Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Father’s Day Liturgy
Welcome and Theme (Dennis): Our relationships with our fathers are complicated.
For some of us, our father's love is like God's love -- too deep, too long, too wide, too strong to measure.
Some of our dads are here; some were never here.
For some of us, God's love fills in the empty spaces our fathers left behind.
All of us are shaped by the relationship or lack of relationship with our fathers.
On this day when we remember what it means to have a father or be a father, we recognize the importance of fathers in our communities. We pledge as a community to love and nurture the fathers among us so that they will manifest the love of God in all that they do.
Opening Prayer (Lindy): Holy One, we celebrate today all those men who have opened themselves to us as fathers, in their hearts or in actuality. Thank you for each moment they have given, each kindness they have given us in word or deed, each wisdom they have taught us as we have seen in their actions or heard as they spoke, each joy their smiles have brought to us... For their actions are often a glimpse of Your compassion, wisdom and love. Amen
Opening Song: You Raise Me Up – Tin Whistle and Violin
Almartino & Daniela Rocchi
https://youtu.be/jJ8tY8l7SE4?si=yGzSO3-MBhASYfom
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Video: Foster Kid Father’s Day produced by Dan Loewen
https://youtu.be/gP1R9ZmrCwo?si=ZVeUjwpAH4681zhB
Alleluia: More Light by Christopher Grundy / Video by MTStreck
Gospel (Deven): A reading from the author referred to as John (John 15: 9-12)
As my Abba has loved me,
so have I loved you. Live on in my love. And you will live on in my love
if you keep my commandments, just as I live on in Amma God’s love
and have kept God’s commandments. I tell you all this that my joy may be yours,
and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.
These are inspired words from the author referred to as John and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
(pause)
Homily Starter (Dennis) and Shared Reflection
When I was looking for an image to place at the top of the liturgy, I initially had a bright, colorful Happy Father’s Day logo, but it didn’t fit where my thoughts for the homily starter were. So, I found the one placed there, a group of blocks spelling out Happy Father’s Day surrounded by tools and screws. You see in watching the video produced by Dan Lowen I began to think of how fatherhood, and for that matter parenthood, are a work in progress, constantly being built, rebuilt, perhaps even at times, renovated. Even now, 45 years into being a dad to my daughter, Chrissy, I’m not always sure how to best be a parent to her. There are times when she still seeks advice, needs a hug, needs encouragement, needs love. And the question becomes, what’s the best way to respond to each of those moments, and will it be the right way.
Throw into the mix what the video also speaks to, as does our Gospel, to love as God loves, to love as Jesus loved his disciples and thus also loves us. Now that is a tall order, if we believe that God is all-loving and all-knowing. Although we speak of having the Divine Spark with us, I am not in any way all-loving and all-knowing. And if I’m to be honest, I don’t even know what the really means. It is that metaphor that I think sets us up to second guess ourselves, to wonder if we’ll get it right.
So, as I was pondering all of this, I realized that over the years, I have let the metaphor of God as the loving parent go, because It is not something I really experience in my everyday life. It is a nice idea for when I personally may be struggling to grasp that idea of being loved by a universal source of life. But when I’m being a a father, a dad, what I actually do is go to the people who have been fathers to me in my life, starting with my own dad, who was a man of integrity and wisdom, and who gave me love the best way he knew how. And I think of others whose insights, knowledge, wisdom and love I can pull from when I’m called upon to offer likewise to my daughter, and in reality to others in my life. Will I be perfect in this, not always, but what I offer is the best of what I have, and that is my knowledge, my wisdom, and my love, thanks to those who gave me the same.
Statement of Faith (Lindy) Let us now pray our 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
Lindy: 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 blessings, cares and concerns.
Intentions read As intentions are offered Lindy goes to the Eucharistic Table
Lindy: We bring these and all deeply held blessings, cares, and concerns to the table of friendship and peace.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Lindy: With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:
Holy One, we yearn to be close to you and to live in the embrace of your gentle wisdom. Your divine grace and love lead us away from our anxieties, fears and distractions and toward all that is blessed and joyous.
Each of us is divinely created in Your image. We are precious to you and to each other because of who we are. We are beloved and blessed in your unconditional love, quite apart from how we act or fail to act.
Thankful for Jesus who treated all of Creation with respect and abundant love, we resolve to follow his example to be a light in the darkness. We recognize Your loving Presence here with us today and always, and we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
Dearest Holy One, there are times when we feel scarcity and emptiness even though we know You love us more than our human imagination can grasp. May we have the presence of mind to live in Your love. We strive to see You reflected in every person we meet. Guide us in sharing our gifts and in being open hearted so that we may accept help from others.
We thank you for Jesus, who knew what it was like to be an outsider in occupied and foreign lands. May his presence prompt us to bring gospel kindness and understanding to the divisions and conflicts of our time.
Lindy: Please extend your hands in blessing.
We call upon your Spirit that is present in us at this Eucharistic table. We are grateful for the bread and wine that remind us of our call to be the light of Christ to the world.
On the night before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his 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.
Upon returning to the table, Jesus lifted the bread, spoke a blessing and shared the bread of life for all who hunger.
(pause)
Then he lifted the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace and shared the cup of compassion for a broken world.
(pause)
All: 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.
Lindy: Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace, using the words, You are a spark of the Divine.
(consume bread and drink from the cup)
Communion Meditation: Always There by Russell Watson from Secret Garden
https://youtu.be/985-jX-PAl4?si=Ja7cUW1BZuNMUb4D
Post-Communion Prayer
All: Holy One, your transforming grace inspires us to follow our consciences and bring comfort to wherever people are in need. We pray for wisdom, patience and persistence to make a difference in our world. We resolve to love as Jesus loved, to discern the better angels of our nature with hearts open to your Spirit. Amen.
Reader: 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
Closing Prayer: Lindy – Let us raise our hands and bless each other.
Holy One, You have heard our prayers honoring You, and our praise for those who are our fathers who have opened themselves as fathers in their hearts or in actuality. Remind us today and every day that in our hearts we are Your children. Fill us today with joy as we remember our father figures, honor them , and learn from them, today and always. Amen
Closing Song: Be a Light by Thomas Rhett, video by Denise
https://youtu.be/3uOBbC6lFwk?si=jiH0S_gshtRz0gvl
Resources:
Gospel Reading: Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation (p. 2328). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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