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Opening song: All Belong Here - The Many - Lyric Video
LITURGY OF THE WORD
A reading from Richard Rohr
I want you to be honest: Would you rather have a friend who is always right or one who is in right relationship with you? I think I know the answer: We’d rather have someone who’s in right relationship with us. In fact,
someone who’s right all the time can be pretty obnoxious. Would we rather have a friend who’s always correct or a friend to whom we’re always connected? Of course, we’d rather have the second.
Jesus says people who live the vulnerable life of connection and relationship will bear much fruit. These are the people we trust, like, and admire. And yet so many of us are afraid to be the very thing that we admire the most. How foolish human beings are! But again, Jesus has told us the way: he is the vine. We are the branches. None of us can be or need to be correct, but we can always be connected.
The community affirms these words by saying AMEN!
Alleluia: (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips
Gospel: A Gospel according to the writer known as Matthew (23:1-4)
Jesus told the crowds and the disciples, “The religious scholars and the Pharisees have succeeded Moses as teaches; therefore, perform every observance they tell you to. But don’t follow their example; even they don’t do what they say. They tie up heavy loads and lay them on others’ shoulders, while they themselves ill not lift a finger to help alleviate the burden.
This gospel is attributed to the community of Matthew. The community affirms them with AMEN!
Shared Homily
Jesus begins by reminding us of Moses. Moses was the original go between for God and the Hebrews. We all know the very familiar story of Moses, thanks to Cecil B DeMille’s movie the 10 Commandments. Moses went out to the desert and heard God speak. He led his people out of bondage and later went up the mountain and came down with the 10 Commandments.
“The 10 Commandments are based on two principles, reverence, and respect. Reverence for God, for God’s name, for God’s Day, for the parents God has given to us.
Respect for life, for possessions, for one’s personality, for one’s good name, for oneself. These principles are eternal; and, in so far as the Pharisees and Scholars teach reverence for God and respect for others, their teaching is binding and valid.” (Wm. Barclay Commentary)
God started with just 10 Commandments, the major faith traditions of our world complicated life and added laws, which eventually became requirements or even more commandments.
We could discuss the many laws of Judaism: kosher laws, purity laws, a required minion to pray.
If we watch the news, or study Islam we could also have a great discussion on all the laws of Islam: especially those about the treatment of women and Holy War. And then again, we could also discuss the laws of the Roman Catholic Church. Many of us grew up with venial and mortal sin, confession, and not being worthy to receive communion. It would be ever so easy to talk about all the crazy laws and rituals that in effect, keep us inside our own tribe, but not necessarily closer to the Holy One.
Laws and rituals offer us a sense of security, we know what to expect, what we should do, and this need for security and knowledge helps us feel we belong. The need to belong is ingrained in each of us. We are born with a deep yearning and desire to belong and connect. Most of us spend a lifetime searching for someone, something that meets our deepest need.
We could take this a step further and focus on the Upper Room Community, our own personal tribe. We talk about being inclusive, and I believe we are. Are there rules or expectations or rituals that make us who we are? Any chance that these expectations, rules and rituals separate us? How do we belong without becoming a separate tribe? There are many struggles, but more often than not struggles create growth. There are no simple answers, being aware, paying attention, questioning why we do things, all help us grow and live a life of loving our God and our neighbor as ourselves. As Richard Rohr says in the first reading “none of us can be or need to be correct but we always need to be connected. Let’s prioritize our connectedness to each other and the Holy One.
Statement of Faith
All: We believe in one God, 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 God's Word,
bringer of God's healing, heart of God's compassion,
bright star in the firmament of God's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of God's love,
a source of God's wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of God's peace in the world.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
The life of God that is our innermost life,
the breath of God moving in our being.
The depth of God living in each of us.
We believe that God's 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.
Prayers of the Community
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.
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 the 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 connect to the Holy One and all creatures great and small.
Communion Song: Coming Together by Christopher Grundy
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
May we know we are loved, for we are in relationship with the Holy One! May we be aware of the Spirit within. And may we breathe life and love in all we do. Amen.
Closing Song: Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
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