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Christ the Servant
Welcome: Welcome to you all! I’m so happy to be here with you all today as we close out the church year with gratitude.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, You invite us to embrace Wisdom and be transformed by your love and justice into servant leaders. May we step forward to accept your invitation. AMEN.
Opening Song: Quiet Place by the Many – video by MT Streck
https://youtu.be/hcq385i1kHE
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Wisdom of Sirach 24:12-21
*Other ancient texts include verse 18, included here.
I have taken root in a holy people,
people who belong to God, God’s heritage.
There, I have grown tall as a cedar in Lebanon, as a cypress on Mount Hermon.
I have grown tall as a palm in En-Gedi, as the rose bushes of Jericho,
as a fine olive in the field,
as a plane tree beside the water.
Like cinnamon and precious oils, I yield perfume.
Like choice myrrh, I spread my fragrance.
Like the smell and smoke of frankincense, I fill the tent. I have spread my branches like a terebinth,
luminous and graceful.
I bud forth delights like the vine.
My blossoms become a harvest of abundant fruit.
*I am the Mother of Love, inspiring wonder.
I am Woman Wisdom, imparting understanding.
I am holy hope. I, Wisdom, am undying and timeless.
I am given to all my children, to all those named by God.
Come to me, you who yearn for me!
Eat your fill of my fruits!
The memory of me is sweeter than honey,
sweeter than the honeycomb.
All who eat of me will hunger for more.
All who drink of me will thirst for more.
These are the inspired words of a Wisdom Writer and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM
Psalm 63:2; 4-6; 8+12
The Psalm Response is: In the shadow of your wings, we sing for joy.
R: In the shadow of Your wings, we sing for joy.
God, You are our God.
We seek You. We thirst for You.
Our bodies, our whole beings, long for You.
For You we yearn, as in a dry and parched land,
where there is no water.
R: In the shadow of Your wings, we sing for joy.
Your unfailing love is better than life itself.
Our lips will ever praise you, telling of Love’s glory.
We will bless You all our lives long.
We will lift up our hands and call on Your name.
You satisfy us as with a rich feast.
With joyous lips, our mouths will sing Your praise.
R: In the shadow of Your wings, we sing for joy.
You have always been our healer and our help.
In the shadow of your wings, we sing for joy!
You raise up servants, those you have called, to guide your people.
All will rejoice in you.
R: In the shadow of Your wings, we sing for joy.
SECOND READING
A Reading from the Book of Revelation 1:3-8
I, John, write to the seven churches in Asia. Grace to you, and peace, from the One who is and was and is to come. Grace and peace to you from the seven-fold Spirit who is before the throne. Grace and peace to you from Jesus the Christ, God’s faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, leader and servant-leader of all who rule the earth.
To the one who loves us and has freed us, to the one who has made us to be a kin-dom, - all of us priests, serving a Loving God - to that servant leader be glory and honor for ever and ever. Amen.
Look, Christ is coming on the clouds! Every eye will see it,
even those who pierced Jesus. All the peoples of the earth
will lament Jesus’ sufferings. So shall it be. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says God, “the One who is and was and is to come, the All in All.”
This is the vision of a Late First Century Writer, known as John, and the community affirms it by saying AMEN.
ALLELUIA Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker – MT Video
https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk
GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel attributed to Mark 10:43b-45
Speaking to his disciples, Jesus taught: “Anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant. Anyone who wants to be first among you must serve all. For the Human One came not to be served but to serve, and to pour out life that others may live.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Mark and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter—Julie: One of the things I love about the the Comprehensive Catholic Lectionary is that not only does it thoughtfully update our weekly readings, it also explains why. So, in renaming this ‘Christ the Servant’ instead of ‘Christ the King,’ the CCL is making a statement. I quote “In a culture and society (e.g., 21st c. North America) in which Christianity is the dominant religion, Christ as ‘King’ is stripped of its subversive intent. ‘Christ as Servant’ re- asserts this subversive claim in the face of the contemporary Christian nationalist movement … and captures accurately the nature of Jesus’ Messiahship in the gospels.”
The CCL goes on to explain why it swapped our first reading. “The canonical First Reading from Daniel tells of final and everlasting dominion and kingship. … In its own context, the rhetoric would have been a word of hope for the suffering, the marginalized, and the oppressed. That is not our nation’s context. The CCL thus instead chooses a passage in which Wisdom speaks (Sirach). Wisdom, personified as a Woman, foils power and wealth. She is God’s indwelling presence in and among humanity.”
We here today have the opportunity to make that same choice. We can choose Wisdom over dominion and kingship. We can foil power and wealth and offer hope to the suffering, the marginalized, and the oppressed. We can choose faith, hope, and love today and every day. We can follow The Way of Jesus together.
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. 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: I sing for joy.
Communion Meditation: We Are All Angels by Karen Drucker
https://youtu.be/TV3gCB2Er7g
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 feel the love of the Holy One every day. May we be grateful for all that is good in our lives. And may we share the divine light each and every day. AMEN
Closing Song: Blessings by Hollow Coves (video, DHS)
https://youtu.be/5M3JL9sHS5Q
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