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Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Feast of All Saints and All Souls
Welcome: Welcome to you all! I’m so happy to be here with you all today as we celebrate All Saints and All Souls in the same feast, honoring all holy people.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, at this time of year, the veil between the worlds is thin. Help us feel the continued love and care of those who have gone before us into eternity. We may no longer walk beside them on this earth, but we carry their love forever. AMEN.
Opening Song: All Saint’s Day by Carrie Newcomer (MT video)
https://youtu.be/8BNa6C775bM
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear O Israel: The Name that is Holy, our God, is One.
Love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Write these words…in your heart. Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand. Fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your home and on your entryways.
These are the inspired word of an Ancient Writer known as the Deuteronomist and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM
Wisdom 3:1-9, 13-14
Our psalm response is: God’s grace and compassion are on the holy ones.
R: God’s grace and compassion are on the holy ones.
The souls of the just are in the hand of God.
No torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died.
Their departure was thought to be a disaster,
their leaving us to be their end.
But they are at peace.
R: God’s grace and compassion are on the holy ones.
Although some regard suffering as punishment,
their hope is full of immortality.
So great will their blessings be,
their suffering will seem slight.
They were tested and found worthy.
Like gold in the furnace, they were proved.
Like a whole offering, like a sacrifice, their deaths are holy.
They are accepted.
R: God’s grace and compassion are on the holy ones.
In the time of their visitation, they will shine forth:
they will run like sparks through the stubble;
they will govern nations and rule over peoples, like the stars;
they will enjoy cosmic glory forever.
R: God’s grace and compassion are on the holy ones.
Those who trust in God understand truth.
Those who sought God now abide with God in love.
Grace and compassion are now upon the holy ones.
They are God's chosen.
R: God’s grace and compassion are on the holy ones.
SECOND READING
A Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 15:35-42, 54-55 + 13:12-13
Some will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”
Nonsense! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. As for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. It is God who gives it a body, and to each kind of seed its own body. Not all flesh is alike: There is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another, even as we all participate in cosmic glory. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. Indeed, star differs from star in glory.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” …
Now, we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim reflection. Then, we shall face to face. Now, I know in part. Then, I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And so, faith, hope, and love endure, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
These are the inspired words of the Apostle Paul and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
GOSPEL
ALLELUIA Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker – MT Video
https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk
GOSPEL
A Reading from the Gospels attributed to Mark 12:28ac; 29-31 and Matthew 25:31-46
From Mark:
One of the scribes asked Jesus, “Which is the foremost of all the commandments?”
Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Holy Name, our God, is one. Love your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
From Matthew:
When the Chosen One comes in honor, with all the angels alongside, and takes up the seat of judgment, all nations and peoples will gather around. Then, the Chosen One will sit as judge and separate people, one from another, as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The sheep will be placed on one side, the goats to the other.
Then the Chosen One will say to those on the first side, “Come, you whom my loving God has blessed, inherit the kin-dom prepared for you since the beginning of creation. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you made me welcome. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was ill. and you came to my assistance. I was in prison, and you visited me.”
Those spoken to first will ask, “But when did we see you hungry and give you food, or see you thirsty and give you drink? When did we welcome you as a stranger, or see you naked and give you clothing? When was it that you were sick, and we helped you? When did we visit you in prison?” And the Chosen One will reply, “In truth, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these beloved siblings of mine, you did to me.”
Then the Chosen One will say to those on the other side, “Depart from me, with your own curse upon you, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and the devil’s angels. For I was hungry, but you did not feed me. I was thirsty, but you did not give me anything to drink. I was a stranger, and you never welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me no clothing. I was sick and you refused to help me. I was in prison, and you never visited me.”
Then those who were spoken to will ask, “But when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you as a foreigner? When did we see you lacking clothes, sick or in prison, and not come to your help?”
Then the Chosen One will reply, “In truth I tell you, when you did not do this for one of the least, you did not do it for me.”
Those last spoken to will go away, suffering eternal consequences. But the just will enter into the fullness of Life, Life unending.
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storytellers we know as Mark and Matthew and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter—Julie: “[T]he greatest of these is love.” I’ve been known to grumble about some of the writings attributed to Paul but never about this line. The truth of it shines through the ages, just as the message of love shines through today’s readings.
“Love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” The Deuteronomist tells us to write these words upon our hearts. Let’s take a moment, close our eyes, and feel that message settle within us, on our own hearts.
Jesus expands upon this in the gospel, telling us to love our neighbors as well. He even reminds us of who some of our neighbors are—the imprisoned, the hungry and thirsty, the naked, the sick. And then he drops a truth bomb on us, all those neighbors? The imprisoned, the hungry and thirsty, the naked, the sick? They’re all him. They’re all holy, divine, God in disguise. We are ALL holy, divine, God in disguise. By loving and serving each other, we love and serve God. Boom.
Love is such a powerful force that it even survives the death of the body. We have all lost loved ones and yet still felt their love surrounding us. We carry that love forever, just as someday, in the far distant future, when we’re gone, those we love will carry our love within them forever.
What did you hear? What will you do? What will it cost you? Which is my way of asking—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. This weekend we remember all those we have lost so I’d like to start with a remembrance of those we’ve lost. If you brought a photo or memento, please hold it up so that we can all see it, and unmute yourself and say their name so that we may all hold them in our hearts. Even if you didn’t bring something, unmute yourself and say the name of someone you would like us all to remember.
Now, 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 by Christopher Grundy
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: Our love endures forever.
Communion Meditation: Everything is Holy Now, Peter Mayer
https://youtu.be/s_SgAmljIJc
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 love and care for each other always, in this life and the next. May we see the Holy One in every face. May our name be a blessing in our time. AMEN.
Closing Song: See You Again (Charlie Puth, Wiz Khalifa), by One Voice Children's Choir
https://youtu.be/zXdWWHjjx4c