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
Welcome: Last Sunday, thanks to Denise creativity and love, we had our first official Family and Children’s liturgy. Our liturgy was for children, but we all benefitted from the readings and the Eucharistic prayers. The presence of children lit up our holy space. “The kin-dom of heaven belongs to such as these.
Let us pray: Holy One, we often live our lives with worries and anxieties. We hold on to fear of what is to come. Children live in the moment; no wonder heaven belongs to them. May we each learn to live in the moment and be carefree. Amen.
Opening song:
What a Wonderful World by Playing for Change
LITURGY OF THE WORD
A Reading from the life of Elise
It was like an explosion. An SUV speeding at over 100 miles an hour ripped through the concrete wall of a music store. Rick and Teresa Hester had taken their four-year-old daughter there. Little Elise loved to play the drums.
"I was sitting on the drum set in front of her, and she was on the drum set behind me," her mother, Teresa, recalled. The vehicle plowed over the drum set where Elise was sitting and went through the wall into the mattress store, next door.
"I started to see maybe just two feet in front of me. There were pieces of debris on the floor. I looked down and all of the drums where we were sitting were taken out," Teresa said. "The first thought that went through my head was, 'Where’s Elise? "I looked down at the floor to see if I could see her feet sticking up. Since pieces of the ceiling were caved in and pieces of the wall. The light was coming in more, and you could see pieces of the wall on the floor,"
But to everyone’s surprise and relief, a little figure appeared amid the dust and debris. Elise came running from the very back of the store and was saying, 'I’m right here mommy, I’m right here.' And that was the biggest blessing, seeing that child run through there, that you’ve ever had in your life," Teresa said.
Rick and Teresa started to question little Elise. Her story shocked everyone. "I said, 'Are you okay?' And she said, 'I’m fine.' And I said, 'Well, Elise, how did you get off the drums?'" Teresa said. "'You were right there on them.' And she said, 'Well, Jesus picked me up and moved me, Mom.' She said that when He picked her up and kissed her cheek. He picked her up with one hand. And she said, 'He has really big hands, mommy, and it felt like I was in water.'
Since then, her story hasn’t changed.
These are the inspired words of Elise, a child of the Holy One. The community affirms these words with an AMEN and Allelulia!
Celtic Alleluia
A Reading from the gospel of Matthew
Children were brought to Jesus
that he might lay his hands on them and pray.
The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said,
"Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
After he placed his hands on them, he went away.
These are the inspired words of Matthew, a disciple of Jesus. The community affirms them. AMEN
Shared Homily: I am sure many of you have heard stories such as the one in the first reading. Miracle stories of survival, or healings, that seem impossible. When I first read this miracle story, I was in awe, and it made my heart smile. The innocence pouring from Elise is electrifying.
Jesus said: the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Thomas Merton in “The Rediscovery of Paradise” wrote that the innocence of children is a purity of heart. One of the Beatitudes says, “Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see the face of God”. And what does it mean to have purity of heart?
Watch young children at play. They are having a great time, then suddenly, they are fighting over a toy. Once they are reminded to share, they just seem to take a breath and they are back playing. They don’t hold on to the disagreement, they let go and start over.
I used to believe purity of heart was having no negative thoughts, or actions. Just be kind, and loving, all the time. As an adult I find being kind and loving all the time is a struggle. I believe we can’t stop the negativity coming into our lives, nor can we be kind and loving all the time, but we can learn like children to let go and start over. Children are closer to the Holy One, they let go, the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. We are children of the Holy One. Let it go, let it go.
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
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 unconditionally loved.
Communion Song: My Wish - One Voice Children’s Choir
https://youtu.be/vto_uIiWEgo
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 continuously try again and again to let go and live as children of the Holy One. And like Jesus be a shining light and a blessing for all.
All: Amen.
Closing Song: Brave - One Voice Children’s Choir
https://youtu.be/Qa2QKIDr7q8
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