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
The Gift of Peace
Welcome and Theme: Julie: Welcome! It’s wonderful to have you with us here today as we celebrate the gift that Jesus offers us, the gift of peace, peace in our hearts, peace at home, and peace in the world.
Opening Prayer
Holy One, help us to grow in wisdom and receive your peace. May we be happy. May we know peace. And may we be free from suffering. AMEN.
Opening Song: Loving Kindness
https://youtu.be/uLwm68BlH_4
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (15:1-2, 22-29)
Certain Christ-followers came from Judea to where Paul and Barnabas had converted many Gentiles. They came teaching all the disciples of Christ: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them. The church of the Gentiles decided to resolve the matter by sending Paul, Barnabas, and a few others to discuss this question with the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem, all the apostles and leaders were silent as Paul and Barnabas made their case. James was the first to respond among the leaders: “Friends, listen. Simeon has told us the story of how God, at the very outset, made sure that outsiders were included. This is in complete agreement with the prophets."
Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They elected Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas—both were leaders in the church in Jerusalem—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, and with this letter:
From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends of Gentile origin in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings! We heard that some from our number went to you and said things that confused and upset you. They had no authority from us. We did not send them. We have agreed unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul who have risked their lives for the sake of Jesus the Christ. Judas and Silas will confirm for you, face-to-face, what we write here.
It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: That you abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood; from the meat of strangled animals; and from pagan sexual rituals. Keep from these, and you keep our faith. God be with you!
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Luke and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM Wisdom 7:21-22a, 26, 22b-30
The psalm response is: Holy Wisdom, teach us.
R: Holy Wisdom, teach us.
Now I understand everything,
both what is hidden and what is manifest.
I was taught by Wisdom,
the fashioner of all things.
She is the radiance that streams from everlasting light,
the untarnished mirror of the works of God,
the image of God’s goodness.
R: Holy Wisdom, teach us.
In Holy Wisdom, there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique; manifold, subtle, and agile;
clear, unpolluted, incisive.
Never harmful, loving the good, keen, Unhampered.
R: Holy Wisdom, teach us.
She is beneficent, kindly, and steadfast, dependable, tranquil
She is all-powerful, all-seeing,
permeating every intelligent, pure and subtle spirit.
Wisdom moves more easily than motion itself, pervading and penetrating all things.
She is a breath of God,
a pure emanation of God's glory.
Nothing can defile her.
R: Holy Wisdom, teach us.
Although She is One, She can do all things. Herself unchanging, She makes all things new. Age after age, She enters holy souls,
and makes them friends of God and prophets. God loves nothing so much
as the one who dwells with Wisdom.
R: Holy Wisdom, teach us.
She is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the lights of this world,
She is found more radiant, altogether of a different light.
For the lights of this world will last only so long, but Wisdom’s illumination will last forever.
R: Holy Wisdom, teach us.
SECOND READING
A Reading from the Book of Revelation (Rev 21:10-12a,13, 25, 22-24)
An angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of the cosmic expanse of the heavens, coming from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal.
It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates: three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. During the day, its gates will never be shut, and there will be no night there.
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is God and the Lamb. The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it. The cosmic glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp was the Lamb. All peoples will walk by its radiance. All treasures of Earth will be honored there.
This is the vision of a Late First Century Writer known as John and the community affirms it by saying AMEN.
Alleluia
GOSPEL
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to John (14:21, 23b, 25-29)
On the night before Jesus died, he said to his disciples:
"Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves. And whoever loves me will be loved by my God. I will love that disciple and reveal myself to that one... We will come to those who love and we will dwell with them.
“I have told you all this while I am still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom our Loving God will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to God, for God is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call John and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Shared Homily Julie
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
Julie: 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….”
Julie: We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.
Julie: 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:
Holy, Holy, Holy (Words and music by Karen Drucker)
We are holy, holy, holy,
We are holy, holy, holy,
We are whole.
Spirit Divine, Come to Me,
healing Love, healing Me.
Open my heart, allow me to see,
Beauty and love, live in me.
You are holy, holy, holy…
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.
Julie: 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 and pray:
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 and pray:
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.
As we celebrate and recognize You in this bread and wine we love and recognize you in each other. We are filled with gratitude and joy. Glory and Praise to you both now and forever. Amen
All: Through Jesus, we have learned how to live.
Through Jesus, we have learned how to love.
Through Jesus, we have learned how to serve.
AMEN.
All: 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.
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: I am holy peace.
Communion Song: Everything is Holy Now
https://youtu.be/s_SgAmljIJc
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
Julie: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together:
May we continue to be the Face of God to each other.
May we be Easter people and beacons of light in our world.
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.
AMEN!
Closing Song Heaven Right Here by Jeb Loy Nichol
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