phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
FAITH, HOPE, LOVE
Welcome: We gather today to support the many in our community who are filled with fear, concern, and despair about the future of our country, but more importantly their future and that of their family. We reflect on how faith, hope, and love can bring us peace and the resolve to stand together for justice and equality.
Opening Song: Help in Hard Times by Carrie Newcomer
https://youtu.be/BFebLK0T7w4?si=1l9dI5YQPZOFtEJq
Opening Prayer:
Holy Mystery, life at times brings pain, anxiety, and fear to our lives, and we seek relief and reassurance. May we come to know that in those times it is hope and love shared with others that bring healing graces and, over time, awakens us to new possibilities and the strength of Divine Love allowing us to continue the work of bringing justice, equality and peace to the world. Amen
First Reading: A reading by Joan Chittister
Hope and despair are not opposites. They are cut from the very same cloth, made from the very same material, shaped from the very same circumstances. Every life finds itself forced to choose one from the other, one day at a time, one circumstance after another. The sunflower, that plant which in shadow turns its head relentlessly toward the sun, is the patron saint of those in despair. When darkness descends on the soul, it is time, like the sunflower, to go looking for whatever good thing in life there is that can bring us comfort. Then we need music and hobbies and friends and fun and new thought.
Despair colors the way we look at things, makes us suspicious of the future, makes us negative about the present. Most of all, despair leads us to ignore the very possibilities that could save us, or worse, leads us to hurt as we have been hurt ourselves.
Hope, on the other hand, takes life on its own terms, knows that whatever happens God lives in it, and expects that, whatever its twists and turns, it will ultimately yield its good to those who live it consciously, to those who live it to the hilt.
When tragedy strikes, when trouble comes, when life disappoints us, we stand at the crossroads between hope and despair, torn and hurting. Despair cements us in the present. Hope sends us dancing around dark corners trusting in a tomorrow we cannot see because of the multiple paths of life which we cannot forget.
Life is not one road. It is many roads, the walking of which provides the raw material out of which we find hope in the midst of despair. Every dimension of the process of struggle is a call to draw from a well of new understandings. It is in these understandings that hope dwells. It is that wisdom that carries us beyond the dark night of struggle to the dawn of new wisdom and new strength.
These are the inspired words of Joan Chittister, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
The dawn of hope | Joan Chittister
Second Reading: A reading from Brian McLaren
If we can see a likely path to our desired outcome, we have hope; if we can see no possible path to our desired outcome, we have despair. If we are unsure whether there is a possible path or not, we keep hope alive, but it remains vulnerable to defeat if that path is closed.
When our prime motive is love, a different logic comes into play. We find courage and confidence, not in the likelihood of a good outcome, but in our commitment to love. Love may or may not provide a way through to a solution to our predicament, but it will provide a way forward in our predicament, one step into the unknown at a time. Sustained by this fierce love (as my friend Jacqui Lewis calls it), we may persevere long enough that, to our surprise, a new way may appear where there had been no way. At that point, we will have reasons for hope again. But even if hope never returns, we will live by love through our final breath.
To put it differently, even if we lose hope for a good outcome, we need not lose hope of being good people, as we are able: courageous, wise, kind, loving, “in defiance of all that is bad around us.”
We feel arising within us this sustained declaration: We will live as beautifully, bravely, and kindly as we can as long as we can, no matter how ugly, scary, and mean the world becomes, even if failure and death seem inevitable. In fact, it is only in the context of failure and death that this virtue develops. That’s why Richard Rohr describes this kind of hope as “the fruit of a learned capacity to suffer wisely and generously. You come out much larger and that largeness becomes your hope.”
These are inspired words from Brian McLaren and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Brian D. McLaren, Life after Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart (New York: St. Martin’s Essentials, 2024), 84–85.
Gospel Acclamation: More Light by Christopher Grundy video by MT Streck
Gospel: A reading from the Gospel attributed to Luke (9:43-48)
In the crowd that day there was a woman who for twelve years had been afflicted with hemorrhages. She had spent every penny she had on doctors but not one had been able to help her. She slipped in from behind and touched the edge of Jesus’ robe. At that very moment her hemorrhaging stopped. Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When no one stepped forward, Peter said, “But Master, we’ve got crowds of people on our hands. Dozens have touched you.” Jesus insisted, “Someone touched me. I felt power discharging from me.” When the woman realized that she couldn’t remain hidden, she knelt trembling before him. In front of all the people, she blurted out her story—why she touched him and how at that same moment she was healed. Jesus said, “Daughter, you took a risk trusting me, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!”
These are inspired words from the writer referred to as Luke, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Homily Starter/Sharing
In the very familiar Gospel reading I chose for today, we hear of the woman who has been bleeding for the past 12 years. This story appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, and mentions that she had been to numerous doctors over the years, spending all of her money, with no relief, no cure. In her despair, she hears about Jesus and his healing powers. With the little bit of hope she has left, she determines to reach out and touch his cloak. She has faith that this person, Jesus, is worth a try. In that one action of faith and hope, she is healed. Jesus realizing that power has gone from him, turns and once she identifies herself, he declares that it is her trust, her faith that has healed her, not him.
Many of us have been feeling despair, fear, anger this week, and it is certainly, as we’ve been told by various groups emailing us, okay to embrace those initially. But then, like the woman bleeding, faith and hope must come into play. As both Joan Chittister and Brian McLaren share, despair leads to negativity, to an inability to see a way forward. Our vision is blocked. Hope opens the door to possibilities. In hope there is a need to open our eyes, but from what eyes will we be looking? John O’Donohue, Irish poet, philosopher, and priest, reflects on this, encouraging us “to explore your particular style of seeing. Ask yourself: what way do I behold the world? To the fearful eye, all is threatening. To the judgmental eye, everything is closed in definitive frames. To the resentful eye, everything is begrudged. To the indifferent eye, nothing calls or awakens… To the loving eye, everything is real. Love is the light in which we see light. If we could look at the world in a loving way, then the world would rise up before us full of invitation, possibility and depth. The loving eye can even coax pain, hurt, and violence toward transfiguration and renewal.”
If we return to the woman healed, She can move on with her life. Faith and hope in the possibility of change resulted in a life free of pain and despair. There was no guarantee for her, it was her way of seeing with faith and hope that opened “the door of possibilities” for her. Her life was transformed and renewed.
Thus, the third action that helps us move forward and away from despair is love. As I’ve reflected over the past few days, the question that arose for me was, what is really at the heart of my despair, my fear and my grief? It is that love is being overlooked, love is being disregarded in how we deal with the issues confronting our country. It is in fact despair, fear, and grief that are gripping many in this country from all sides. It is love that is needed at this time, and that begins with each individual resolving to shift to love, and bond with others acting out of love.
Brian McLaren in our second reading states, “When our prime motive is love, a different logic comes into play. We find courage and confidence, not in the likelihood of a good outcome, but in our commitment to love. Love may or may not provide a way through to a solution to our predicament, but it will provide a way forward in our predicament, one step into the unknown at a time. Sustained by this fierce love (as my friend Jacqui Lewis calls it), we may persevere long enough that, to our surprise, a new way may appear where there had been no way.”
Bishop Michael Curry shares, “ Love is a commitment to seek the good and to work for the good and welfare of others. It doesn’t stop at our front door or our neighborhood, our religion or race, or our state’s or your country’s border. The way of love will show us the right thing to do, every single time… It’s how we stay decent in indecent times. Loving is not always easy, but like with muscles, we get stronger both with repetition and as the burden gets heavier. And it works.”
So, if there is still need for some to remain in grief, anger, and despair, then do so, but begin to be open to the faith and the hope the woman in our Gospel exhibited, and move toward love, the love that Jesus preached and lived.
“It is that wisdom that carries us beyond the dark night of struggle to the dawn of new wisdom and new strength.”
We are open to hearing your insights on the Word offered to us today.
Michael Curry with Sara Grace, Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times (New York: Avery, 2020), 14–16, 20, 23, 27.
John O’Donohue, Anam Cara (New York: Harpers Collins, 2007), 62-65
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
Presider: We now invite you to share your intentions beginning them with the
words: I bring to the table…
Presider: We pray for these and all unspoken concerns of our hearts. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Eucharistic Prayer by Diarmuid O’Murchu
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 beseech your healing power upon us and upon all we pray for today.
Down through the ages, you rescue us from darkness. you light up our ways with wise and holy people. You restore our lost fortunes and you revive our dwindling hope.
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: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
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 and in our world.
We ask you to awaken anew in our hearts the empowering grace of your abundant Spirit, who infuses these gifts of bread and wine with the transforming energy of life, to nourish and sustain us in our time of need.
That same bread, Jesus took and broke, to restore the unity of our broken world. Jesus blessed you, God of healing and hope, then, along with the cup, Jesus shared the bread with those at table saying: Take and eat, the bread of life for all who hunger for peace and justice.
Then offering the cup of blessing, poured out for the liberation of all, Jesus gave thanks and shared the cup in a spirit of mutual solidarity saying:
Take this all of you and drink from it; This is the cup of my life-blood,
the life of the new and everlasting covenant.
In prophetic solidarity, it is poured out for you and for all.
Sustain one another in the power of sacred memory.
As we gather around this Eucharistic 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 using the words, “Dwell in the Hope of the Divine.”
Communion Song: Choose to Hope by Marty Haugen video by MTStreck
https://youtu.be/bOQJUbu9_wQ?si=9aoRYsiS_h13VyRy
Post-Communion Prayer
May the Spirit of life and wholeness, who transforms the gifts we present, transform us, too, that we may be refreshed in our inner being and be empowered to bring mercy, love, hope and healing to those whose lives we touch.
So grant, that in union with all peoples, living and dead, 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, ‘til the Kingdom 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.
Presider: Let us join together to pray the Prayer of Jesus:
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
Please raise your hands in blessing and join together in our closing prayer:
We pray for harmony in the midst of divisiveness and for hope in the middle of hurt. We pray for our civic leaders and ourselves and all peoples with a call for harmony and deep peace: May we awaken to the Hope of the Kindom of Heaven within, around, and among us. Amen.
Closing Song: The Climb by Miley Cyrus sung my One Voice Children’s Choir
https://youtu.be/lAxyC3dUgGE?si=PZysUoOd24bmNsgE
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