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 (Kathie): Welcome! We are happy that you are here to celebrate with us! When we are gathered together like this we can feel the Holy One among us. Thank you for coloring your beautiful candles. We will use them in prayer a little later. Let us begin with a prayer.
Opening Prayer (Denise):
Holy One, we see you today in the faces of our friends. We feel you in the wind and rain, in the warm sun of summer. We thank you for being in our world and in our lives. Amen.
Opening Song Introduction: (Denise): We are filled with the Holy One! Every bit of us is lit up with Love! We honor that light in ourselves and in each other.
Namaste, by Kira Willey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E70pNrQt0k
The light in me sees the light in you,
The light in me sees the light in you.
I honor you as you honor me,
Namaste, Namaste, Namaste.
The light in me sees the light in you,
The light in me sees the light in you.
I honor you as you honor me,
Namaste, Namaste, Namaste.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Kathie: We have two special readings to listen to today. Let’s quiet ourselves as we listen to the first reading.
First Reading
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
These holy words are from Martin Luther King Jr. We believe these words. AMEN.
Alleluia: Dennis
Gospel: Matthew 5:14-16 (adapted by D H-S)
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill can be seen by everyone. And people never light a flashlight and hide it under a bowl. Instead they let it shine in the open so that it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they can see the good that you do. This will give glory to the Holy One.”
An ancient writer we know as Matthew tells us that Jesus spoke these words. We believe these words to be true. AMEN.
Homily Starter (This is an interactive, guided conversation.)
Before we talk about the readings we just heard we are going to do something. We are going to turn out the lights in this room. Just for a very short time. Are you ready? ……..(Turn out the lights)
What do you see? What colors do you see? Would it be easy or hard to walk around in this room? Why? How might we feel if we were alone in a room like this?
Now let’s turn the lights back on. We are in exactly the same place. What colors do you see? What else do you see? Why does the room look different now?
Light is interesting, isn’t it? We can’t really hold it in our hands, but just a little bit of it will light up a room. When the light comes on we know where we are. We see beautiful colors. When we walk around we don’t bump into things because we can see where everything is. Light shows us the truth about how things really are. We can see that light really can drive out darkness, just like Martin Luther King tells us in the reading today. He also tells us that love is like light, because it is only love that can drive out hate.
Jesus tells us something about light in the other reading today, and it is something really amazing. He tells us that we are light! Have you ever thought of yourself as light before? Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world! Just like any light, we have the power to show the truth about how things are in the world. We can help people to see the beauty of the world. We can drive out darkness. And with our love we can drive out hate.
We would love to hear about how you think we are light. Both children and adults are welcome to share. How do we show the truth about how things are? (pause) How can we help people to see beauty in the world? (pause) How can we drive out hate with love? (pause)
Thank you for sharing your great ideas! Your light is really shining today!
Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One who is in everything we see
And even in everything we cannot see.
As far away as the most distant star and as near as the air we breathe
The Holy One is there, creating everything out of Love.
We believe in Jesus, who showed us the Holy One
In how he lived his life,
He showed us that the Holy One is
In our lives too.
We believe that we are called to live like Jesus.
We are called to bring peace, and light, healing and kindness,
We are called to be brave and speak up, and help out when
Others are suffering or things are not right.
We believe that the Spirit of the Holy One
Lives in us and in all of creation.
We feel the Spirit in the wind, the warm sun,
The cold snow, and we see it in the faces of other people.
We believe that if we live in the Spirit of the Holy One,
If we remember to act with kindness and courage,
We will make the family of the Holy One larger and larger
Until the whole world is at peace.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Kathie: You may have noticed the bright yellow circle in front of our altar. Let’s look at that circle now, and remember that just like the sun, the Holy One is always with us. Please take out the candle you made when you came here today. Let’s hold our candles and look at them. (pause) Notice how all of the colors are different and all of them are beautiful. (pause) Now look at your own beautiful candle. (pause) As you look at your candle reach out to the Holy One in your mind with a prayer. Your prayer could be thankfulness or praise, or it could be a prayer for someone you know who is sick, or sad, or who needs special help. (pause) When it is your turn we invite you to place your candle around our sun, with the flame facing outward. Your candle will represent your prayer. You can say your prayer out loud if you want to but you don’t have to. I will go first. My prayer is for………. (Kathie places her candle next to the yellow circle with the flame facing out and the base of the candle facing the circle. Denise follows next. One by one the children and adults place their candles around the circle. After placing their candles we return to our seats.)
(Once all of the children are seated, Kathie continues):
Holy One, our prayers shine with you like the sun. Each of us is a ray of your light. Please see and hear our prayers today. AMEN.
Denise: Next we will pray our great prayer of Thanksgiving, called our Eucharistic Prayer:
Denise: O Holy One, you have made us in goodness, given us life and held us in love. Your Spirit lives within each of us; each of us has been given your Spirit of courage and vision, your Spirit of wisdom and truth.
In the power of that same Spirit, we ask that once again your gifts come upon us as we sing your praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI
Kathie: Holy One, we see around us all of your creation. The trees, flowers, birds, animals and insects sing with joy for your creative power. We are your creation too, and we thank you for our lives.
We thank you for sending Jesus, our brother, to show us how to live so that your love can show through in the world. We thank you for your Spirit, which showers your love and wisdom on the earth like rain, and which opens our eyes in wonder.
Kathie: Please hold your hands out like this… (demonstrate) as we bless the bread and juice.
Holy One, you blessed the grain in this bread and the fruit in this juice as they grew on the earth. The people who baked the bread and made the juice blessed them with their work. Today, with your Spirit, we bless them again, as they become gifts of love, light and truth and remind us that we too are blessed with your Spirit.
(Invite children to gather at the table for the consecration. )
Denise (lifts bread): Jesus gathered his friends around a table like this. He took the bread, and said a prayer of thanksgiving. Then he broke the bread and shared it with his friends, saying, “Take and eat this bread. It is my very self.”
Kathie: (lifts the cup):
After the meal, Jesus took the cup of blessing. He said another prayer of thanks, and then he offered his friends the cup saying
Take and drink of the loving agreement
Made new again through my life in you.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
Denise: We are one today with all people who have ever lived, all the people and animals we have loved. With them we ask you, Holy One, for the wisdom to know what is right and the courage to do what is right.
- Help us to be kind to one another.
- Help us to take care of the earth.
- Help us to reach out to people who need our help.
And as we grow, help us to see where your Spirit leads us as our lives unfold in this world of pain and beauty so that we may become wise co-creators of the future.
Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live loving lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Light within.
Amen.
We will pass the plate around the circle. When the plate comes to you please take a piece of bread and eat it. As you receive Communion remember the words, “You are the Light of the World.”
Communion Meditation: May the Longtime Sun, Sara Thomsen
Kathie: O Holy One, You call us to live in peace and justice. We will live justly. You call us to be your presence in the world. We will love tenderly.
You call us to speak truth even when it is difficult. We will be courageous in your presence.
Let us pray 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 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 (Miriam Therese Winter)
BLESSING
Kathie: We have almost come to the end of our liturgy. But we want to bless each other first, and we will also bless the beautiful sun we made that is now full of our prayers. After the blessing please come and take your candle and stand in a circle around our sun for our closing song. After liturgy please take your candle home. Put it in a special place to remind you that the light of the Holy One is present in all of creation and in you, too. Now please stand, and hold out your hands in blessing:
Holy One, we ask your blessing on all the children and adults gathered here today, and on all of your creation. May we walk with joy in the world as we know that you are always walking with us.
All: AMEN
( The children take their candles and form a circle around the sun, holding their candles as they sing.)
Presider 1: Let’s hold up our candles as we sing our closing song, “This Little Light of Mine.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ViRXA1vSEE
Chorus:
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
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