Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome: The author May Angelou speaks to the lifelong journey of faith. She says: “I’m startled or taken aback when people walk up to me and tell me they are Christians. My first response is the question ‘Already?” We are on a journey together as we travel separately.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, no matter where we are on our journey you are with us. We stray off the path, you go with us, and lovingly hold our hand until we find the path again and return.
Opening song: Every Step of the Way by Christopher Grundy
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A Reading from John Shelby Spong
The Christian life is a journey and people ought to enjoy it. The people that think they have arrived are the ones that always get us in trouble. Anytime somebody thinks the journey is over and they have finally achieved the truth, they always put their wagons in a circle and begin to defend their truth against all comers and in the process, they kill one another. There is nothing about the Christian life that says it ever is complete. It is ultimately a journey into the mystery of God. Now, there are some things about the journey that I think are important: One is that you can’t start anywhere. You’ve got to start somewhere in particular. You cannot just say, “Well I’ll go out here into the wild blue yonder.” The way you start a journey into the mystery of God, I believe, is in the faith tradition, which is native to you. For you and me this would be the Christian tradition. Jesus becomes the point of entry; so you enter into the journey through the tradition with which you are familiar and then you begin to walk into and journey toward the mystery.
We affirm these words by saying, Amen!
Second Reading: A Reading from Living the Questions by David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy.
Each denomination has developed its own particular formula for salvation. Some churches view salvation as a once-and-for-all decision, while others see it as a lifelong process of transformation. Churches who hold to the evolutionary perspective on faith might be characterized by their desire to draw the circle wider in an effort to stay open to new ideas and experiences in which the Divine might be revealed. The biggest challenge is to follow a story that is always evolving, one in which the ending is not yet written.
We affirm these words by saying, Amen.
Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker
Gospel: A reading from the Gospel of Mark
Jesus summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs. He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts. They were to wear sandals but, he added “Do not take a spare tunic.” Jesus said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town, “Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you leave it, shake off the dust from the soles of your feet. So they set off, proclaiming the good news.
These words are attributed to Mark, a disciple of Jesus, and we affirm them by saying Amen.
Shared Homily: In the first reading Spong says we can’t start our journey just anywhere. We start from somewhere in particular. For most of us that somewhere in particular is in the tradition in which we were raised. Over the last few years many of us have moved beyond the basic understanding of our tradition. We have let go of the many laws and labels that were laid upon us and we focus on living a life modeled after Jesus.
Today we often think of ourselves has progressive Christians. The label progressive Christian sounds inclusive and open. But I think we need to be careful even with a great sounding identity of a Progressive Christian. Being a progressive Christian does not mean we cannot get caught up in new laws and labels of our own making.
Suppose we let go of the label progressive Christian or any label and maybe we just identify with Being. Being is growing and developing step by step, gradually or in stages. Being, without finite labels and laws. As Felten says in our second reading, our development is “always evolving, one in which the ending is not yet written.” We are on a journey that is unique to each person.
In the gospel Jesus is very clear with his instructions, “take nothing for the journey except a mere staff”. In Jesus time this was more than a figure of speech. In our time however, we might interpret Jesus’ instructions differently. We all have easy access to food, clothes, and shelter. But if we have nothing, or no thing, or non-attachment to things, as the Buddhists say, we are not encumbered or weighed down as we travel. On our journey can we leave behind “things” such as worry and fear? Can we let go of our strong opinions and judgements? Can we let go of hurts and grudges? We know the journey is not an easy one.
There is one more very important caveat to Jesus’ “take nothing” instruction. Jesus purposely sends his disciples out in pairs. Two by two, in individual relationships, or in community, we encounter the Holy One in each other. We travel into a mystery, a journey of unknowing but we travel together.
What did you hear? How is your journey so far?
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.
Intentions
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….”
We pray for these and all unspoken prayers and blessings. Amen.
Pause.
Eucharistic Prayer of Belonging
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
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 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.
(All lift the bread)
All: Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, go and share my love with one another.
(All lift the cup)
All: 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 are 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.
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: I am called
Communion Song: Bare to the Bone – Carrie Newcomer
Communion prayer:
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 Amen.
Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
All: O Holy One, who is within, around, and among us, we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom comes. 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.
The Prayer of Jesus as interpreted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together
All: May we travel together and do our part to bring justice into the world. Where there is justice there is peace. May our gathering ignite us to love more fully. And like Jesus may we be a shining light and a blessing for all. Amen.
Closing Song: Anthem by Tom Conry
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