Upper Room Saturday Liturgy, June 15, 2024 - Presider: Julie Corron

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

Faith Enough

Presider: Julie Corron

Welcome: Welcome to you all! I’m so happy to be here with you all today as we talk about faith and generosity and the kin-dom of God.

Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, even when our faith feels small, you remind us of that it is enough, that we are enough. Let us do our work every day with joyful hearts. AMEN.  

Opening Song: You Say by Lauren Daigle
https://youtu.be/sIaT8Jl2zpI?si=Q5QjHldWJjpAZL_O

LITURGY OF THE WORD

  

FIRST READING

A Reading from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel (17:22-23)

Thus says the Holy One:
“As an eagle soars, so shall I.
From the top of the tall cedar tree,
from the highest branch,
I shall take a tender shoot,
and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

“On the mountain heights, I will plant it.
It shall put forth branches,
and bear fruit,
and grow into a noble cedar.
Birds of every kind shall roost beneath it.
Every kind of winged creature will nest in the shade of its branches. 

These are the inspired words of the prophet Ezekiel and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.

PSALM 

Like Cedar They Shall Stand https://youtu.be/yMBKKkFHX40?si=6R6CkgSAlgq6bZkc

SECOND READING 

A Reading from a compilation of Paul’s letters known as 2nd Corinthians (2 Cor 9:5-15)

I encouraged some of our number to visit you in advance and finish the arrangement for your promised gift, so that in this way it might be ready as a bountiful gift and not as one grudgingly given. 

Remember this. Anyone who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you should give as you have determined, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 

God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: 

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” 

The One who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your justice. 

You are being enriched in every way for your generosity. The administration of this public service is not only supplying the needs of the holy ones but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God. 

You are glorifying God by living out the gospel of Christ through the generosity of your contribution to them and to all others. And in their prayers for you, their hearts go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift! 

These are the inspired words of the one we call the Apostle Paul and the community affirms them by saying AMEN. 

ALLELUIA  Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker – 
https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk 

GOSPEL

A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Mark (4:1-9, 26-33)

Again, Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd gathered round was so large that Jesus got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: “Listen. A farmer went out to sow seed. While was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, with little soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew, and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” 

Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” 

Jesus continued speaking to the crowd, saying, “The reign of God is like someone scattering seed on the earth. The sower sleeps and rises, night and day. The scattered seed sprouts and grows, but the sower doesn’t know how. Of its own accord, the earth yields: first the shoot, then the head, then the full grain in the head. Then, when the grain is ripe, immediately the sower goes in with a sickle, for the harvest has come.”

Jesus also said, “What else can we say the reign of God is like? What parable can we find to describe it? It is like a mustard seed which, at the time it is sown, is the smallest of all the seeds; yet, once sown, it grows into the greatest of shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 

Using many parables like these, Jesus spoke the word to them, inasmuch as they were able to hear it.

These are the inspired words of the Gospel writer known as Mark and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.

Homily Starter—Julie: I grew up in the country. Not on a farm but farm adjacent. Both of my grandfathers were farmers. And the bane of their farmer existence was mustard. Not the kind we put on hot dogs; they liked that just fine. No, I’m talking about the plants that infiltrated their fields and were impossible to get rid of. The same mustard plants that Jesus told a parable about in today’s gospel. While I never saw a mustard plant big enough to shade the birds, I also never saw a field without any mustard growing in it either. 

That’s the kind of faith Jesus wants for us. Not to be a pest, but not to be completely driven out either. Maybe not as tall as a tree with birds in our branches but not gone either, never gone. Our faith and the kin-dom of God on earth can start tiny and spread, spread beyond all imagining. And while it might seem like we have that today, given the number of churches around the world, I think we still have a long way to go before a majority of people start actually living like we have the kin-dom of God here on earth. 

We can help lead the way. Strengthened by faith, buoyed by love, we can be the cheerful givers that Paul encourages us to be. He’s got a point, right? No one enjoys a gift that is only grudgingly given. So many of us have so much to share. And here’s the thing, it doesn’t have to be a big check or thousands of hours of service. Small kindnesses, freely given, lift all of our spirits. Let’s live like the kin-dom of God is here already. Because it is.  

What did you hear? What would you like to share about 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

Julie: 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 the unspoken concerns held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN

O Holy One, you have birthed us in goodness, gifted us with life and cherished us in love. In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells; a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth. 

In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment, that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with all who sing the ancient hymn of praise: 

 

Holy, Holy, Holy:  Here In This Place – New
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk

Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power.  We, your creatures, often deviate from that wisdom, thus hindering your creative presence in our midst. 
 
Sending among us Jesus, our brother, you birth afresh in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the gift of Your Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew, amid the variety and wonder of life. 
 

(Extend hands in blessing.)  

 
We invoke Your Spirit upon the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, that they may become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world. 

On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within them, he bent down and washed their feet.

(Lift the bread)

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 love one another.

(Lift the cup)

He then raised high 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.

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.

In faith and hope we are sustained; in grace and dignity reclaimed. In praise, we thank you. 
 
Please receive communion with the words: I am the face of God.

Communion Meditation: The Face of God by Karen Drucker
https://youtu.be/rH-BKtAP2q4?si=VIsuHJ-A8rYhMTIE

Prayer after communion: Let us pray. Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways. 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

Please raise your hands as we bless each other:

May we carry joy and hope in our hearts every day. May we love and care for each always. May our name be a blessing in our time. AMEN.

Closing Song: Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
https://youtu.be/b-QR_OZB5ik