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Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Celebrating the Feast of Brigid of Kildare—Wild, Wild, Holy Love
Julie Welcome! We are so happy to have you join us this afternoon as we celebrate the wild love that surrounds us.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray:
Brigid,
You were a woman of peace. You brought harmony where there was conflict.
You brought light to the darkness. You brought hope to the downcast.
May the mantle of your peace cover those who are troubled and anxious,
And may peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and in our world.
Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all The Holy One has made.
Brigid you were a voice for the wounded and the weary.
Strengthen what is weak within us. Calm us into a quietness that heals and listens.
May we grow each day into greater wholeness in mind, body and spirit.
May it be so! (author unknown)
Opening Song: People of the Gift by Alana Levandoski
https://youtu.be/nkrZ8qwu5SE?si=byeGoKSHIxiBf-YF
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING: A Reading from the Book of Job 5:9-11, 16, 18, 27
God performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
things marvelous that cannot be counted.
God provides rain upon the earth
and sends water upon the fields.
God sets up the lowly on high,
and those who mourn are raised to safety.
Thus, those in need have hope,
and injustice closes its mouth.
For we are wounded, but God binds up,
we know injury, but God’s hands heal.
See! This we have searched out; and it is so!
This we have heard, and you should know!
These are the inspired words of a Wisdom writer, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM: Psalm 147:1-6
The Psalm Response is: Heal our broken hearts, O God. Bind up our wounds.
R: Heal our broken hearts, O God. Bind up our wounds.
Praise God who is good.
Sing to our God who is gracious.
God builds up the Holy City of Hope,
and gathers dispersed families of war.
God heals the broken-hearted,
and binds up their wounds.
R: Heal our broken hearts, O God. Bind up our wounds.
God numbers the stars,
calling each by name.
Great is our Holy God, vast in creative power,
Whose Wisdom is beyond all measure.
God sustains those who are bowed low.
R: Heal our broken hearts, O God. Bind up our wounds.
The Holy One lifts up those who are downtrodden.
All wrong-doing will be thwarted.
Sing to the Holy One, giving thanks.
Make melody to God on the harp.
R: Heal our broken hearts, O God. Bind up our wounds.
SECOND READING: Reading from Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians 9:1-6
Am I, Paul, not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus the Christ? Are you not my work in the Christ? Although I may not be an apostle for others, I certainly am for you! I was sent to preach the Good News to you; so, you are the seal of my apostleship in the Christ.
My defense against those who would pass judgment on me for receiving hospitality and support is this: Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to travel with our wives as do the rest of the apostles, and Peter, and the siblings of Jesus? Is it only myself and Barnabas who do not have these rights?
These are the inspired words of the apostle we call Paul, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Celtic Alleluia
GOSPEL: A Reading from the Good News attributed to Mark 1:29-31
As soon as Jesus and the disciples left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. Jesus came, and took her by the hand, and raised her up.
Then the fever left her; and she began to serve, to deacon, to them.
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Mark, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Shared Homily Julie:
I’d like to talk about two women today, St. Brigid of Kildare in Ireland, and Peter’s unnamed mother-in-law in the gospel.
Brigid’s feast day is celebrated on February 1st and 2024 marks her 1500th anniversary. What could a woman who lived 1500 years ago teach us about today? As I learned from the blog of fellow woman priest Karen Kerrigan (Karen’s Celtic Contemplations & Considerations | Karen Kerrigan | Substack), Brigid was a woman ahead of her time. Karen writes, “With a pattern of non-violent leadership authority that did not humiliate, Brigid changed the minds of noblemen, bishops and kings while working with and advocating for those in need. Our saint is a trend setter of spiritual values like compassion, deep love of the land, extravagant generosity, mercy, hospitality, alternative leadership and peace-making. Steadfast in her empowerment and co-creating with the marginalized, Brigid of Kildare is a true ally who collaborates with the vulnerable and all people of good will.”
And then there’s Simon Peter’s mother-in-law whom Jesus healed. Our reading today used the words “helped her up.” But the Greek reads “egeirō—raised up,” using the same word here that it later uses for Jesus’ resurrection. That implies a whole lot more than he helped her up out of bed. And while I’m geeking out over the words, our text also says, “she waited on them.” When I was younger, this always elicited an eyeroll. Really, Jesus healed her so that she could make them lunch? Typical man! But again, if we go back to the Greek, the word is diēkonoun, which is the source of our modern word deacon. Jesus didn’t simply cure Peter’s mother-in-law of a cold, he healed her of a life-threatening fever, maybe even from a near-death experience. This changed her so much that as soon as she could, she got up and joined the Jesus movement, becoming a deacon. While the gospel doesn’t specify the focus of her ministry, heck, it doesn’t even include her name, this woman’s story is one of transformation and a new life now shared in love.
Compassion, love of the land, peacemaking, wild love—it doesn’t matter how many hundreds or thousands of years have passed, Brigid and Peter’s mother-in law show us how to live lives of joy. Let them be our guides today and every day.
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.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
(Written by Jay Murnane)
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.
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:
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 am wild, holy love.
Communion Song: At This Table by Idina Menzel, video by Denise
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 feel the wild, holy love of the Holy One every day. May we, like Jesus, be a shining light in the world. AMEN
Closing Song: Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney, video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
https://youtu.be/b-QR_OZB5ik?si=D8Ki-y8FUEXcKb1l
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