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phone-in for (audio only). Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome and Theme
Good morning and welcome to the Upper Room. We are happy you are joining us. This morning we will meet Zacchaeus, the greedy tax collector who has a change of heart after encountering Jesus. We will consider the ways in which awareness and compassion help him and us to have true change of heart.
Opening Song: Come Be in My Heart by Sara Thomsen
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Wisdom and Compassion
Tibetan Buddhist teachers often say that just as a bird needs two wings to fly, a Buddhist practitioner must cultivate both wisdom and compassion. Both are equally important, but they must be used together. Wisdom is not just intellectual understanding; it is a deep penetration into the nature of reality. Compassion is not just sympathy; it is a heartfelt understanding of the suffering that all beings experience.
These are the inspired words of Dr. Constance Kassor and the community affirms them by saying: Amen
Second Reading: The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
These are the inspired words of the Sufi poet Rumi and the community affirms them by saying: Amen
Alleluia - Dennis
Gospel: Luke 19:1-10
At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."
These are the inspired words of the gospel writer know as Luke and the community affirms them by saying: Amen
Shared Homily
Presider 2: 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
Presider 1: 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….”
Presider 1: We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.
Presider 2: 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: Here In This Place 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.
Presider 2: 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.
Presiders stand at table, Presider 1 lifts bread.
All: Back at the table, he took the Passover Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.
Presider 2 lifts the cup as community prays the following:
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 is 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
Presiders hold bread and cup:
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.
Presider 2: Please join in the prayer for the breaking of the bread:
Presiders break the bread
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.
Presider 1: Let us pray our communion prayer together:
All: 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.
Presider 2: Our Eucharistic celebration is all-inclusive. We belong to the Loving One and to each other. Everyone is invited to receive at this friendship table.
Please receive the bread and cup with the words:
Presider 1: Our Communion Song:
The Only Way Through is In by Carrie Newcomer
Presider 1: Let us pray the Aramaic prayer of Jesus:
Father-Mother-Source of all that is-
Shining Vibration going out to all that is
Focus Your Light Within us. May it be
Held holy inside us.
Come quickly Divine Feminine
Prescence, ruling principles that guide our lives toward unity.
May your heart’s desire be done on earth for unity and harmony.
Give us what we need each day in bread and insight and wisdom.
Loose the cords of mistakes and sins binding us; release the strands that tie us and one another in knots.
Let us not be seduced by the appearances of things. Let not surface things elude us.
Free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.
Amen
BLESSING
Presider 2: 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
Companions on the Journey by Carey Landry
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