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Salt and Light
Julie Welcome! We are so happy to have you join us today as we celebrate our liturgy together. Today we think about what it means to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. All of us, all the time.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, you love us when we cannot seem to love ourselves. Help us to hear your call to be who you know us to be, your light here on earth. AMEN.
Opening Song: Loving Kindness by Karen Drucker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLwm68BlH_4
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading
A reading from the Prophet Isaiah (58:7-10)
Thus says the YHWH:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the YHWH shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and YHWH will answer,
you shall cry for help, and God will say: Here I am!
If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
if you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday.
These are the inspired words of the Prophet Isaiah and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Alleluia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC4nbwmQDVw
Gospel
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Matthew (5:13-16)
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and give praise to your Abba God in heaven."
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Matthew, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Shared Homily
Julie: Salt and Light. Given the number of car window stickers I see in Albany with that logo, this is a tremendously popular gospel verse. Let’s look at why that is.
Salt. For us, it’s a condiment, the best part of French fries. But in the time of Jesus, it was much, much more. In her book, Abiding Word, Barbara Reid lists some of the uses for salt in those days: it was used for seasoning and preserving food; as a way to keep incense powder pure; a way to ratify/preserve covenants; and lastly, as a way to permanently destroy soil, to make it unusable. And yet Jesus asks what happens when salt loses its taste. What? We know that to be impossible. Salt never loses its taste. In that same way, we will never stop being who we are. We will always carry God’s love with us through the world.
Similarly, the light of God’s love shines through us into the world. In times of distress, we may mistakenly think that light has dimmed but it never does. Just like salt can never lose its taste, we can never hide God’s love, not under a bushel basket, not under our pain, not at all. This is how Isaiah could prophesize:
“Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed. …”
Today let God’s love heal all your wounds, the physical wounds, the emotional wounds, and your spiritual wounds. Let that love season your life as you share it with the world.
What did you hear? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you? Please unmute and share your thoughts and insights on today’s readings.
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
(Written by Jay Murnane)
Julie: As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our prayers for the community. Please share your blessings, cares, and concerns starting with the words, “I bring to the table…”
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of all creation. Through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We give thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.
We open our awareness to the goodness of all of creation and we remember our responsibility to serve. You invite us to build the earth into a community of love rooted in justice. You placed confidence in us, for you made us and you know that we are good.
In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all the faithful servants who have gone before us and we sing:
Holy Holy Holy by Karen Drucker
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, and revealing us as one with you and all of creation.
He lived among us to show us who we are and challenged us to know you. He taught us the strength of compassionate love.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
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 died, Jesus gathered for supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet, so that they would remember him.
(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:)
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 become Communion both love’s nourishment and love’s challenge.
You are called, consecrated, and chosen to serve. Please receive Communion with the words: I embrace my call to love.
Communion Song: You Say by Lauren Daigle
Prayer after communion:
Julie: Holy One, we are willing to do everything Jesus did, to re-create the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates hope, of a light that illumines people and confronts the darkness of every injustice and inequity.
We trust you to continue to share with us your own spirit, the spirit that animated Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. Amen.
All: AMEN.
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
Julie: Let us raise our hands in blessing and pray together:
May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we love compassionately and live fully. May we call each other to extravagant generosity! May we walk with an awareness of our Call as companions on the journey, knowing we are not alone. May we, like Jesus, be a shining light and a blessing in our time! AMEN.
Closing Song: One Thing Remains by Jesus Culture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_KXsMCJgBQ
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