
Lynn: We pray for these and the community prayers written in our book of intentions as well as the unspoken concerns in our hearts. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Steve: Please join in the praying of our Eucharistic Prayer with raised hands:
Steve and ALL: As one with You, we gather as a community to celebrate your gift of life pulsating within and around us, in the glories of ocean, sky and mountain and infinite galaxies beyond.
O Birthing God, you allowed, “Let there be Light” and you stirred the waters of creation; you dwell on earth, and in every living being from across all cultures and creeds. We lift up our hearts to you and with thanks and praise we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy
ALL: Ever gentle God, as co-creators, we offer up bread, grown from seed and harvested from soil gifted to us through your Creation. We offer wine, grown from grapes blessed in the sunlight of your radiant Creation. We offer up our lives in loving gratitude and covenant. We celebrate our oneness with all creatures and living things, great and small in your precious family.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, who showed us so simply, so tenderly, how the world is in our hands. His faith in us, his ability to connect with our best selves remains a shining gift. He had nothing in this world but your love, companions on the journey, and his very self. Together, that was more than enough, and that remains our clarity in the midst of confusion: the miracle of healing, new hope, nurturance, nourishment, liberation and life.
Steve: On the night before he died, Jesus gathered with friends, followers and those closest to him to celebrate the Seder supper. Afterwards, he showed how to humbly love and serve one another by washing the feet of his followers.
All lift 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
Lynn: 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.”
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 saying, I rise with Christ to new hope
Communion Song: Where did Jesus Go? By Sara Thomsen
https://youtu.be/biPM_MTQVgI
Prayer After Communion:
Steve and All: Christ of the Cosmos, we thank you that there are 18 galaxies for every person, that our bodies are made of stardust. You call us, “beloved” and invite us to join the dance of creation in celebration of oneness with all living things.
Lynn and ALL: We rejoice that You, who are more loving than we can imagine or dream of, dwell in mystery beyond all comprehension. We remember that it was you, who said: “Anything I have done in the name of the Holy One, you can do, too…and even more.”
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.
-Interpreted by Miriam Therese Winter
Blessing
Lynn: Please extend your hands in blessing and pray together:
ALL:
May we know the joy of seeing Jesus point The Way.
May we come to know the joy of finding mysteryand miracle.
May we be contented in the peace that comes from loving extravagantly
and may we live as LOVE” S one body in the here and now. Amen.
-Adapted from Dawn Hutchings
Closing Song: Candles in the Night by Jan Phillips
Welcome:Our theme in the readings tonight is “it’s all in the asking”. Let’s see where the words and sharing take us.
Let us pray:Holy One, we know you, we experience you in, around, and among us. When we are aware of our connection to you we are at peace in all circumstances.How blessed are we.Amen.
You are with us in our prayer, in our love, and our doubt, in the longing to feel your Presence and do Your will. You are the still clear voice within us. Therefore, O God when doubt troubles us, when anxiety makes us tremble, when pain clouds the mind, we look inward for the answer to our prayers. Then may we find You, and there find courage, insight and endurance.And let our worship bring us closer to one another, that all who seek you, may find new strength for Your service.
May we find peace in our hearts as we live our lives in Your Love.Amen.
A Reading from the gospel of the anonymous writer called John
Jesus said to the disciples, “The truth of the matter is if you ask Abba God for anything in my name, it will be given to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive so that your joy will be complete. I have spoken these things to you in veiled language.A time is coming when I will no longer do so—I will tell you about Abba God in plain speech. On that day you will ask in my name.
Now I am not saying that I will petition Abba God for you—God already loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
May the words of this Gospel increase our love for all.Amen
Shared Homily
This gospel begins with the phrase “the truth of the matter”, well for me the “truth of the matter”, asking God for anything in Jesus’ name just doesn’t ring true.At one time or another we all have asked God for something and ended the prayer “in Jesus name we ask”. We have asked God for small things, let our favorite team win or for the rain to stop so we can have our annual family picnic.We have asked for very important things, please stop this war, please take this cancer away, please don’t let my spouse die. But the “truth of the matter” as we know firsthand, our prayer is not answered by a simple ask.
Perhaps the key to asking is in the gospel verse “I will not petition God for you—God already loves you” and in the first reading the phrase “we look inward for the answer to our prayers”.
When we pray in the name of Jesus we are uniting our heart with his heart. Our prayers are much more than asking for healings and blessings.We already have what we need and we are blessed.Being united heart to heart with Jesus also means we are united with Abba God. We go inward in prayer to connect to the Holy One. Asking is more than asking. It is a deep conversation, a deep connection between ourselves and the Holy One.Jesus is showing us the way because Jesus always knew Abba God loved him and Abba God loves each of us too.
What did you hear? How will it change you?
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 prayers and blessings. 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 am a child of the Holy One.
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 stand together in the suffering and like Jesus be a shining light and a blessing for all.
All: Amen.
Closing Song
Canticle of the Turning Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
“Though we need to weep your loss, You dwell in that safe place in our hearts, Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn Brightening over our lives Awakening beneath the dark A further adventure of color.
The sound of your voice Found for us A new music That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze Quickened in the joy of its being You placed smiles like flowers On the altar of the heart. Your mind always sparkled With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief, Your spirit was live, awake, complete.
We look towards each other no longer From the old distance of our names; Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath, As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes, We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face, Smiling back at us from within everything To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory, Where we would grow lonely without you
You would want us to find you in presence, Beside us when beauty brightens, When kindness glows And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth, Darkest winter has turned to spring; May this dark grief flower with hope In every heart that loves you. May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart. To serve the call of courage and love Until we see your beautiful face again In that land where there is no more separation, Where all tears will be wiped from our mind, And where we will never lose you again.”
– John O’Donohue
Closing Prayer
May God bless you with discomfort... at easy answers, hard hearts, half-truths ,and superficial relationships. May God bless you so that you may live from deep within your heart where God's Spirit dwells.
May God bless you with anger... at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people. May God bless you so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears... to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war. May God bless you so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, in your neighborhood, so that you will courageously try what you don't think you can do, but, in Jesus Christ you'll have all the strength necessary.
May God bless you to fearlessly speak out about injustice, unjust laws, corrupt politicians, unjust and cruel treatment of prisoners, and senseless wars, genocides, starvations, and poverty that is so pervasive.
May God bless you that you remember we are all called to continue God's redemptive work of love and healing in God's place, in and through God's name, in God's Spirit, continually creating and breathing new life and grace into everything and everyone we touch.
Source: "Troubadour: A Missionary Magazine," published by the Franciscan Missionary Society, Liverpool, UK: Spring 2005.
Closing Song: Choose to Hope by Marty Haugen, Video by MT Streck
