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Surprised by Joy
Welcome and Theme Julie: Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here with us tonight as we celebrate the third weekend of Advent. Tonight, we celebrate joy, the miracle, the surprise of joy in this dark world.
Advent Candle Lighting Blessing Prayer
Julie: Like our ancestors, we honor the cycles and the seasons that remind us of the ever-changing flow of life. Ritual acts give life meaning—they honor and acknowledge the unseen web of Life that connects us all.
Week 3 – All light candles as a member of community prays:
We light this third candle and remember that in the heart of every person on this earth, and in all of creation there burns the spark of luminous goodness – the presence of the Divine.
And so we respond: Let us kindle the light of joy!
Julie: Indeed, let us welcome the light within each other!
Opening Song Sweet Secret Peace by Neil Finn
https://youtu.be/FZsC1gUvaqg?si=20hC0eZYobi2Mp5M
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah (61:1-3b, 10-11)
The Spirit of the Exalted One is upon me, because God has anointed me to proclaim good news to those who are poor. God has sent me to mend broken hearts to proclaim freedom for captives and release for prisoners; to proclaim the year of God’s favor, and the day of God's vindication.
The Spirit of God has anointed me to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in the Holy Land; to bestow upon them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a cloak of praise instead of despair.
I will delight greatly in God; God is the joy of my soul. For God has clothed me in garments of peace, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, as a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, and as a bride bedecked with jewels. As the soil helps the sprout come up, and a garden nurtures seeds to grow, so will God make justice and praise spring up before all peoples of Earth.
These are the inspired words of an Isaian Prophet, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM
(1 Samuel 2:1-2a, 4-5ab + 6, 7-8ab, 9 “Hannah’s Song”)
The Psalm response is: My heart exults in You, O God!
(R) My heart exults in You, O God!
She rejoiced, singing…
My heart exults in You, O God!
And I have been exalted in You.
Those who deride my lowliness are silenced.
I rejoice and am blessed in Your liberating work!
There is no one holy like You, O God.
(R) My heart exults in You, O God!
The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering put on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry feast on spoil.
God puts to death and God gives life,
casts down and raises up again.”
(R) My heart exults in You, O God!
God makes poor and makes rich,
humbles and exalts.
God raises the needy from the dust,
lifting the poor from the ash heap,
seating them with nobles and
making a glorious throne their heritage.
God guards the steps of the faithful,
but the mighty shall perish.
For not by strength does one prevail.
(R) My heart exults in You, O God!
SECOND READING
A Reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians (5:16-20)
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the desire of God’s heart for you in Jesus the Christ. Do not quench the spirit nor despise prophetic utterances. Test everything. Retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.
These are the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips
GOSPEL
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Luke (1:26-38)
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a young maiden betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the House of David. The maiden’s name was Mary. The heavenly messenger came to her and said, “Hail, favored one! God is with you.” Mary was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this sort of greeting might mean. The messenger said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a child, whom you will name, ‘Jesus’.”
Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I do not yet know a man?” The messenger said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Holy One will cover you with its shadow, and so the child will be holy, and be called One Born of God.” And I tell you this too; your cousin Elizabeth, in her old age, has conceived. She, whom people called barren, is now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible for God.”
Then Mary said, “Here I am, a servant of God. It shall be with me according to your Word.” Then the messenger departed from her.
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Luke, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
(Pause)
Shared Homily Julie: On this third weekend of Advent, we’re celebrating joy. Really? Joy? In this world? Israel and Palestine are at war and the violence has come to Albany. There was a shooting just last week at Temple Israel. It’s hard to be joyful in the face of that.
It wasn’t much different in the time of Mary. Would we have been at all surprised if Mary’s response had been more along the lines of “Really Angel Gabriel, I’m going to have a baby? God wants me to be an unwed teen mother? Awesome!” Instead, as the gospel of Luke later tells us, by the time she visited her cousin Elizabeth, Mary rejoiced at the news. Even though, as Emily Heath points out, it’s harder to rejoice. As she explains,
“Why? Because joy is hard. Now that may sound like an oxymoron. Joy is joy. Shouldn’t joy be easy? I don’t think so. Because I think joy is something deeper than that. But that also means that it’s rooted. And it’s the thing that remains in you even when everything else around you is crumbling down. It has been said by many, in many different ways, that joy is resistance. That is especially true in the worst of days.”
To my way of thinking, if joy is rooted, it means joy grows, like from a seed. At this cold, dormant time of year, seeds are deep in the earth, waiting. So we wait too, we make sure the conditions are favorable, and we cultivate our joy. Joy that grows deep, joy that is rooted, joy to help us resist the despair that current events would have us sink into. I’m with Paul in the second reading, “Rejoice always!,” especially when it’s hard.
What about you? What do you rejoice in? What seeds of joy have you planted in this world? What would you like to share about today’s readings?
Shared Reflections
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 this sacred meal we are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. As bearers of LIGHT and HOPE, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your intentions beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…..”
Julie: We pray for these and all the unspoken concerns held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN.
Julie: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
(written by Jay Murnane)
Source of All That Is, we seek you in this season, when the earth is resting and preparing for new life. Like the earth, we long for new life and hopeful beginnings. This is the time of the pregnant woman, filled with life and hope powerful enough to topple structures of oppression. This is the time of her song of fidelity and celebration.
During this gentle season of Advent, we recognize that you have made us capable of bringing forth justice, like a rising sun. One with all who have gone before us, we sing a song of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: "Here In This Place" by Christopher Grundy
We thank you for those in times past who believed the good news and lived what they believed.
Blessed is Isaiah and every visionary who insisted on a better future that would break through the deception, disaster and broken promises of the age in which they lived.
Blessed is John, in the stark desert of careful focus, inviting the people to be born again in your love.
Blessed is Miriam, who believed the words of Isaiah and opened herself up to the unbelievable.
And blessed is her child Jesus, who felt the sorrows of humankind in his soul, and responded with deep and tender compassion.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
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, go and share my love with one another.
(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)
Julie: Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. Please receive communion with the words, I am joy.
All consume their bread and wine at this time
Communion Meditation/Song: At This Table – Idina Menzel
Prayer after communion:
ALL: Holy One, we are grateful for the gift of Your Spirit, always drawing beauty and balance out of chaos. And like Jesus…
Standing where he stood,
and for what he stood,
and with whom he stood,
we are united in your Spirit,
and worship you with our lives,
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
Julie: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we call each other to extravagant generosity! May our light shine for all to see, and may we be a blessing in our time!
All: AMEN
Closing Song: Light of the World – Lauren Daigle
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