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Responding to the Call
Welcome and Theme: Dennis
A Sanctified Art focus this Advent Season is on people who were connected in some way to the birth of Jesus. The second week’s focus was on the Annunciation, which although it is celebrated on March 25 (amazingly, exactly 9 months before the birth of Jesus) provides us the opportunity to fully comprehend what the word “Yes” came to mean. As Meister Eckhart said, “We are all meant to be mothers of God. God is always needing to be born”. So, let us consider how we birth God in our lives.
Opening Prayer - Joan
Patient God,
you know just how often
we make decisions from a place of fear rather than love.
You know just how often
we allow fear to take the place of logic,
fanning unhealthy fires in our lives.
You know just how often
we tuck your words, “Do not be afraid”
on dusty shelves and in the back of closets,
stubbornly holding onto our own point of view.
Forgive us for giving fear the microphone.
Silence the voices of scarcity, shame, and rejection,
which spark and feed so much of our fear,
to recenter us in love.
With hope we pray, amen.
Advent Candle Lighting Blessing Prayer
Dennis: Like our ancestors, we honor the cycles and the seasons that remind us of the ever-changing flow of life. Ritual acts give life meaning—they honor and acknowledge the unseen web of Life that connects us all.
Week 2 – Presider lights candle as member of community prays:
We light this second candle and remember our ancestors who feared death, evil and the darkness of winter. We, too, in our day fear the darkness of war, discrimination, xenophobia and selfishness that threaten to isolate us and consign our planet to an eternal winter.
And so we respond: Let us kindle the light of peace!
Presider concludes: Indeed, let us welcome the light within each other!
Opening Song: Be Born in Me – Francesca Battistelli
https://youtu.be/QsXOP7aQeqQ
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading (Ellen): The One Who Said No by April Selley (adapted by Dennis)
God wouldn’t have chosen a woman who would refuse, but suppose there had been another girl of Nazareth, distrustful of angels, skeptical of miracles, or, foreseeing the fate of a Messiah in a Roman province, was afraid of becoming the model and mediatrix of suffering souls for all time.
She would have been one of the few who knew for certain the identity of the preaching Jesus; have joined the attending crowds with her ordinary husband, her children safe from history, perhaps wondering if Christ would recognize her – the woman who had rejected Him when His human self was still a divine idea.
Perhaps she would have looked at his compassionate face, his hands that wrought miracles, and seen no lineament of her own there, and wondered about irrevocable choices...
I see her at the Crucifixion among the women, no one understanding better than she the fruition of a mother’s and son’s destiny; feeling guilty that her own children were safe...
Upon hearing of the Resurrection she would have rejoiced for Mary, reunited with her son; have wondered if the same angel who had carried the message of failed annunciation back to God had also been present at the tomb, ushering Mary’s son into the human world again; have pondered if angels understood what it was like to want to be the snug people behind closed doors… the saved who effortlessly reaped eternity because there was a woman and her son who, fully knowing what it meant, still said “Yes”.
These are inspired words from April Selley and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Second Reading (Suzanne O): A reading from Mary Oliver
What I Have Learned So Far
Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I
not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,
looking into the shining world? Because, properly
attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.
Can one be passionate about the just, the
ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit
to no labor in its cause? I don’t think so.
All summations have a beginning, all effect has a
story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.
Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of
light is the crossroads of — indolence, or action.
Be ignited, or be gone.
These are the inspired words of Mary Oliver and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Alleluia
Gospel (Sandi): A reading from the Gospel named for Luke
Six months later, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a young woman named Mary; she was engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. Upon arriving, the angel said to Mary,
“Rejoice, highly favored one! The Most High God is with you! Blessed are you among women!” Now she was deeply troubled by the Angel’s words and wondered what sort of greeting this was. The angel went on to say to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and give him the name Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. God will give Jesus the judgment seat of David, his ancestor, to rule over the house of Jacob forever, and his reign will never end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have not known a man intimately?” The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit, She will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you— therefore the offspring to be born will be Holy. He will be called Son of God. Know too that Elizabeth, your kinswoman, has conceived a son in her old age; she who was thought to be infertile is now in her sixth month. Nothing is impossible with God.” Mary said, “Here I am, the woman-slave of God. Let it be done to me as you say.” With that, the angel left her.
These are inspired words from the Gospel named for Luke, and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Homily and Shared Reflections
When I decided to use the theme of the Annunciation for today’s liturgy, I immediately thought of our first reading, which I have heard numerous times when participating in the Advent Services prepared by Joan Horgan. April Selley asks us to imagine an initial woman approached by the angel and invited to bring Jesus, the Son of God into the world. She is hesitant, scared, untrusting, skeptical. Really, you expect me to take on this responsibility with all that is wrong with the world in which I live?! She decides she is not up to the task and says no. Later on, she recalls this as she watches Jesus and Mary from the sidelines thinking, I could have been Mary, bearing this child but also all the heartache that came with it. Regrets, perhaps, but secure in the knowledge that her children and she were safe. At least as safe as one could feel in an oppressed society ruled by Rome.
Our Gospel relates a story we’ve heard many times of Mary’s acceptance of the invitation to birth a child, Jesus, son of the Most High. But there are a couple of differences in this rendition of the passage, provided to us by Wilda Gafney from her book, A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church. First, you might have noticed that the angel says, “the Spirit, She will come upon you”. The use of the pronoun “she” reflects that the Spirit in the Hebrew and Greek is always seen as the feminine reflection of God. So, Mary’s connection to this Divine Pregnancy is initiated by the feminine nature of the Most High. We should not be surprised by this since women have always been there for each other in moments of joy and sorrow, as we see later in the story when Mary visits Elizabeth, and they support one another in the mystery of life in which they are both enveloped.
The second difference in this story is the line, “Here I am, the woman-slave of God. Let it be done to me as you say.” Woman-slave, why that language? Gafney explains that there were many stories of Deities impregnating human women by fiat, not by invitation. In Mary’s instance, she is invited, recognized as finding favor, and some doubt and after questioning the messenger, pronouncing her acceptance. She claims control of her situation, recognizing her status in the Roman world, she willingly recognizes and affirms her worthiness to become the mother of Jesus.
As I was contemplating how to bring these two readings together, I heard the poem by Mary Oliver, on a podcast I was listening to this week. It provided me with the intersection of the two readings. She points to the need to sit and listen, to hear and look at what is happening in the world, including both moments of joy and sorrow. Once we have, we have a choice to engage or to sit on the sidelines of life. She challenges us with the last line, “Be ignited or be gone”.
Our two women each made a choice, the first chose indolence, saying not me, no thank you. I don’t want to engage, I’ll stay where I am comfortable and safe. The other, Mary, engages, accepts the challenge, and sets in motion the coming of the Light that will ignite the world.
We are each invited, as we listen and see the world around us, to bring the message of love and justice to others and the world, as Jesus did, through our action and our involvement. How will you respond, during this Advent Season, to the invite to birth Jesus in your heart and in your life? Will you be ignited to be a “mother to God”?
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.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Joan: As we prepare for this sacred meal we are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. As bearers of LIGHT and HOPE, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your intentions beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…..”
We bring our blessings, cares, and concerns, spoken or unspoken to the Table of Friendship and Love. Amen.
Joan: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
(written by Jay Murnane)
All: Source of All That Is, we seek you in this season, when the earth is resting and preparing for new life. Like the earth, we long for new life and hopeful beginnings. This is the time of the pregnant woman, filled with life and hope powerful enough to topple structures of oppression. This is the time of her song of fidelity and celebration.
During this gentle season of Advent, we recognize that you have made us capable of bringing forth justice, like a rising sun. One with all who have gone before us, we sing a song of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: "Here In This Place"
Dennis: We thank you for those in times past who believed the good news, and lived what they believed.
Blessed is Isaiah and every visionary who insisted on a better future that would break through the deception, disaster and broken promises of the age in which they lived.
Blessed is John, in the stark desert of careful focus, inviting the people to be born again in your love.
Blessed is Miriam, who believed the words of Isaiah and opened herself up to the unbelievable.
And blessed is her child Jesus, who felt the sorrows of humankind in his soul, and responded with deep and tender compassion.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
Joan: We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift their plates and pray the following:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift their cups and pray the following:
Dennis: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
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, Let us kindle the light of peace.
All consume their bread and wine at this time
Communion Meditation/Song: Say Yes by Bob Franke
Prayer after communion:
Joan: Seed of God, be born in me, thrust new life forward
Like a sap-filled tree rising from Your pool of grace
Rooted in my womb’s embrace.
Seed of God, burst forth from me,
Let me stretch that God might be.
Edwina Gately, A Mystical Heart
All: Amen.
Joan: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy One, you are 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.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Dennis: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
Let us go forth, like Mary, to recognize truth and say yes.
Let us go forth to see Mary in the faces of our sisters and brothers.
Let us go forth to bring Divine life into the world.
All: AMEN
Closing Song: We Are the Ones by Karen Drucker
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