phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Up from the Abyss
Julie Welcome! We are so happy to have you join us this afternoon as we celebrate our liturgy together as we come up from the Abyss and into the light.
Opening Prayer: (From the Second Letter to the Thessalonians 2:16-17 and adapted from E. Peterson’s The Message)
Let us pray. May Jesus the Christ and our Loving God, who reaches out in love to surprise us with gifts of unending comfort, courage and good hope, refresh you, strengthen your hearts, invigorate your work, and enliven your speech. AMEN.
Opening Song: Anthem by Tom Conry
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A Reading from the Book of Jonah 3:1-10
The Word of God came to Jonah again: “Get up and go into the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the words that I give you.” So, this time, Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of God. Now, Nineveh was an enormously large city. It took three days to walk across it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Only forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
And the people of Nineveh believed God. They declared a fast and dressed in sackcloth, everyone from the greatest to the least.
The news reached the ruler of Nineveh who rose from the throne, laid aside the royal robes, dressed in sackcloth and sat in ashes. Then, it was proclaimed throughout the nation of Babylon: “No human being or beast, cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything. They shall neither eat nor drink. Human beings and beasts shall be covered in sackcloth and ashes and call out loudly to God. Everyone shall turn from their evil ways and the violence at hand. Who knows? God may repent and forgive us, withholding wrath, so that we will not perish.”
God saw by their actions that they had turned from their evil ways. So, God repented from the destruction God had promised to bring upon them. God did not carry it out.
These are the inspired words of an Ancient Storyteller and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Psalm
From the Book of Jonah (2:1-9 Prayer/psalm attributed to Jonah from the belly of the “big fish”)
The Psalm Response is: Liberate us, O God. Raise us up.
R: Liberate us, O God. Raise us up.
In my distress, I called out to God, who answered me.
From the belly of the grave, I called for help;
and You listened to my cry.
R: Liberate us, O God. Raise us up.
You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas.
The currents swirled about me.
Your breakers and billows swept over me.
I said, “I have been banished from your sight;
yet, I will look again toward your holy temple.”
R: Liberate us, O God. Raise us up.
The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me.
Seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down.
The earth beneath barred me in forever.
R: Liberate us, O God. Raise us up.
But you, Holy One, my God,
brought my life up from the ancient Abyss.
When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, O God,
and my prayer rose to You, to Your holy temple.
R: Liberate us, O God. Raise us up.
Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise, worship you!
What I have vowed, I will make good.
I will say, “Liberation comes from God.”
R: Liberate us, O God. Raise us up.
Alleluia by Jan Phillips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC4nbwmQDVw
Gospel: A Reading from the Good News attributed to Mark (1:14-20)
After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the good news of God saying, “The time is fulfilled. The kin-dom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the good news.”
As Jesus was walking along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew on the shore casting a net into the sea – for they were fishers. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”
Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Going a little farther, he saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were in their boat mending nets. Immediately, he called them. And leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired workers, they followed Jesus.
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Mark, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Shared Homily (Julie):
While preparing this liturgy, I kept finding myself humming the opening of an old Sheryl Crow song, “Riverwide”—“I spent a year in the mouth of a whale/With a flame and a book of signs….” There’s nothing more alluring to me than curling up with a book. Maybe not inside a whale. That doesn’t sound comfy, not for me or the whale. Whale aside, not only is reading enjoyable, it’s also a marvelous way to procrastinate.
Procrastination is the exact opposite of what today’s readings are about. Today’s readings are all about carpe diem. That’s Latin for seize the day, in this case, it’s people seizing the day, the moment, and acting without hesitation. In our first reading, it was the inhabitants of the Babylonian city of Nineveh. Usually, people ignore prophets like Jonah but in this instance, they heard the word of God and boom, went all in on repentance, sackcloth and ashes for all, including the animals. Just an aside, my dog, Henry, assures me that he has nothing to repent so I can keep the treats coming, no fasting for him!
But it’s in the gospel where we see the instant, complete response that the early disciples made to Jesus. They walked off their jobs to follow him. If someone did that today, people would probably question their judgement or call them irresponsible, maybe even crazy. We just don’t feel the same urgency as the early followers of Jesus. Is that because so many of us have grown up in the faith and have come to take it for granted? Or are we just procrastinating instead of doing the real work of discipleship, which goes beyond faith to service to others? We all have different calls, different gifts. Keeping in mind that you may be the only Jesus that someone ever sees, how can you serve those around you? How can you seize the day and put your faith, your gifts into action? How will you make a difference?
What did you hear? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you? Please unmute and share your thoughts and insights on 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.
Prayers of the Community
Julie: 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. Please share your blessings, cares, and concerns starting with the words, “I bring to the table…”
We pray for these and all the unspoken intentions held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
(Written by Jay Murnane)
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, Holy: Here In This Place by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk?si=DW76N-rNE9cCQXsh
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 remember 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, go share my love with the world.
(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 with the words: I live my call.
Communion Song: Christ Has No Body Now But Yours (St. Theresa’s Prayer) by John Michael Talbot
https://youtu.be/eqVbLQh-lT0?si=MS84Q3T--A_ZeLhb
Prayer after communion:
Julie: 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
Julie: Let us raise our hands in blessing and pray together:
May we continue to be the face of God to each other. 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: Go Make a Difference by Steve Angrisano
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