Upper Room Sunday Liturgy, November 3, 2024 - Presider: Donna Panaro

 

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

Kindom of Heaven

Welcome: Welcome to the Upper Room two days after All Saints Day. Today we will celebrate All Saints Day with our opening song and connect that to a theme of the “Kindom of Heaven.” As we think about our connection to those who have died along with how we are connected to each other in the Source of All Being, may we be filled with reverence and awe. May this be a celebration of Eternal Oneness. 

Opening Prayer:

Gracious and Loving God, as we join together today, we seek to remain open to how we can bring love, healing and unity to whomever is in need. We ask for the grace to see with the eyes of Jesus, touch with the hands of Jesus and heal with the heart of Jesus. We pray that we will awaken to the Kindom of Heaven within and around each of us.

Opening Song: All Saints Day by Carrie Newcomer

https://youtu.be/8BNa6C775bM?si=TvHKTqq_WLUajpAQ

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: Excerpts from Wisdom Jesus by Cynthia Bourgeault.

Jesus uses one particular phrase repeatedly: “the Kingdom of Heaven.” You can easily confirm this yourself by a quick browse through the gospels; the words jump out at you from everywhere. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like this,” “The Kingdom of Heaven is like that,” “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you,” “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Whatever this Kingdom of Heaven is, it’s of foundational importance to what Jesus is trying to teach.

So, what do we take it to be? Biblical scholars have debated this question for almost as long as there have been biblical scholars. A lot of Christians, particularly of a more evangelical persuasion, assume that the Kingdom of Heaven means the place where you go when you die—if you’ve been good.

Jesus himself specifically contradicts it when he says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you” (that is, here) and “at hand” (that is, now). It’s not later, but lighter—some more subtle quality or dimension of experience accessible to you right in the moment. You don’t die into it; you awaken into it.

Jim Marion’s wonderfully insightful and contemporary suggestion is that the Kingdom of Heaven is really a metaphor for a state of consciousness; it is not a place you go to, but a place you come from. It is a whole new way of looking at the world, a transformed awareness that literally turns this world into a different place. Marion suggests specifically that the Kingdom of Heaven is Jesus’s own favorite way of describing a state we would nowadays call a “nondual consciousness” or “unitive consciousness.”

The hallmark of this awareness is that it sees no separation—not between God and humans, not between humans and other humans. And these are indeed Jesus’s two core teachings, underlying everything he says and does.

These are the inspired words from Wisdom Jesus by Cynthia Bourgeault and the community affirms them by saying: Amen.

Gospel Acclamation

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw?si=fHu4W4F7Em69XSrM

Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?" 
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, 
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these." 
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
'He is One and there is no other than he.'
And 'to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself'
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God." 
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

These are the inspired words from the gospel writer known as Mark and the community affirms them by saying: Amen.

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 compa+ssion,
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

Presider:  Let us join with open hands to pray our Eucharistic prayer together:

All: Source of Love and Light, we join in unity of Spirit, love and purpose with Your people everywhere, living and crossed over. With all of creation across billions of galaxies, we open our hearts and souls to become One.

In your loving embrace we are liberated from division, fear, conflict, pride and injustice. We are transformed into wholeness which we resolve to bring to all whose lives we touch. With gratitude, we meld ourselves Your Divine Presence which knows all, shelters all and transforms all into love, abundant and eternal.

In one voice, we praise Your loving, healing ways and the glory of all You have created:

Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ?si=6btL1YI3xAoYmVIi

All: We thank you, Holy One, for Jesus, a man of courage whose exquisite balance of human and Divine points our way and who strives with us in our time of need. We yearn with passion to live as Jesus, one with you and your Spirit, in peace and justice.

May our desire to be one with You join us to all living things. We seek to heal the differences that isolate us so that we may live in healthful unity with all people, of every ethnicity, skin color, gender orientation or class. May we have the imaginative sympathy and love of Your Spirit to move with courage beyond the confines of bias, miscommunication, ignorance and hurt and into the healing place where Divine light and love abide.

Presider:  Please extend your hands in blessing of bread and wine.

All:  Together, we call on Your Spirit, present in these gifts - bread that satisfies our hunger and wine that quenches our thirst – to make us more deeply One, living in the fullness of holy compassion and Sophia wisdom.

Anticipating the likelihood of betrayal, arrest and pain, Jesus wanted more than anything to be with his friends, to share a meal, exchange stories and create fond memories. To strengthen the bonds of friendship that evening, Jesus washed the feet of his friends in an act of love and humility.

                         Lift the bread.

All: 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.

              Lift their cups.

Then he took the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:

Take and drink of the covenant

Made new again through my life in you.

Whenever you remember me like this,

I am among you. (pause)

Please receive communion with the words: We are One 

Communion Song: It’s not Far to Another Heart by Peter Mayer

https://youtu.be/qQ8kXEtlKhQ?si=z5kz5Jo5A7DGIyr2 

Presider: Let us join with disciples of all ages to pray together:

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)

Closing Blessing: Presider 1:  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 bless our civic leaders and ourselves and all peoples with a call for harmony and deep peace: May we awaken to the Kindom of Heaven within and around us. Amen.

Closing Song: We Shall Overcome: Love Will Rise Again 

https://youtu.be/S6FN0EmK87c?si=j8Yq4_0xDs6memg3