Liturgy, Saturday November 16 and Sunday, November 17, 2024 - Presiders, Mary Theresa Streck and Denise Hackert-Stoner

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

LITURGY OF THE WORD

Welcome, everyone, as we make our Sabbath together here at the Upper Room.  Blessings and love to each of you, and thank you for gathering with us.

Opening Prayer

Holy One, we ask that our ears be open to your word, that our hearts be open to your call, and that our feet be ready to walk your way.  Amen.

Opening Song:  Somewhere to Begin, by Sara Thomsen

https://youtu.be/ei54clvS1m4

 First Reading: 

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

 These words are attributed to St. Teresa of Avila.  We acknowledge her words with, Amen.

 Alleluia:  Jan Phillips 

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

 Gospel:  Luke 18:1-8 (adapted)

Jesus told his disciples a parable
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. 
He said, “There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, 
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.’” 
Then Jesus said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. 
Will not God then secure the rights of you chosen ones
who call out day and night? 
Will the Holy One be slow to answer you? 
I tell you, God will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. 
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

These words come from the Gospel writer we know as Luke.  We affirm these words with Amen.

Homily Starter:

“Will not God then secure the rights of you chosen ones who call out day and night?”

 All over this good earth people are calling out for justice day and night.  Every day.  And every night.  Right now, as we sit here in this holy space, there are parents wailing over the bodies of their murdered children; children whose lives were taken in war, in street crimes, or in home violence.  All over the world, there are people suffering illness, hunger, and a severe lack of love. 

 Where, we might ask, is justice for these people?  Why isn’t God “securing the rights” of these people?  Where is God in all this sorrow? 

 If indeed, we are asking these questions, we are not alone.  The gospel writers we know as Matthew and Mark tell us that as Jesus hung on the cross, betrayed, abandoned and dying, the prayer on his lips wasn’t one of hope, wasn’t one of trust in rescue from imminent death.  No; his desperate final prayer was this, from Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  It seems that even Jesus, who knew the Holy One as his loving parent, felt abandoned.

 As I wrestle with today’s gospel in light of the reality I see all around the world and even in my own neighborhood, I ask myself, “Where is God in all this?

And I know I can’t give an upbeat homily about how if we keep asking for good outcomes, cures for our dying friends, happy futures for our children and all the children we will never meet, if we pray for these things just the right number of times, with just the right words, or if we have enough faith, then our prayers will be answered.  I can’t give that homily.  But I do have faith.  I have faith in the power of God.  I have faith in the love of God.

 I have faith that our God lives all around us.  I have a deep belief that the great power of the Divine abides in each of us.  I have faith as deep as the bones in my body that the great Love of our Beloved is the force driving the whole universe.  I believe that the great physical forces of gravity, expansion, and evolution are sacraments; outward signs of God’s presence in the universe.  I believe these things.  And I recognize that the rescue, the deliverance, the justice for every suffering being on the planet can and will be made reality.  Just as soon as we, the bearers of this Divine Light, let our light shine.  Just as soon as we, the inheritors of Divine Power, pick up that power and use it.  Just as soon as we who are powered by Eternal Love, begin to love eternally, unequivocally, and universally. 

 Our mission of salvation may seem like a dream, like an unattainable fantasy.  But we have a model in the life of Jesus.  He lived his life in the service of Love, using the power of the Divine.  He told us that we can live that way, too.  We only need to believe him. 

Shared Homily

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.

 

As we prepare for the sacred meal, we are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. 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 unspoken concerns. Amen.

 

Liturgy of the Eucharist

adapted from Diarmuid O’Murchu

With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:

 

Gracious God, source and sustenance of life, redeeming presence to the pain and brokenness of our world, Holy Spirit, who enlivens and inebriates all that exists, we answer your call today to become peacemakers and healers, like our brother and role model, Jesus.

Down through the ages, you rescue us from darkness.
you light up our ways with wise and holy people. You restore our spirits and you revive our dwindling hope.

 

May the Spirit of life and wholeness transform us that we may be refreshed in our inner being and be empowered to bring mercy, love, and healing to those whose lives we touch.

For all you bring to our lives, and for all we seek amid
pain and suffering, we acclaim your love and greatness,
and we join with all creation to sing our hymn of praise:

 

Holy, Holy, Holy

(Words and music by Karen Drucker)

https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI

Source of our health and wholeness, healer of body, mind, and spirit, we bring before you the darkness of our world, and the pain and suffering of your people.

We seek to be healed and made whole; we seek to be reconciled and united; we seek peace in our hearts in the fervent hope that we will share that peace with the world.

Please raise your hands in blessing:

We ask you to awaken anew in our hearts the empowering grace of your abundant Spirit, who infuses us and these gifts of bread and wine with the transforming energy of life.

 As we gather around this friendship table, we recall God’s

blessing and love from ages past, and we celebrate anew
the gift of life which we share among us at this Eucharistic feast.

The bread we break and the cup we share are symbols of our world of abundance where all are invited to partake of the fullness of life. May we, with the power and love that come from you, remove all impediments as that fullness flows throughout 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. Once again, he showed us how to love one another.

Back at the table, he took the Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.

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.

We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity.

Please receive communion saying: “Be the power.  Be the love.”

Communion Song:  St. Teresa’s Prayer by John Michael Talbot

https://youtu.be/tF7Yb9fobCg?si=R82Tb2WQrxMRTqKN

Prayer After Communion

In faith and hope we are sustained,

In grace our dignity reclaimed,
In praise we thank our God.

Grant that we may strive to create a world where suffering and pain are diminished, where justice and peace are restored, and where all people can live in health and wholeness, united in acclaiming the God of life, whose abundance is offered to each and to all, until the Kin-dom arrives in the fullness of time.

This prayer we make in the name of our healing and nurturing God through, with, and in whom we offer these gifts, sources of life, love, and goodness, now and forever.  Amen.

Let us pray as Jesus taught us:

O Holy One, who is 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 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 (Miriam Therese Winter) 

 

Blessing

Let us raise our hands and bless each other.

May we be the hands, the feet, and the heart of our Beloved.  May we never hesitate to walk in the light and to be the light.  May our witness, and the work of our hands, secure rights and deliver justice.  And in so doing, may the Kin-dom grow and flourish.  Amen.

Closing Song:

Every Step of the Way by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/Wj0cHXzAGTI