Upper Room Liturgy for Sunday, December 22, 2024 - Presiders: Donna Panaro and Suzanne DeFroy

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

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Welcome and Theme:

Welcome to the Upper Room for the fourth Sunday of Advent. Today we will draw inspiration for times of transition and challenge from wise and faithful women as we ponder what is being born within and around us this Advent and Christmas season.

Lighting of Advent Candles 

Presider: Like our ancestors we honor the cycles and the seasons that remind us of the ever-changing flow of life. Ritual acts give life meaning-they honor and acknowledge the unseen web of Life that connects us all. 

We light this fourth candle and remember that we are called to create, share and be light in all our ways of relating to all of Creation and commit ourselves to work for peace and justice in our world. 

And so we respond: Let us kindle the light of love!

 Presider concludes: Indeed, let us welcome the light within each other!

Opening Song: Ave Maria by Ashana 

https://youtu.be/79N0w4NcZSY?si=YkhJ5BFHtQTy-p28

LITURGY OF THE WORD

 

First Reading: An excerpt from The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

This is the era of just redemption

We feared at its inception

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

Of such a terrifying hour

But within it we found the power

To author a new chapter.

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves.

So while once we asked,

How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert,

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

These are inspired words from Amanda Gorman, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.

Second Reading: A reading from Kaira Jewel Lingo

I warmly welcome you on this journey of learning how we can move through times of transition and challenge with clarity and compassion. I found the practice of staying present, openhearted, and accepting of changing life circumstances to be incredibly helpful through my own major life transitions and challenges. Two of the most significant transitions have been becoming a Buddhist nun at age twenty-five and then leaving monastic life fifteen years later.

When I was in the process of deciding to leave monastic life, I was terrified. I had no idea what would come next, and I was giving up security, love, and belonging for a totally unknown future with absolutely no guarantees.

For nearly twenty years I had been singing a song our community sang often. It includes this line: “The Sangha body is everywhere; my true home is right here.” The “Sangha body” means the community of those practicing the path of awareness and compassion. Only when I left the monastery and was received and nourished by spiritual community after spiritual community in many parts of the world did I realize the deeper meaning of this line in the song. I experienced how held and supported I was by the Sangha body that was truly everywhere. My true home is anywhere there is practice, anywhere I am showing up fully present to connect and be with others. Though the river is moving very fast, it has its destination; we can trust this. We don’t need to know the destination. We do need to keep our eyes open and see who is with us and celebrate. Because we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Gospel Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker

https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk?si=E_k2vmgPP6a_ZRIv

Gospel: A reading from the anonymous writer known asLuke (1:39-56)

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, 
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, 
“Blessed are you among women, 
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me, 
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, 
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.” 

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of this servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is God’s name. God’s mercy is for those who are in awe of the Holy One from generation to generation. God has shown great strength; God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. God has helped the servant Israel, in remembrance of God’s mercy, according to the promise God made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

These are inspired words from Gospel of Luke, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.

Homily and Shared Reflections

On this fourth week of Advent, we hear the first and only gospel reading during advent, of events that happen before Jesus is born. This is quite interesting because Advent is about preparing for the celebration of the birth of Jesus and the other gospel readings during Advent have focused on things that happened when Jesus was an adult. Today’s gospel story helps us think about preparing for what is being born at Christmas. The gospel reading teaches us that it is possible to find awe and reverence in preparing for unexpected births and transitions.  Kaira Jewel Lingo’s words about one of her life transitions has a similar theme to the gospel story. These wise women give us lessons that we can hold on to as we embark upon the changes, we will experience in 2025. 

After Mary learned about her unexpected pregnancy from an angel she went on a long trip to visit her cousin/aunt Elizabeth, who was also unexpectedly with child in her later years. I think Mary was seeking solace and comfort from Elizabeth as she prepared herself for birth and motherhood. This sounds similar to what Kaira Lingo was seeking when she left the monastery and found Sangha bodies everywhere. In Buddhism the Sangha is the community of people who are “practicing the path of awareness and compassion.” Buddhists have daily practices to foster their spiritual development. In a similar way we are part of the Upper Room community. We seek to live as those who follow the teachings of Christ. We could say the Upper Room is our Sangha. We could also include people who receive and nurture us throughout our lives as our Sangha. We could say, Elizabeth and Mary were Sangha’s to each other.

After the presidential election, I noticed a strong inner call to seek solace and comfort from my Sangha bodies. I can see the importance of finding the same thing Kaira found as she left the monastery. She found Sangha bodies everywhere as she went to many parts of the world. She found that “home is anywhere there is practice, anywhere I am showing up fully present to connect and be with others.” The good news is when we face scary transitions, “we don’t need to know the destination.” We do need to find and stay connected to our Elizabeth’s and Mary’s …our Sangha Bodies because this is where we are nourished and encouraged to practice awareness and compassion. This is where we find people who want to work for peace and justice. This is our spiritual community where we are held and supported to do the right thing. It is so freeing to know that we don’t need to know the destination and even if we are terrified, we just need to know that “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” 

For me Elizabeth, Mary and Kaira help me respond to that inner call to a deeper sense of community. Like me they are three ordinary women who discovered the extraordinary aspects of their life. They discovered that unexpected transitions are to be embraced. This is possible when we stay connected to each other and to the Holiness of communities that ground us, nurture us, and help us to embrace the sacred journey.

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:  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…..” 

Presider: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen. 

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST 

 

Presider: 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: "Here In This Place" by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk?si=Pf4aON_s5MBW-3Sm 

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 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. 

 

All lift their plates and pray the following:

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.

 (pause) 

 

All lift their cups and pray the following:

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.

(pause) 

Presider: Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. Please receive communion with the words: “We are who we have been waiting for.”

Communion Meditation/Song: Be Born In Me by Francesca Battistelli

https://youtu.be/QsXOP7aQeqQ?si=JWowlVakLXxn-q7k

Prayer after communion 

 

Presider: Holy One, 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.  

Presider: 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 

Presider: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.

May we continue to be the face of God to each other.  May we call each other to extravagant generosity!  May our light shine for all to see, and may we be a blessing in our time! 

 

All: AMEN 

 

Closing Song: Light of the World by Laren Daigle

https://youtu.be/dCRunZGYBi4?si=E63yViyccvlC0rvn