Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Welcome and Theme: Good morning to our friends here today and to everyone who is online now and viewing in the future. We are all a part of a wonderful community of support for each other, and our service to all is one of the hallmarks of our love. We bring ourselves to this sacred space and time in Peace and Awareness. And we commit ourselves to listening with open minds and hearts. For this moment, please sit with intention, feet on the floor or wherever you are, taking a measure of your body in space. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, hold it, and release. Allow Spirit to be a conscious part of this time and Listen.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, you bring us to this moment in our ministry with intention and love. Your very presence is our delight. Your holiness is our stance. Help us to be here with each other in pure love and awareness. Help us to remember your friendship with each of us, and to honor it by following and loving You. We ask this in the name of all that is Holy. AMEN.
Opening Song: Surrender by Jan Novotka
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading is from Malachi
A great King am I, says the LORD of hosts,
and my name will be feared among the nations.
And now, O priests, this commandment is for you:
If you do not listen,
if you do not lay it to heart,
to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts,
I will send a curse upon you
and of your blessing I will make a curse.
You have turned aside from the way,
and have caused many to falter by your instruction;
you have made void the covenant of Levi,
says the LORD of hosts.
I, therefore, have made you contemptible
and base before all the people,
since you do not keep my ways,
but show partiality in your decisions.
Have we not all the one father?
Has not the one God created us?
Why then do we break faith with one another,
violating the covenant of our fathers?
These are the words from the Book of Malachi, and we affirm them by saying: AMEN.
Alleluia: Alleluia by Christopher Walker
Gospel: A reading from the New Testament, from the Gospel of Matthew.
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
"The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'
As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master';
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
These words are from the Gospel of Matthew, and we affirm them by saying, AMEN.
Homily Starter, Deb Trees
Do things ever really change? Does this not sound familiar?
This past weekend several of us made a beautiful trip to Montreal. On one of our excursions, we visited Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal. There, a free-flowing movement of thousands of people each day, honor and pray to Saint Brother Andre. He was the Porter of Notre Dame College in Montreal, and lived a very humble life. But he welcomed each person to the door of the facility. He listened to their stories, their pleas, and their prayers for healing. By his presence and kindness, he helped them to be well. Through his vision, a church was built, and now a basilica on the Mount. The highest point overlooking Montreal.
When I read the readings of today, I think of his example. Although Brother Andre is now Sainted and people come from all over the world to pray at the St Joseph Oratory, I believe that he was an ordinary person who was gifted with extraordinary love for each person that he met.
I believe that in the same way, each of us is saintly. We may never be declared by any institution to be saints, but Jesus calls us to actions that speak louder than words.
Together as the Upper Room community, we continue to find opportunities to act as Jesus asks us to be - Sisters and brothers, loving and caring for each other and for our world.
But we also share these ties, our beliefs, and our way of life with everyone we touch. Our children and families, our communities, and workplaces, each one learning from us and living with us. We are the ancestors of tomorrow, and I wonder, how will we be perceived and what will we pass on?
And so dear friends, as we share these traditional Roman Catholic Sunday readings, what did you hear? What will you do about it? What will it cost you?
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
(Written by Jay Murnane)
As we prepare for this sacred meal we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our prayers for the community.
Prayers for the community.
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Presider: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of all creation. Through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We give thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.
We open our awareness to the goodness of all of creation and we remember our responsibility to serve. You invite us to build the earth into a community of love rooted in justice. You placed confidence in us, for you made us and you know that we are good.
In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all the faithful servants who have gone before us and we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, and revealing us as one with you and all of creation.
He lived among us to show us who we are and challenged us to know you. He taught us the strength of compassionate love.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
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, so that they would re-member him.
All lift their plates 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, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift their cups and pray the following:
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.
(pause)
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives. As we share communion, we become Communion both love’s nourishment and love’s challenge.
You are called, consecrated and chosen to serve.
Please receive Communion.
Communion Meditation/Song: May Peace Be With You by Annie Garretson
Prayer after communion:
All: Holy One, we are willing to do everything Jesus did, to re-create the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates hope, of a light that illumines people and confronts the darkness of every injustice and inequity.
We trust you to continue to share with us your own spirit, the spirit that animated Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. Amen.
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy One, you are 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 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.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
Blessing
Presider: Let us raise our hands in blessing pray together:
May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we call each other to extravagant generosity! May we walk with an awareness of our Call as companions on the journey, knowing we are not alone. May we, like Jesus, be a shining light and a blessing in our time!
Amen.
Closing Song: Everyday People by Turnaround Arts | Playing For Change
https://youtu.be/-g4UWvcZn5U?si=YIzm6c-x73fsu4_t
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