phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Our Cup Overflows
Welcome: Welcome! We are so happy to have you join us today as we celebrate our liturgy, our feast of love, together.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, you invite us to your feast of love. You wipe away our tears and comfort us and we rejoice! Let us wake up and share your love and comfort with those we meet in life, today and every day. AMEN.
Opening song: City of God
https://youtu.be/Cnya9uh0oZo?si=zEN-Jhi6hw8x54Oc
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah 25:6-10a
On this mountain,
the God of All will prepare for you,
a banquet of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
fine food filled with marrow, fine wines strained clear.
On this mountain,
God will lift the veil of those who mourn,
the shroud that is cast over all peoples.
For God will destroy death forever.
God will wipe away tears from every cheek,
and take away indignity from all the earth.
For God has spoken.
On that day it will be said,
“This is our God!
This is the One for whom we have waited!
This is the One in whom we put our hope!
This is our God who completes our joy and makes us whole.
We rejoice! We exult in this unending feast!
The hand of God rests on this mountain!”
These are the prophetic words of one we call Isaiah, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM
Psalm 23:1-6 (Merrill, rendered in the plural)
Our Psalm Response is:
With God as our Shepherd, there is nothing we shall want.
R: With God as our Shepherd, there is nothing we shall want.
O Beloved, You are our shepherd!
We shall not want.
You bring us to green pastures for rest, You lead us beside still waters,
renewing our spirits.
You restore our souls.
You lead us in the path of goodness
to follow Love’s way.
R: With God as our Shepherd, there is nothing we shall want.
Even though we walk through
the valley of the shadow and of death,
We are not afraid.
For You are ever with us.
Your rod and Your staff guide us.
They give us strength and comfort.
R: With God as our Shepherd, there is nothing we shall want.
You prepare a table before us.
in the presence of all our fears.
You bless us with oil.
Our cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow us
all the days of our lives;
and we shall dwell in the heart of the Beloved forever.
R: With God as our Shepherd, there is nothing we shall want.
Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker
GOSPEL
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Matthew 22:1-14
While teaching at the Temple, Jesus spoke again in parables, saying: The kin-dom of heaven is like a ruler who prepared a wedding feast for the family heir; but when the ruler sent out servants to summon the invited guests, they wouldn't come. The ruler sent more servants, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: ‘I have prepared this feast for you. My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’”
But they took no notice and went off, one to his field, another to her business. The rest seized the servants, attacked them brutally and killed them. The ruler was enraged and sent an army who destroyed the murderers and burned their city.
Then the ruler said to the servants, “The wedding feast is ready, but those I invited do not deserve the honor. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet everyone you find.” The servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, until the wedding hall was filled with guests.
But the ruler came in to see the guests and noticed one person there who was not wearing wedding clothes and asked “My friend, how did you get in without wedding clothes?” No answer came but silence. Then the ruler told the company gathered, “Tie this one up hand and foot, and throw the imposter outside where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Many are called, but few are chosen.
These are the inspired words of the gospel writer we call Matthew, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter Julie: While planning today’s liturgy this week, I was also helping plan my Aunt Helen’s funeral. She was 97 and lived a good life so while I’ll bring her to the table in a bit for your prayers, I am able to remember her fondly and smile at our time together. Still, imagine my surprise when I discovered that both our first reading and our psalm are on the list for use at funerals. Ok, I already knew that Psalm 23 was. It’s kind of famous for that. But it got me wondering why a regular October weekend would get funeral scriptures.
I think the answer is in Isaiah, not that God shall destroy death, because we only die once. I think the answer is here, “God will wipe away tears from every cheek, and take away indignity from all the earth.” Because we humans cry, a lot. Some of us cry every day, some of us only occasionally, but all of us cry more than once in a lifetime. We all suffer indignities too, especially as we get older. What I’m getting at is that we all need the comfort of the Holy One throughout the course of our lives, even on regular October weekends. Maybe especially on regular October weekends, especially now when there’s a war in the Middle East.
It’s easy to get discouraged, to feel overwhelmed by the problems of the world, to feel that there’s nothing we can do. I don’t have any easy answers. Smarter people than me have failed to end war. And I have trouble maintaining peace one-on-one with some folks! But we can keep trying. We can keep asking the Holy One for strength and guidance. We can keep Jesus in mind as an inspiration, an example, of how to be in this world of beauty and pain and love. That’s what I’m going to be keeping in mind this week, both the comfort of the Holy One and the example of our brother Jesus. Because I need both, today and every day, first to find a little peace of my own and then to share that peace with others.
What about you? What did you hear today? What would you like to share about today’s readings?
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.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
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
Julie: We are a priestly people. We are anointed. With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
All: Source of Love and Light, we join in unity of Spirit, love and purpose with Your people everywhere, living and crossed over. With all of creation across billions of galaxies, we open our hearts and souls to become One.
In your loving embrace we are liberated from division, fear, conflict, pride and injustice. We are transformed into wholeness which we resolve to bring to all whose lives we touch. With gratitude, we meld ourselves to Your Divine Presence which knows all, shelters all and transforms all into love, abundant and eternal.
In one voice, we praise Your loving, healing ways and the glory of all You have Created:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in this Place –by Christopher Grundy
We thank you, Holy One, for Jesus, a man of courage whose exquisite balance of human and Divine points our way and who strives with us in our time of need. We yearn with passion to live as Jesus, one with you and your Spirit, in peace and justice.
May our desire to be one with You join us to all living things. We seek to heal the differences that isolate us so that we may live in healthful unity with all people, of every ethnicity, skin color, gender orientation or class. May we have the imaginative sympathy and love of Your Spirit to move with courage beyond the confines of bias, miscommunication, ignorance and hurt and into the healing place where Divine light and love abide.
(extend hands in blessing of bread and wine)
Together, we call on Your Spirit, present in these gifts – bread that satisfies our hunger and wine that quenches our thirst – to make us more deeply One, living in the fullness of holy compassion and Sophia wisdom.
Anticipating the likelihood of betrayal, arrest and pain, Jesus wanted more than anything to be with his friends, to share a meal, exchange stories, and create fond memories. To strengthen the bonds of friendship that evening, Jesus washed the feet of his friends in an act of love and humility.
All lift the bread.
Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, and go and share my love with one another.
All lift the cup.
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 with the words: Our cup overflows.
Communion Song: At This Table by Idina Menzel video by Denise
Prayer after communion: Let us pray. Holy One, as we celebrate and recognize you in this bread and wine, we recognize you in each other. Sharing the bread of life and wine transforms us and opens us to your Spirit. Knowing that Jesus spent his time with the lowly and hurting, the needy and shunned, we seek to remain open to how we can bring love, healing and unity to whomever is in need. We ask for the grace to see with the eyes of Jesus, touch with the hands of Jesus and heal with the heart of Jesus. 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 raise your hands as we bless each other:
All: May we feel the love of the Holy One every day. May we work for peace in our world. May our name be a blessing in our time. AMEN
Closing Song: One Day
https://youtu.be/XqvKDCP5-xE?si=OF3JfBW0hps0FpPL
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.