phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome-Julie: Hello and welcome to you all! I’m so happy to be here with you all today as we shout our joy from the housetops.
Opening Prayer-Julie: Let us pray. Holy One, you soothe our fears and urge us to do new things in our lives. Help us find comfort and peace as we step into our fullness. AMEN.
Opening Song: City of God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnya9uh0oZo
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 19:1, 2b, 10a, 11a,b; 15bc; 20.1-2,10-11a, 12a,b,d
Thus said God to Jeremiah: "Go. Buy a potter’s earthenware flask. Take along some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests, and... proclaim the words which I will speak to you... you shall break the flask in the sight of those who accompany you, and say to them, 'Thus says the God of all: I will smash this people and this city, Jerusalem, as one smashes a clay pot so that it cannot be mended... I will bring this evil upon this city because they have become stubborn and refuse to hear my words...”
Now the priest...and chief officer in the Temple (the House of God), heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. So, he struck the prophet and put him in stocks at the upper Gate of Benjamin in the house of God.
Jeremiah cried out to God: “I hear the whisperings of many against me... ‘Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ All those who were my friends are on watch for any misstep of mine, saying, ‘Perhaps he can be tricked. Then we will prevail, and take revenge on him.’ But You are with me, O God. You are my encouragement and champion. My persecutors will stumble. They will not prevail. In their failure, they will be greatly shamed, eternally dishonored. God of all that is, You test the just. You see mind and heart... for to You I have entrusted my cause.
These are the inspired words of the prophet, Jeremiah, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM
Psalm 69:7-8, 9-10, 14b, 17-21, 30b-31
The psalm response is: Answer, O God, in Your generous love.
Let those who wait in hope for
You not be shamed because of me, O God.
Let those who seek You not be disgraced because of me.
For it is on Your account I bear insult,
that disgrace covers my face.
R: Answer, O God, in Your generous love.
I have become an outcast to my kindred,
a stranger to my mother’s children.
Because zeal for Your house has consumed me,
I am scorned by those who scorn You.
R: Answer, O God, in Your generous love.
O God, in Your abundant kindness,
answer me with Your deliverance.
Answer me, O God, in Your generous love.
In Your great compassion, turn to me.
Do not hide Your face from Your servant.
Hasten to answer me, for I am in distress.
R: Answer, O God, in Your generous love.
Come and redeem my life.
Ransom me from my enemies.
You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace.
Insults have broken my heart and I am in despair.
Let your saving help protect me, O God,
that I may praise Your name in song
and glorify Your name with thanksgiving.
R: Answer, O God, in Your generous love.
SECOND READING
A Reading from the 2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 4:1-2, 5-10
Since we have this ministry through the blessing shown us, we are not discouraged. We have renounced shameful, hidden things. We commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God, not acting deceitfully or falsifying the word of God, but by the open declaration of the truth.
We do not proclaim ourselves. We proclaim Jesus the Christ as Leader and Servant of all, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For the God who said, “In darkness there is radiance” has planted radiance in our hearts in order to manifest God’s glory in Jesus the Christ.
But we hold this treasure in earthenware jars, so that it be made clear that such transcendent power does not come from us, but from God alone. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. What they did to Jesus, they do to us. What Jesus did among them, God empowers us to do. Jesus’ life is evident in us. Jesus lives—in us.
These are the inspired words of the Apostle Paul and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips
GOSPEL
A reading from the gospel of Matthew 10:26-33
Jesus said to the Twelve: "Don't let people intimidate you. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing is hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops.
"Don't fear those who can deprive the body of life but can't destroy the soul. Rather, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.
"Are not the sparrows sold for pennies? Yet not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Abba God's knowledge. As for you, every hair on your head has been counted. So don't be afraid of anything--you are worth more than an entire flock of sparrows.
"Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before Abba God in heaven. Whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before Abba God in heaven."
These are the inspired words of the anonymous gospel writer we call Matthew and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Shared Homily-Julie:
In last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus sent his disciples out to share his love with the world. Today’s gospel is the pep talk he gave them right before they went. “So don’t be afraid of anything.” He knew that they wouldn’t be welcomed everywhere they went, that some people would ignore them and that some people would threaten them. Yet he still told them to go. He told them to go and shout his good news from the housetops and to not be afraid. Jesus told them to not be afraid because Creator God treasures each of us, human and bird, that God counts the hair on each person’s head. Of course, that’s easier with some of us, than others.
The disciples got this pep talk before they went. If Jesus was going to give you your own personal pep talk, what would it be about? What are you afraid of? We’re all nervous about starting something new. What new thing have you been putting off trying? What new thing would you begin in your life if you truly trusted God’s love and care?
Sometimes we get jammed up about starting something new because we think it’s all on us, that we’re in charge of everything. But as Paul writes in the second reading, “such transcendent power does not come from us, but from God alone.” We’re just the containers, the earthenware jars. “What Jesus did among them, God empowers us to do.” We’re not in charge but we’re not powerless either. God empowers each of us to do our part, to take the actions that are right for us. It looks a little different for each of us but together we form a community of believers who care for and support each other. And that’s a transcendent gift worth shouting from the housetops.
What about you? What did you hear in today’s readings? What would you like to shout from the housetops?
Statement of Faith
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.
Julie: 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 the unspoken concerns held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Julie: Please raise your hands and pray our eucharistic prayer together.
All: O Holy One, you have birthed us in goodness, gifted us with life and cherished us in love. In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells; a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth.
In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment, that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with all who sing the ancient hymn of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in this Place – with lyrics – Christopher Grundy
Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power. We, your creatures, often deviate from that wisdom, thus hindering your creative presence in our midst. Sending among us Jesus, our brother, you birth afresh in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the gift of Your Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew, amid the variety and wonder of life.
(Extend hands in blessing.)
We invoke Your Spirit upon the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, that they may become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world.
On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within them, he bent down and washed their feet.
(All lift the bread 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. Go and love one another.
(All lift the 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.
In faith and hope we are sustained; in grace and dignity reclaimed. In praise, we thank you. In union with all peoples living and dead, we unite our thoughts and prayers, asking wisdom and courage: - to discern more wisely your call to us in the circumstances of our daily lives; - to act justly and courageously in confronting the pain and suffering that desecrates the Earth and its peoples; - to take risks in being creative and proactive on behalf of the poor and marginalized; - and to love all people with generosity of heart, beyond the labels of race, creed and color. And may we ever be aware and alert to the new things Your Spirit makes possible in us, as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty, into the fullness of life to which all are called, participating in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation.
Please receive communion with the words: I am a spark of the Divine.
Communion Meditation: Let There Be Peace on Earth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_DxNpW1kHQ
Prayer after communion-Julie: Let us pray. Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways. AMEN.
Let us pray the prayer of 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)
BLESSING
Julie: Please raise your hands as we bless each other:
May we carry joy and hope in our hearts every day. May we love and care for each always. May our name be a blessing in our time. AMEN.
Closing Song: Go Make a Difference
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