 |
| Photo by 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 Upper Room Liturgy this week. This morning we will consider a very familiar parable of Jesus, and think about our place in it.
Opening Prayer
Holy One, we know that you have placed yourself within us and within all of creation. You are our being, the seed deep inside that calls us to growth. Let us listen, today and every day, for that call to becoming. Amen.
Opening Song: I Am the One Within You by Karen Drucker
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11 (Adapted)
The Holy One says:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
and do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
so shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
Alleluia: Jan Phillips https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-10, 13, 18-23 (Adapted)
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
"A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
"Hear then the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one
who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it,
and the evil one comes and steals away
what was sown in that one’s heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But that one has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."
Homily Starter:
As I read the familiar parable of the sower and the seed while preparing today’s liturgy, vivid images came to my mind. I think these images were from my 5th or 6th grade religion book from Our Lady of Mercy School. There were scorched plants, thorns, birds eating seeds, and yes, a verdant garden. So this is a story many of us have heard since childhood. God’s word is scattered like seed. We are the soil. How well we receive and nurture the word depends on our quality, our depth, how well we receive that word and understand it.
This time as I studied and prepared, I came across a meditation that added a new dimension to the parable and its meaning. Bible scholar Noel Rabinowitz, in his essay called The Parable of the Seeds, notes that Jesus mixes metaphors as he shifts from the parable itself to the explanation of the parable’s meaning. I never noticed this before, but Dr. Rabinowitz is correct.
In the first telling of the parable it’s all about the landing place of the seed, the soil, the receiver of the word. But listen to one of the lines from Jesus’s explanation of the parable: “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (verse 22). Here Jesus speaks of the seed not as something planted from outside of the person, but AS the person. What could this mean? For me this is an amazing shift. Yes, I am the soil. But I am also the seed! Not only do I receive the word of God but I am the word of God. Each living thing is the word of God. We are soil and we are seed. We are called to hear and listen, and we are called to speak the truth placed within our hearts. We are called both to nurture the word and to become it with our lives.
What did you hear? Please share your thoughts about today’s readings.
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
adapted from Diarmuid O’Murchu
With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:
Gracious God, source and sustenance of life, redeeming presence to the pain and brokenness of our world, Holy Spirit, who enlivens and inebriates all that exists, we beseech your healing power upon us and all we pray for today.
Down through the ages, you rescue us from darkness.
you light up our ways with wise and holy people. You restore our spirits and you revive our dwindling hope.
May the Spirit of life and wholeness transform us that we may be refreshed in our inner being and be empowered to bring mercy, love, and healing to those whose lives we touch.
For all you bring to our lives, and for all we seek amid
pain and suffering, we acclaim your love and greatness,
and we join with all creation to sing our hymn of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: (Words and music by Karen Drucker) https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI
Please extend your hands in blessing.
Source of our health and wholeness, healer of body, mind, and spirit, we bring before you the darkness of our world, and the pain and suffering of your people.
We seek to be healed and made whole; we seek to be reconciled and united; we seek peace in our hearts and in our world.
We ask you to awaken anew in our hearts the empowering grace of your abundant Spirit, who infuses these gifts of bread and wine with the transforming energy of life, to nourish and sustain us in our time of need.
As we gather around this friendship table, we recall God’s
blessing and love from ages past, and we celebrate anew
the gift of life which we share among us at this Eucharistic feast.
The bread we break and the cup we share are symbols of our world of abundance where all are invited to partake of the fullness of life. But that life we often impede by our greed and selfishness and by our exploitation of other people.
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.
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 the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity.
Please receive communion saying: “You are the word of God”
Communion Song: Song Like a Seed by Sara Thomsen, Video by Denise
Prayer After Communion
In faith and hope we are sustained,
In grace our dignity reclaimed,
In praise we thank our God.
Grant that we may strive to create a world where suffering and pain are diminished, where justice and peace are restored, and where all people can live in health and wholeness, united in acclaiming the God of life, whose abundance is offered to each and to all, until the Kin-dom arrives in the fullness of time.
This prayer we make in the name of our healing and nurturing God through, with, and in whom we offer these gifts, sources of life, love, and goodness, now and forever. Amen.
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
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.
May we be ready to receive the word as it is spoken each day through creation. May we be the seed from which the word unfurls. Amen.
Closing Song: Anthem by Tom Conry
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.