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Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome to our celebration of the 4th Sunday in Advent! Let us rejoice in the glory of God-In-Us!
Opening Prayer: Always Present One, we thank you for embodying us in your Grace. We rejoice in the constant “becoming” that we know as the evolution of our Universe, and our hearts leap as we recognize you in the faces we meet every day. Amen.
Opening Song : I Am the One – Janis Ian
https://youtu.be/83CKYR9uyFI
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: From The Universal Christ, by Richard Rohr
An incarnational worldview grounds Christian holiness in objective and ontological reality instead of just moral behavior. This is its big benefit. Yet, this is the important leap that so many people have not yet made. Those who have can feel as holy in a hospital bed or a tavern as in a chapel. They can see Christ in the disfigured and broken as much as in the so-called perfect or attractive. They can love and forgive themselves and all imperfect things, because all carry the Imago Dei equally, even if not perfectly.
These are the words of Richard Rohr, Franciscan priest and follower of Jesus. We affirm his words with Amen.
Alleluia: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker
https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk
Gospel: Luke 1:39-45
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.”
These are the words of the gospel writer we know as Luke. We affirm his words with Amen.
Homily and Shared Reflections
I love the image of Elizabeth and Mary; one older, the other quite young, both pregnant quite unexpectedly, greeting one another as Mary enters the home of Elizabeth and her husband. We hear how pleased and amazed Elizabeth is to see Mary. We hear her warm greeting, her wonderful blessing, and the pure joy with which she accepts the younger woman and the child in her womb into her home. We hear how Elizabeth recognizes the Divinity in that child, and we hear her report that her own baby leaped for joy in her own womb at the recognition of that Divinity.
I wonder what Mary’s returned greeting to Elizabeth might have been. Did she respond with a similar blessing? Did she recognize the Divinity in Elizabeth’s child? We don’t know, the story doesn’t give us those details. But in my own mind, and in the way I like to imagine the story playing out, Mary responds with her own recognition of Divine Grace in Elizabeth’s womb in equal measure. The women embrace, amazed at the miracle of carrying the Beloved, the Creator, the Holy One, within their bodies.
Because isn’t every life blessed with the Divine Presence? Isn’t every person we meet carrying that same Image of God within themselves? In the incarnational worldview that Richard Rohr describes the answer is YES! When the world is viewed in this way, every human, every creature, every element is part and parcel of Divinity. We would not be wrong to greet it all with open arms, bless it heartily, and let it into our lives. This is the beauty of incarnation. May we rejoice and be glad in it.
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
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…..”
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
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, Holy by Karen Drucker
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.
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.
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)
Please receive communion with the words, The Divine is in All.
Communion Meditation/Song: Namaste by Mark Hayes
https://youtu.be/Hxf8QFTkYY8
Prayer after communion:
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 1: 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 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: Ave Maria by Franz Schubert
https://youtu.be/dRzI8y-EJJ0?si=lt-3F--XugFoeTrQ
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