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| Photo: https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu//act-imagelink.pl?RC=48398 |
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Julie: Welcome to our inclusive catholic community. We celebrate with joy the indwelling of our God among us. We are happy you are here with us today. Our theme for this liturgy is celebrating our mystical oneness in the Cosmic Christ. All are welcome to share in our simple Eucharistic meal around this friendship table.
Opening Prayer
Julie: Nurturing God, You embrace each person and every living thing with delight. May we, who are stardust, be filled with awe as we experience our mystical oneness, with all creation in the Heart of Love. May we cherish every amazing day, conscious of your presence and abundance all around us. AMEN.
Opening Song: Christ Be Our Light
https://youtu.be/nn7Hl6ki9z8
Liturgy of the Word
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles 1:1-14
In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught, from the beginning up until the day he gave the apostles instruction through the Holy Spirit and was taken up into the heavens. After he suffered and died, Jesus showed himself alive to them by ample proof. For forty days, Jesus appeared to them, speaking about the Kin-dom of God. While at table with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for what their Loving God had promised. “The promise is what you have heard me speak about,” Jesus said, "that John baptized with water; but, in not many days from now, you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit.”
When they were all together, they asked Jesus, “Teacher, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?” Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that God has set. You will be empowered when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When he said this, and as they were watching, Jesus was lifted up and disappeared out of their sight into a cloud. While he was going and they were gazing up toward the heavens, suddenly two people in white robes stood by them. They said, “You of Galilee, why do you stand looking up at the heavens? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into the heavens, will come again in the same way as you have seen him go.”
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When the eleven arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. They all joined together constantly in prayer, including the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with Jesus' brothers and sisters.
These are the inspired words of an Early Church Chronicler and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
GOSPEL
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Matthew 28:16-20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to where Jesus had arranged with the women to meet them. When they saw him, they fell down before him, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached them and said, “God authorized and told me to commission you. Go, therefore, and make disciples of everyone you meet, far and near. Baptize them in the name of the Creator, and of Jesus the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, instructing them in the practice of the way of life I have lived. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of time.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Matthew and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter
Julie: “You of Galilee, why do you stand looking up at the heavens?” It’s a very human thing to not believe that someone is really gone, that something has really ended, that this is really it. Sometimes it’s because we’re sad. Denial is one of the stages of grief, right? But sometimes it’s because we don’t know what to do next. Or maybe we do know what to do but we’re scared to do it. Change is hard!
If change is hard for us with fairly ordinary lives, imagine how much harder it was for the disciples of Jesus. For three years they followed Jesus, did their best to understand his radical teachings (love one another, what’s that all about?), and then suffered the pain of watching their beloved teacher be executed. But hey, then Jesus rose from the dead! Can you imagine their relief? They had him back! They had more teaching, like in the gospel: “God authorized and told me to commission you. Go, therefore, and … baptize them in the name of the Creator, and of Jesus the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, instructing them in the practice of the way of life I have lived. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of time.” Except always turned out to only be 40 more days on earth. They had to say good bye again.
But this time they had their instructions from Jesus. This time they knew that they were expected to go out into the world and tell people about how Jesus lived, how he loved and cared for the poor and marginalized, and how he spoke truth to power. They knew Jesus wanted them to baptize those people they met who wanted to live like they did. Like we try to live. These days people have heard of Jesus and what he taught. Can you imagine how challenging it was for those first disciples to go out and tell strangers about their teacher who rose from the dead? But they did it. They shared the good news and two thousand years later we’re still doing our best to live up to the example that Jesus set for us, to follow the way.
What did you hear? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you?
Shared Homily
Please join in proclaiming our 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.
Presider: As we prepare for this sacred meal we remember that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our blessings, our gratitude and our cares and concerns.
We bring to the table…..
We pray for these and all unspoken prayers and blessings. Amen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Presider 2: Please join in praying the Eucharist prayer together:
Ever gentle God, as co-creators of our planet, we offer you the gifts of bread, wine and our lives. May we celebrate our oneness with all creatures great and small in your precious family.
As one with You, we gather as a community to celebrate your gift of life pulsating within and around us and in the glories of nature everywhere.
O Birthing God, you stirred the waters of creation; you dwell on earth, and in every living being. We lift up our hearts to you and with thanks and praise we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in this Place – Christopher Grundy
Christ of the Cosmos, we thank you that there are 18 galaxies for every person, that our bodies are made of stardust. Every place we turn, you are present, loving us. You call us, “beloved” and invite us to join the dance of creation in a mystical celebration of our oneness with all living things in your divine love.
Christ of the Cosmos, we rejoice that You, who are more than we can imagine or dream of dwell in mystery beyond all comprehension. We remember that it was you, who said: “Anything I have done in the name of the Holy One, you can do, too…and even more.”
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, who showed us so simply, so tenderly, how the world is in our hands. He had nothing in this world but your love, companions on the journey, and his very self. Together, that was more than enough, and that remains our clarity in the midst of confusion: the miracle of healing, new hope, nurturance, nourishment, liberation and life.
All lift their bread and pray the following:
On the night before he died, while at supper with his friends, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to them saying,
Take and eat; go and share my love.
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 become communion
Both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
Please receive communion with the words: I am the light of the world.
Communion Meditation: Holy Now by Peter Mayer
https://youtu.be/s_SgAmljIJc
Christ of the Cosmos, we remember Mary, mother of Jesus, faithful disciple and St. Francis who sang canticles to brother sun and sister moon. We remember our sisters and brothers, the great cloud of witnesses who have cared for earth’s creatures and have blessed our world with their loving service to God’s people.
We praise you in union with them
we awaken to your Spirit within,
Moving us to worship you truly,
O Holy One,
At this time and all time and in all ways.
AMEN.
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)
Concluding Rite
Julie: Lover of the Universe, we are full of awe at your extravagant love flowing through all living things. We immerse ourselves in the beauty of nature that surrounds us each day. We are one with our brother Jesus, in union with the Holy Spirit.
Christ of the Cosmos is with us. And loves through us.
The blessing of God is upon us as we go in the peace of the Cosmic Christ to live justice and peace! Amen
Closing Song: This Little Light of Mine – Bruce Springsteen
https://youtu.be/R0qAYq1GVec
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