Upper Room Weekend Liturgy - First Sunday in Advent, November 30 and December 1, 2024 - Presiders Denise Hackert-Stoner and Juanita Cordero

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

First Sunday of Advent

Juanita:  Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent.  This week we are called to watch and listen for signs of hope during these times of crisis.  Let’s watch.  Let’s listen.

 

Opening Prayer/Lighting of Advent Candle:  We light this candle as a sign of the Holy One’s presence among us, calling us to communion with all of creation, calling us to hope and action, calling us to open our eyes to the signs all around us.

   

Opening Song:  Here in this Place, Christopher Grundy https://youtu.be/V9LZURdBJxE?si=nV9VyO1JetLUzvJw

LITURGY OF THE WORD

 

First Reading:  From The Great Search:  Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home, by John Philip Newell

"We are living in “a moment of grace,” said [Thomas] Berry.  Moments of grace are privileged moments, for great transformations can occur if we are true to them. Humanity’s discovery of how to make fire was a moment of grace, as was the invention of spoken language or the first cultivation of a garden or the development of writing and the creation of an alphabet. Humanity seized these moments of grace and brought great change through them. We too are living in a moment of grace. It is the realization of the interrelatedness of all things. It is a consciousness rising to the fore in nearly every great discipline of thought and study, inviting us to know that what we do to a part we do to the whole, and that the well-being of each is fulfilled only in the well-being of the whole. But moments of grace, said Berry, are “transient.” In other words, if we miss them, they are gone, perhaps never to come again. Will we meet this moment and live into it deeply, applying the new consciousness of Earth’s oneness to our lives and relationships, or will we miss this moment?"

"This, he said, is the “Great Work” that we are being invited to be part of today, to bring our deepest energies and the deepest spiritual insights of our inheritance to this moment in time, that we may be part of truly meeting this moment of grace together."

These are the words of a mystic in our world today, John Phillip Newell.  We affirm his words with Amen. 

Psalm: “Morningside Cathedral,” by Thomas Berry

(Note:  Thomas Berry served as canon and advisor to the Bishop at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City, also known as Morningside Cathedral)

Reader One: 

We have heard in this Cathedral
Bach’s Passion
The Lamentations of Jeremiah
Ancient experiences of darkness over the earth
Light born anew
But now, darkness deeper than even God
Can reach with a quick healing power
What sound,
What song,
What cry appropriate
What cry can bring a healing
When a million year rainfall
Can hardly wash away the life destroying stain?
What sound?

Reader Two:
Listen — earth sound
Listen — the wind through the hemlock
Listen — the owl’s soft hooting
in the winter night
Listen — the wolf — wolf song
Cry of distant meanings
woven into a seamless sound
Never before has the cry of the wolf expressed such meaning
On the winter mountainside
Morningside
This cry our revelation
As the sun sinks lower in the sky
Over our wounded world
The meaning of the moment
And the healing of the wound
Are there in a single cry
A throat open wide
For the wild sacred sound
Of some Great Spirit

A Gothic sound — come down from the beginning of time
If only humans could hear
Now see the wolf as guardian spirit
As savior guide.

Reader Three:
Our Jeremiah, telling us,
not about the destruction of
Jerusalem or its temple
Our Augustine, telling us,
not about the destruction of Rome and civilization
Our Bach,
telling us not about the Passion of Christ in ancient times,
But about the Passion of Earth in our times?
Wolf — our earth, our Christ, ourselves.
The arch of the Cathedral itself takes on the shape
Of the uplifted throat of the wolf
Lamenting our present destiny
Beseeching humankind
To bring back the sun
To let the flowers bloom in the meadows,
The rivers run through the hills
And let the Earth
And all its living creatures
Live their
Wild,
Fierce,
Serene
And Abundant life.

These are the words of priest and geologian, Thomas Berry.  We affirm his words with Amen.

Alleluia:   Celtic Alleluia https://youtu.be/o1rc7ojQtJU

 Gospel:  Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, 
and on earth nations will be in dismay, 
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright 
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, 
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man 
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen, 
stand erect and raise your heads 
because your redemption is at hand.

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy 
from carousing and drunkenness 
and the anxieties of daily life, 
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times 
and pray that you have the strength 
to escape the tribulations that are imminent 
and to stand before the Son of Man.”

These are the words of the gospel writer known as Luke.  We affirm his words with Amen.

  

Homily and Shared Reflections

Has there ever been a time on this Earth when the signs Jesus describes, the nations in dismay, the powers of heaven being shaken, didn’t exist?  I don’t think so.  Rather, I believe that in every age there is a crisis.  Every generation has its moment; a moment that it either meets or ignores.  A crisis either averted, survived, or succumbed to: natural disasters; civil wars; international conflict; colonialism, the rise of despots.  Any of these would be, for the people living through the crisis, apocalyptic.  Life-changing.  This, I think, is the genius of Jesus:  he imagines an apocalyptic moment of one time and place, and in his telling, it becomes universal, spanning the millennia.  He sees, and helps us to see, the universal feelings of horror, fear and dread which are all too familiar to every generation.  At the same time, he reveals a fundamental hope for wisdom, deliverance, and reconciliation, also universal in every crisis.  He helps us to see that, woven into our greatest horror is our moment of grace; a golden thread leading us to redemption.  But he reminds us of our own responsibility to notice that thread.  To be awake to it, and to the chaos surrounding it.  

So, like our ancestors, we are facing our moment.  We stand before the crisis of our time, the challenge of a devastating climate catastrophe that has the potential for widespread destruction and extinction.  Both Jesus and Thomas Berry point us to great symbols of such apocalyptic times.  These symbols, even in the chaos, seem to call us to reconciliation and action; they call us to hope.  They are the golden thread woven into the chaos.  For Jesus, the symbol is the “Son of Man, coming in a cloud with power and glory.”  For Berry, it is the cry of the wolf, the simple sound of nature.  For both Jesus and Berry, the key to meeting these critical moments is the willingness to heed the signs; to remain alert, to be aware, to listen and watch.  If we miss the signs, we cannot meet the moment.  If we ignore the chaos, the deluge, we miss the golden thread, the moment of grace.

On this, the first Sunday of Advent, we stand in the dark, with only one small candle burning.  We must not hide here, overcome by fear.  For we are called to “bring back the sun.”  We must not wait.  The signs are here, nature is calling.  Will we respond?

What did you hear in the readings today?  Please share your thoughts.

 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 

As we prepare for this sacred meal we are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. As bearers of LIGHT and HOPE, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your intentions beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…..” 

We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen. 

 

With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:

(written by Jay Murnane) 

 All: Source of All That Is, we seek you in this season, when the earth is resting and preparing for new life. Like the earth, we long for new life and hopeful beginnings. This is the time of the pregnant woman, filled with life and hope powerful enough to topple structures of oppression.  This is the time of her song of fidelity and celebration. 

 During this gentle season of Advent, we recognize that you have made us capable of bringing forth justice, like a rising sun. One with all who have gone before us, we sing a song of praise: 

Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker video by Denise

https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI?si=gTh0WGciHF72ySX4 

We thank you for those in times past who believed the good news, and lived what they believed. 

 

Blessed is Isaiah and every visionary who insisted on a better future that would break through the deception, disaster and broken promises of the age in which they lived. 

 

Blessed is John, in the stark desert of careful focus, inviting the people to be born again in your love.  

 

Blessed is Miriam, who believed the words of Isaiah and opened herself up to the unbelievable. 

 

And blessed is her child Jesus, who felt the sorrows of humankind in his soul, and responded with deep and tender compassion. 

Please extend your hands in blessing.

All: 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. 

All.: On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his companions and 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. 

 

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, 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.

Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace with these words:  We are awake.

Communion Song/Meditation:  Darkness to Light, Empty Hands Music  https://youtu.be/bkA0lZvdqKI?si=n_u7d4xuBh-mTSUe

All: We give thanks for our tradition, which is a living history of your love for all creation. We join ourselves with that tradition, as the visionaries and healers and peacemakers of our own time in history. 

 

We celebrate the many creative traditions which guide and form us and we are grateful that there are many paths to wisdom and life. 

 

Each Advent we make a place in our prayer for all those who are oppressed and marginalized in so many places throughout this earth, and right here among us. 

 

We are grateful for the gift of your Spirit, always drawing beauty and balance out of chaos.  And like Jesus…

 

Standing where he stood,  

and for what he stood,  

and with whom he stood, 

we are united in your Spirit, 

and worship you with our lives,  

 

All: 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 extend your hands and pray our blessing together.

In this, our moment, let us stand erect.  Let us raise our heads.  Let us stay vigilant, harkening to the call of the wolf, the call of the sea, the call of the earth; for theirs is the voice of our God.  May their call lead us to act.  And may our actions lead us out of the darkness of our crisis into the light of hope.  May this be our Advent prayer.  Amen.

 

All: AMEN 

 

Closing Song: IAm Ready for Change, Carrie Newcomer https://youtu.be/uG3DdY5r8uk?si=VK__SmEn7BbeHdLi

 

Moment. of Oneness, November 27 - Prepared by Rosie Smead

 

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507551772
Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: +1 646 558 8656

OPENING PRAYER

O beloved Saint Francis, your obedience to the Holy One and immense love of the poor, sick, and marginalized in your world led you to respond with intense care and devotion to their needs. Blow the clouds from our eyes to see how the needs of humans, animals, and our earthly home are indeed “Jesus in disguise”. Your dedication to prayer and mystic union with the Great Mystery have inspired people all over the world to follow the teaching and example of our Brother Jesus. Now, in our day, pray with and for us, that our prayer continues to birth our ministry to the poor and vulnerable. 

O blessed Saint Francis, we ask for help; teach us courageous ways to overcome our own fear and obstacles to speak truth to power in our world.  May your prayers on our behalf be heard and may we be granted grace to lead lives of courage and perseverance. Saint Francis of Assisi, Pray with us. Amen.  

Adapted from Prayers at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, San Francisco, USA.

DENNIS, stop this video at 4.25 minutes please

VIDEO 1   10 Things to Know about St. Francis of Assisi    

https://youtu.be/z-STc6JJagM  Created by Fr. Gilbert Choondal SDB, Kolkata, India

READING 1

As sincere persons who are perhaps curious about mystics, or wanna-be mystics, or searchers for how-to-reach-mysticism, or on-the-path-mystics, we are all coming from a unique worldview.  Our contemporary, Franciscan Father Richard Rohr calls this longing for the deepest experience of the Infinite the “incarnational worldview.” It encompasses not only just moral behavior, but both objective and ontological reality, the reality that allows us to know and feel we are holy, whether singing “we are wholly, holy” in our liturgy, or in a hospital bed in pain. It is the reality that St. Francis of Assisi lived, breathed, and taught his brothers and sisters through his example and his holy rule of Franciscan living. 

Statuary and some contemporary images of St. Francis of Assisi often portray him in a sentimental, and overly “sweet” way, as if all he did was talk to the animals in the forests. This does our gentle-but- ferociously tough lover of Christ a disservice.  Perhaps this modern conception is meant to demonstrate Francis’s extraordinary gift of compassion and tender heart toward all creatures, especially those less fortunate. These inaccurate portrayals hide his utterly selfless commitment to living the Beatitudes as the work of his daily life, his living and breathing his love of the universal Christ.  He was far tougher than the majority of us will ever be. Let us explore some LESSONS, aspects of his life and gifts that are vibrating in our world today; we need only breathe deeply to begin making them our own. 

LESSON 1     We All Have a Past – Get Over It

He was born Giovanni (John) renamed Francesco, di Pietro di Bernardone.   Until age 25 years, Francesco/Francis was a spoiled rich kid who cared nothing for others, only having a good time. Brother Celano, an early Franciscan biographer who knew Francis well said: “Francis surpassed all his peers as an instigator of evil deeds and was a proud young man, given to vanity.” Francis himself said, “I lived in sin.” Later he would weep for his ways, and allowed the Light of the Holy One to come into his life: he made the changes. Same for us, we must leave our failings behind, get up and move forward, no matter the suffering that comes our way in our life, from family, friends, our own culture, and the world. We must fight past weaknesses every day, and help others to do so as well. St. Francis is a role model for us today.

ALL:  Prayer Response:  Show us how to use the strength of the Holy One to motivate and encourage us. 

LESSON 2   St. Francis Was Tough

St. Francis had a deep appreciation and love of nature and all creation. But he was also a man who experienced great suffering and hardships during his life - it wasn’t all doves and roses. He joined the army, was captured, and spent a whole year nearly starving in a dark, dank prison cell in Perugia, until his father was able to pay a huge ransom and bring him home. Upon telling his father that he rejected the family business and was going to start a religious order, his father, after beating him,  threw him in a prison cell in his own basement. Francis had an eye condition that was greatly exacerbated by horrible medical “treatments” that left him nearly blind and in great pain. He however, never failed to chant the Liturgy of the Hours and was a model to his friars. He would often fast for 40 days at a time in imitation of Christ; he would throw himself in the snow to fight temptation to impurity; he endured freezing conditions in the winter without adequate clothing.   Francis of Assisi was the first known to bear the stigmata, the marks of the 5 wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. He taught that suffering was not the sign of God’s neglecting us, but to Love, Trust, and bear the burdens life presents as gifts from God.

ALL:  Prayer Response:  St. Francis, Help us to Love, Trust, and walk with you and Jesus our Brother. 

LESSON  3      God Often Calls Us Out of Our Comfort Zone

We all have weaknesses and areas of lesser abilities, as did St. Francis.  There are people, places, and situations that make us very uncomfortable, so we avoid them. Francis had a “strong aversion” to lepers, and he “shuddered” and “held his nose,” averting his eyes from lepers. In a biography, it is said that one day Francis was riding on the edge of town, and came upon a leper walking beside the road. Suddenly, he dismounted and approached the man, throwing his arms around him and addressing him as “brother.” He said the Holy Spirit had come over him and all “his bitterness was changed to sweetness.”  Secondly, Francis lacked leadership and organization skills, and was overwhelmed when his little band of follower brothers quickly ballooned into a large congregation which needed organizing and a rule to live by. It is these times in our lives when we feel overwhelmed, afraid, incompetent, ill-equipped, or just don’t want to get involved that we rely on the Holy One to make things happen and inspire us to work outside our comfort zone.  My friends, this is where the real progress is made toward the Kin-dom, right here on our earth, step-by-step every day. 

VIDEO 2    You’re Welcome World: Contributions of Franciscans    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49lR9i-KFlM&list=PL- 

READING 2      Gift of Prayers Lasts 800 Years

St. Francis gifted us with several lasting prayers flowing from his unique spirituality. One precious gift was an insight and understanding of the interconnectedness of all beings, living creatures and the universe alike. From the Center for Action and Contemplation we read: Each and every creature is a unique word of God, with its own message, its own metaphor, its own energetic style, its own way of showing forth goodness, beauty, and participation in the Great Mystery. Each creature has its own glow and its own unique glory. 

Who could ever express the deep affection Francis bore for all things that belong to God?

Or who would be able to tell of the sweet tenderness he enjoyed while contemplating in creatures the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Creator?

From this reflection he often overflowed with amazing, unspeakable joy as he looked at the sun, gazed at the moon, or observed the stars in the sky.

St. Francis was gifted with deep compassion – It is unfortunate that most men don’t think compassion is manly. It most certainly is. True men know how to be tough, but they also know how to be gentle and sympathetic to the suffering of others.

Like St. Francis, let’s show compassion to those we encounter, treating them as if they were Christ himself. Let’s “look beyond ourselves and seek to comfort those who are suffering, whether it be physically or emotionally.” - from The Life of St. Francis by Thomas of Celano, 1229

VIDEO  3 The Canticle of Creation

“A Thank-You Note to God”  from St. Francis of Assisi, 1225 AD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpPSZkmr_Js

CLOSING PRAYER    THANKSGIVING 

A Prayer of Thanks and Gratitude, by St. Francis of Assisi

“Wherever we are, in every place,

at every hour, at every time,

every day and continually,

let all of us truly and humbly believe,

hold in our heart,

love, honor, adore, serve, praise

bless, glorify, exalt, magnify

and give thanks to the Most High

and Supreme Eternal God,

Trinity and Unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:

to Him who is Creator of all,

Savior of all,

without beginning or end,

unchangeable, invisible,

indescribable, ineffable,

incomprehensible,

unfathomable, blessed,

praiseworthy, glorious, exalted,

sublime, most high, gentle,

lovable, delightful and, above all else,

desirable, for ever and ever.”

–St. Francis of Assisi (1181 – 1226)

References and Resources

A Prayer of Gratitude https://youtu.be/I3cL0S6Sk3g

Bodo, M. (2018). Surrounded by love : seven teachings from Saint Francis. Franciscan Media.

Englebert, O. (2013). St. Francis of Assisi : a biography. Servant Books, An Imprint Of Franciscan Media.

Of, F., Armstrong, R. J., Brady, I. C., & Of, C. (1982). Francis and Clare : the complete works. Paulist Press.

Paterson, K. (2011). Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Chronicle Books.

Starr, M. (2007). Saint Francis of Assisi : Devotions, Prayers, & Living Wisdom.

Starr, M., & Francis. (2013). Saint Francis of Assisi : brother of creation. Sounds True.

Websites

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/franciscanspirituality 

https://youtu.be/q0-fAJdr_3k  TRANSITUS  2.39 

https://catholicgentleman.com/2013/10/what-we-can-learn-from-st-francis/

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/st-anthony-messenger/st-francis-and-the-animals/

https://youtu.be/BcOU3bYmMOA  6 min video Francis the Saint and the Pope

Armstrong, R.J., Wayne Hellman, J. A. & Short, W. J., Francis of Assisi: Early Documents (New York, New City Press, 1999) - A three volume series: Vol. I, The Saint: Vol. II, The Founder: Vol. III, The Prophet

Boff, Leonardo, Cry of the Earth: Cry of the Poor (Maryknoll, Orbis Books, 1997);

St. Bonaventure. Breviloquium 2,5.1, 2, ed. Dominic V. Monti, OFM. Collected Works of St. Bonaventure. (St. Bonaventure, NY: The Franciscan Institute, 2005), 72-73.  

St. Francis and the Wolf picture: DarlingBeadsOfMay, Etsy

http://www.praying-nature.com/index.php

Pat McCloskey, OFM  August 2019, St. Anthony Messenger