phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Pride Sunday
Welcome to our celebration of Pride Sunday. In unity and love we are one. Let us celebrate where we have come. Let us dream of where we have yet to go.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, in a world divided, help us bring peace. In a world where ruthless judgement reigns, help us bring understanding. In a world of fear, give us the courage to speak truth to power. Amen.
Opening Song: Pray it Away, by Alex G
Lyrics:
"Pray It Away"
Dear anyone
I grew up believing that you were the one
But now I'm afraid that the doubting has won
Either way, I'm scared of you
The breaking is loud
I'm terrified of what I'm thinking about
Maybe you'll hear if I say it out loud
Or maybe the silence is truth
Oh I just want to know
Are you making
Space for my saving?
Or am I breaking?
Should I pray it away
Pray it away?
Dear anyone
Is it really you throwing punches at us?
Or throwing us out when we're coming undone?
Cause I'm so afraid to be wrong
The voices are loud
They're saying I'm dirty and going to hell
I'm starting to think I am screwed up as well
I just wanna know if if s true
Oh I just wanna know, I just wanna know
Are you making
Space for my saving?
Or am I breaking?
Should I
If you made me
Why do they hate me?
Never been this free
Why would I pray it away
Pray it away?
Dear anyone
I'm not really sure if I'm getting it right
But since I've been real I've been coming alive
I think that you'd say the same too
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: Jan Phillips, My Gratitude to Catholicism Proclaimed by Phillis Sheppard
I wasn’t just raised Catholic. I metabolized Catholic. I am a cellular Catholic. It was installed in me like software, which I now see as corrupt. The official church, the institutional church, has policies that are killing people. Its position on gays leads directly to some of the violence and suicides in our communities. I seriously pondered killing myself as a gay teen. As much as I embody this church and her beautiful rituals and sacraments, I am ashamed of what is happening in the name of Catholicism. There is no black and white. Nothing is simple. Any profound feeling is accompanied by endless and elegant ambiguity. This poem shows a little of mine…
My Gratitude to Catholicism
Thank you for the Mysteries – joyful, sorrowful, glorious-
and for teaching me early
that the Divine is too ineffable
to ever comprehend.
Thank you for the communion lines I watched every Sunday
as people passed my pew to receive the light,
for the holy water font that gave me
something wet and real to dip my fingers in
and know the difference between before and after
for the Bishop’s slap on my cheek
that confirmed my commitment
to be a warrior for peace
for the flame in the sanctuary
that let me know God was in the house.
for the Stations of the Cross
that gave me a way to walk the path with the love of my life.
for the ciborium full of hosts
the ever-changing rainbow of vestments
the gold monstrance of Benediction
the frankincense, the novenas,
Perpetual Adoration.
for the ashes on Wednesday
the washing of the feet on Thursday
the tears on Friday
the tabernacle -empty on Saturday
the Hallelujah chorus on Sunday
for the statues of the saints lined up on my dresser
giving me heroes a cut above what my culture was offering
for the scapular tangled up
in my undershirt, the miraculous medal,
my white Missalette,
St. Christopher on the dashboard.
for the fish on Friday that made something sacred of an average day
for two years in the convent to learn
I needed equal parts of solitude and community,
prayer and service.
I loved you then
and thank you always
but I will not return until you open your doors
to me as a lesbian, a prophet, a woman, a priest.
My altar now is the world at large
and the candle announcing
the presence of God burns day and night wherever I am.
I am a servant of unity.
The language of this church
is my mother-tongue
but I would rather be fluent
in the language of Love.
These are the words of Jan Phillips, singer, poet, and disciple of Jesus, and we affirm her words by saying, Amen.
Second reading: The Story of We’wha, proclaimed by Rachael Carricaburu
We’wha was a Lhamana, or Zuni Two Spirit, from the area that is now New Mexico, We’wha was born a male-bodied person who wore a mix of women’s and men’s clothing. They performed tasks that were typically divided by gender roles, distinguished as both a weaver and potter as well as a hunter and spiritual leader.
We’wha spoke English and struck up friendships with white outsiders, including the anthropologist Matilda Coxe Stevenson. They even traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1886 and met President Grover Cleveland. Largely perceived as a cisgender woman, We’wha became the toast of the town on this trip and gained a degree of national celebrity.
Things didn't go as well for the Zuni tribe, however. Christian missionaries arrived at Zuni (modern-day New Mexico and Arizona) in 1877, intent on converting the community. The Lhamana were imprisoned and the Zuni fought for their eventual release.
After getting out of prison, We’wha walked 40 miles back to the reservation and returned to their former life: leading ceremonies, making pottery, weaving with the women and hunting with the men.
This story of We’wha is told to us by Samuel White Swan-Perkins, pow-wow singer and journalist. We affirm his words by saying, Amen.
Alleluia: Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen, duet performed on violin by Sebastian and Etta Carricaburu
Gospel: Mark 12:28-31 Proclaimed by Diane Geary
One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”
Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Holy One, your God, is one; so love God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”
This lesson from our brother Jesus is told to us by the gospel writer we know as Mark. We affirm his words by saying, Amen.
Homily Starter (Denise)
When confronted with the question about the greatest commandment, Jesus responds with the words of Jewish law found in Leviticus. Love God with everything you have. And love your neighbor just as you love yourself. And we know from his parable about the Good Samaritan that Jesus wasn’t talking about your next-door neighbor. Jesus was a Jew who observed and lived the spirit of his religion. And he related to that other part of Leviticus; the part that reminded the people to treat the stranger among them as a citizen, because they themselves had been strangers in the land of Egypt. So for Jesus there was no stranger. No outcast. No one to throw stones at.
How the centuries have muted the words of our wise and loving brother. How we seem to find strangers to cast out, to ostracize, to crucify. Race. Religion. Country of origin. Body size. Body shape. Gender. Sexual orientation. All have been used to identify the other as stranger. Even as we celebrate the strides made by the LGBTQ community, we cannot deny the fact that many see them as strangers. Especially vulnerable right now are transgender young people and their families. The Zuni two-spirit person, We’wha, was not a stranger in their own community. They were accepted. But the missionaries and soldiers of the dominant culture saw a stranger. And they threw We’wha into prison. No one threw Jan Phillips into prison, but she was ostracized by the dominant culture, her Church, because of her sexual orientation. She was identified as a stranger. No longer wanted in the fold.
Today, the dominant culture is continuing its persecution of a vulnerable population. It has singled out trans youth as the current stranger. At least 15 states (10 in the last year) have outlawed or greatly restricted gender-affirming care for trans kids, including hormone therapy. Many states have enacted bathroom laws, forcing trans kids to use the school bathroom according to the sex they were assigned at birth. Many require that trans children be addressed using the pronouns appropriate to their birth-sex. These children are treated as the strangers among us because many do not understand them, and perhaps even fear them. They are, in a very real way, heirs to the ancient title of scapegoat, forced to take on the fears and hatreds of their society. And wasn’t scapegoating the very thing Jesus tried to end? Can we, as a civilized people, put down our stones and walk away?
Etta Carricaburu Shares Her Transition Story
I grew up at a school where questioning your gender and sexuality was commonplace and encouraged, but even so, I didn't realize I was trans until about a year ago. I was in middle school when I came out as bisexual because I knew I didn't love others as a straight man does. In high school, I started recognizing the things that brought me dysphoria, or the feeling of being stuck in a body that you don't belong in. The first time I shaved my legs was the first time I felt gender euphoria. It was the first time I started to feel at home in my body.
I still didn't realize that that is what I was feeling though, and it took me another 2 years to come out as nonbinary and start using they/them pronouns. Another 6 months later, I decided to start on HRT because I was unhappy living in the body I grew up in, and that ended up being one of the best decisions of my life.
Since then, I have come out as transfeminine and started going by Etta. I now feel happier than I ever have before, even with all of the anti-trans sentiment spreading the country, because I know that even if I die tomorrow, I will have lived today as my true, authentic self. Coming out as trans may have put a target on my back and labeled me so that hateful people can find me, but it has also given me the strength to deal with those people. It doesn't matter to me whether people love me anymore, because at the end of the day, my love for myself is all I truly need.
Up until about 6 months ago, I hated looking in the mirror because the person I saw staring back at me wasn't me. It was like someone else was watching me and there wasn't anything I could do about it. Now I look at the girl in the mirror and I smile back at her because I love who I see. I used to think that self-love meant that you needed to simply respect yourself and the things your body does for you. I thought that recognizing my body as a fascinating biological machine was as close to self-love as was humanly possible. I had no idea that it was possible to actually love yourself, but I'm so, so happy I was wrong.
I want to end off by talking about the anti-trans sentiment that is covering the country now and what you can do to help. Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, and dozens of other states are passing bills doing everything from banning trans people from bathrooms to forcibly de-transitioning trans children and adults. Many of these states are no longer safe for any person of the LGBTQIA+ community to live in. I don't have time to talk about all of the problems facing many queer people today, but I will tell you how you can help. Join organizations that are working to keep queer people safe. I am a part of a group called Rainbow Refuge that is helping queer people in dangerous states find safe places to live, and we are always looking for people willing to help in whatever ways they can. Teach yourselves about what mutual aid is and how you can help unhoused queer and trans people and others in need. And finally, just support the queer people in your community. Reach out to your queer friends and check on them. Invite them over for dinner, and connect with them so that you can better help them with the struggles they are going through.
Thank you all for coming today and caring about our community. I would love to talk after the liturgy with anyone that wants to learn more about anything I talked about.
Shared Homily
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 are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. 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 concerns. Amen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:
All: Holy One, source of all life, you enchant all that exists with your Spirit of Love. You call everyone, exactly as we are, into oneness with yourself. You call us to recognize your presence in everyone we meet.
Since the beginning of our Holy Universe you have called us forward, your invitation always open to us, pulling us like gravity out of darkness. Again and again you have stretched out your hand to rescue us from our own folly, again and again sending wise and holy people to show us the way back to you.
May our eyes be opened to the path of life. May we join with every one of our companions on this journey in solidarity and friendship, as we share the joy and abundance of this, our common home.
For every time we see your hand in the outstretched hand of a stranger; for every time we hear your call in the cries of the oppressed; for every time we see your light in the sparkling eyes of a beloved; we join today with the song of the Universe and sing your praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: (Words and music by Karen Drucker)
Please extend your hands in blessing.
All: Spirit of Love, Fountain of Creation and Creativity, you have made us and we are good. Every shape, every size, every color. Every gender, every ability, every sexuality. We are yours, and we are holy.
We come into community today to celebrate your gifts that shine in one another, and in the bread and wine on this table. All are infused with and transformed by your abundant Spirit. All are called to nourish and sustain. All are created by and given in Grace.
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for a meal 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.
Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.
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.
Let us share Communion with the words, “You are the face of the Divine.”
Communion Song: The Village, by Wrable
Lyrics
No, your mom don't get it
And your dad don't get it
Uncle John don't get it
And you can't tell grandma
'Cause her heart can't take it
And she might not make it
They say, "Don't dare, don't you even go there"
"Cutting off your long hair"
"You do as you're told"
Tell you, "Wake up, go put on your makeup"
"This is just a phase you're gonna outgrow"
There's something wrong in the village
In the village, oh
They stare in the village
In the village, oh
There's nothing wrong with you
It's true, it's true
There's something wrong with the village
With the village
There's something wrong with the village
Feel the rumors follow you
From Monday all the way to Friday dinner
You got one day of shelter
Then it's Sunday hell to pay, you young lost sinner
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chair
Whispering that same prayer half a million times
It's a lie, though buried in disciples
One page of the Bible isn't worth a life
There's something wrong in the village
In the village, oh
They stare in the village
In the village, oh
There's nothing wrong with you
It's true, it's true
There's something wrong with the village
With the village
Something wrong with the village
There's something wrong in the village
In the village, oh
They stare in the village
In the village, oh
There's nothing wrong with you
It's true, it's true
There's something wrong with the village
With the village
Something wrong with the village
Prayer After Communion:
In faith and hope we are sustained,
In grace our dignity reclaimed,
In praise we thank our God.
As we walk through this world may we leave footsteps of justice. As we touch this world may our hands bring healing. As we look at the beauty of this creation may our hearts open wide to the possibility of dignity for all. God of life, we ask this in the here and now, where we hold one another in your presence, as we continue to build your kin-dom. Amen.
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
All: 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
Let us raise our hands and bless each other.
Dearest Holy One, You have made us, and we are good. Each of us, in our own truthful nature, is exactly as we should be, exactly as you created us to be. Help us to see that truth in ourselves and in one another. May no one be a stranger. AMEN
Closing song: Fight Song Ash Todori
Like a small boat
On the ocean
Sending big waves
Into motion
Like how a single word
Can make a heart open
I might only have one match
But I can make an explosion
And all those things I didn't say
Wrecking balls inside my brain
I will scream them loud tonight
Can you hear my voice this time?
This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I'm alright song
My power's turned on
Starting right now I'll be strong
I'll play my fight song
And I don't really care if nobody else believes
'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me
Losing friends and I'm chasing sleep
Everybody's worried about me
In too deep
Say I'm in too deep (in too deep)
And it's been two years I miss my home
But there's a fire burning in my bones
Still believe
Yeah, I still believe
And all those things I didn't say
Wrecking balls inside my brain
I will scream them loud tonight
Can you hear my voice this time?
This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I'm alright song
My power's turned on
Starting right now I'll be strong
I'll play my fight song
And I don't really care if nobody else believes
'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me
A lot of fight left in me
Like a small boat
On the ocean
Sending big waves
Into motion
Like how a single word
Can make a heart open
I might only have one match
But I can make an explosion
This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I'm alright song
My power's turned on
Starting right now I'll be strong (I'll be strong)
I'll play my fight song
And I don't really care if nobody else believes
'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me
know I've still got a lot of fight left in me
After Liturgy Rachael Carricaburu, MD, Resident Physician in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital Transgender Health Program, will be available to take any questions.
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