Upper Room Saturday Liturgy - April 29, 2023 - Presider: Denise Hackert-Stoner

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

Welcome to our Saturday liturgy.  Gates and passages will be our theme this evening, what they are and where they lead.

Opening Prayer:  Holy One, it sometimes feels like our lives are a just a series of paths in a giant maze.  We have all met our own dead ends, false doorways, and blocked passages.  Help us to see the way of our brother Jesus, the way that leads to abundant life.  Amen.

Opening Song:  As the Moon, by Christopher Grundy  https://youtu.be/qkDwd0uv178

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading:  From Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

These are the words of Thomas Merton, monk and wanderer.  We affirm his words by saying, Amen.

Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips  https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

Gospel:  John 10:1-10

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Homily Starter

Sometimes it helps to know the context of a story.  When we lift chapters and verses out of the larger bodies of the Gospel (or whichever book of the Bible they live in) we lose that context.  In the chapter just prior to tonight’s reading Jesus heals a man who was born blind.  The man shows himself to the Pharisees, his eyesight intact.  First the Pharisees demand proof, and the man brings in his mother who attests that he had been blind all his life.  Then the Pharisees banish the man because they say that he must be a terrible sinner to have been born blind.  The poor guy couldn’t win.  Finally he returns to Jesus, who accepts him as a disciple.  So then comes this discourse on the gate, and later in the chapter, the good shepherd.  It’s not hard to imagine who the “thieves and robbers” are!  Jesus is pretty annoyed at the Pharisees at this point.  He repeatedly makes the point that he himself is the gate.  The way that he points to will lead to life in abundance, without fear and dread of being labeled a sinner or unworthy.

Of course, Jesus was speaking to people of his own time.  He was trying to show them that they could have full lives, come and go freely, and find goodness by following him.  Do his words mean the same for us today?   I don’t know about you but there are times I can really relate to the Thomas Merton reading.  “I have no idea where I am going.”  So true!  And there are so many voices calling us in so many directions, so many gates to choose from.  And really, I don’t want to think of myself as a sheep who needs saving from wolves and thieves.  But if I’m completely honest with myself I have to admit I do need saving.  From the free-floating anxiety that can overwhelm me at any given moment, from the old guilts and regrets that rear their ugly heads when I least expect them.  I need salvation from these.  And I believe that this is what Jesus is offering.  This is what Thomas Merton has found, even in his uncertainty.  My hope lies in choosing the gate that is the way of Jesus, or at least making my best attempt at that and hoping for the grace to get me there.  

What did you hear in tonight’s readings?  Please share your wisdom.

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. 

Denise:  As we prepare for the sacred meal, we voice our intentions beginning with the words, “We bring to the table…..”  

Denise: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.  

Liturgy of the Eucharist

Denise: Let us pray together our Eucharistic Prayer:

 ALL:  O Divine Fire of Love, how often have we felt your tender love, for you love us without limits or boundaries! How often have we been consumed with delight by your love in human touch!  How often have we felt your embrace through Earth's beauty, as part of your beloved creation! Your Spirit energizes us to work for a just and peaceful world and we raise our voices with grateful hearts as we sing:

Here in This Place   https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ

All:  Holy One, we recognize Your Spirit in the gifts of this Eucharistic table and the gifts within each of us.  May they become gifts of wisdom, light and truth.

 We thank you for Jesus whose message blesses and transform our lives. He showed us how to live as your new creation.

Denise:  Please extend your hands in blessing.

 On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at the Seder 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 plate and pray the following:

When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:

Take and eat; this is my very self.

All lift their cup and pray the following:

He then raised high 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.

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 communion with the words, “Open wide the gate.” 

Communion Meditation:  Psalm 23, Bobby McFarrin   https://youtu.be/000AuO_lBJk

Denise:  Let us pray together,  O Holy One, You call us to live the Gospel of 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 to power.  We will walk with integrity in your presence. 

Denise: Let us pray the prayer 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)  

 Denise:  Please raise your hands in blessing.  May your ever-present, empowering and magnificent love, the source of all light and life, fill us to over-flowing.  With it may we light the world. 

Closing Song:  Joy in our Hearts, Karen Drucker https://youtu.be/QRBSdrI1MBI