Moment of Oneness, September 24, 2025 - Prepared by Deven Horne

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507551772
Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: +1 646 558 8656

Stay Still, Listen

Opening Prayer – Shhh, Be still. Shhh very still. Don’t try, just be. What do you feel in your body? Ahhh tension… let it go. Relax your neck and shoulders, let them go. Breath deep long breaths and let them go. Be still, listen.

Opening Song: Be Still and Listen by Shawna Carol

https://youtu.be/FC9JX2l-Enk?si=GGFz6NBeVebC5LvR 

First Reading - Lost by David Wagoner

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

Second Reading – Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Siddhartha listened. He was now listening intently,

completely absorbed, quite empty, taking in everything.

He felt that he had now completely learned the art of listening.

He had often heard all this before, all the numerous voices in the river, 

but today they sounded different. He could

no longer distinguish the different voices…

They all belonged to each other: the lament of those that yearn,

the laughter of the wise, the cry of indignation and the groan

of the dying.

Affirmations and Intentions: 

May we hone the skill of patience to be still and listen.

May we speak with the wisdom of the One who breathes in us.

May we hear revelations that evoke tears in our hearts.

May we be inspired by seeing how the Divine moves in another and all things.

May we wait patiently while deep healing takes place.

May we experience gratefulness when we awaken.

Silence to add your own intentions.

Closing Prayer: Listener of our Deepest Self, the ear of your heart Is forever to us. We call and you respond. We turn and you embrace. We look and you gaze. We search and you lead. We lose and you find. We wander and you return us home. Grant us the grace to be a reflection of your presence.

Closing Song – Awake my Soul – Mumford & Sons (ft. Jon Baptiste)

https://youtu.be/PjM6Jbd__Qc?si=wkdcJk6FVNsiMQtI 

Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community Sunday Liturgy, September 21, 2025 Presiders: Lynn Kinlan and Terri Kersch in person Suzanne De Froy and Phillis Sheppard on zoom

 

Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via Zoom

Here is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 

phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

Presider 1: Welcome/theme: Good morning and welcome. Central to our celebration of the Season of Creation is the idea of heaven in the here and now; earth as a holy paradise. Today, we follow the trail of two theologians to find early Christian artwork that makes obvious how Creation was a central focus of early Christian faith. Our gospel affirms in the words of Jesus, that nature is not just a pretty setting, not merely a sustaining feature of life, but a living, sacred offering of Divine peace inviting our co-creation and satisfying our thirst for all that is holy.

Presider 2: Opening Prayer:  Holy One, we are grateful for all of creation. We ask that you help each one of us radiate your peaceful and living presence. May we celebrate in the here and now the healing power of Creation. Help us to honor in all ways, the Eden in which we live. Amen.

Opening Song: Come to the Water by John Foley

https://youtu.be/QkoxkhwXjho?si=bMktxg5wF-fMjrUT

 

                                        LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: An excerpt from the Prologue to Saving Paradise

Reader 1:     We are accustomed to images of a Christ who died for the salvation of our sins as the core of our faith. Yet, when we went looking for the earliest Christian art in the catacombs beneath Rome, expecting images of the suffering and crucified Jesus, we found none. Then we set out for Istanbul and Turkey to investigate crumbling remains of ninth to eleventh century monastery churches and from there we returned to Italy to find the mosaics in churches dating to the fifth and sixth century.

 

Nowhere in the oldest artwork did we find the crucifixion of Jesus that we are so accustomed to above our modern Western altars. There were images of Christ as teacher, healer of the sick, the one baptized in the Jordan river, but not one image of his martyred body given up for the world.

 

Reader 2:     Our next pilgrimage was to the church of St. Giovanni in Rome which contains some of the original artwork from the 4^th to 6^th centuries. First, we saw the altar located far short of where it ought to be; not at the furthest point from the first pews but where the nave and transept intersect; and over this altar was a three paneled painting of the crucifixion. We had to go behind this modern altar to find the original semicircle apse and altar space where it had been located for centuries. It was closed off with red velvet ropes. That didn’t stop us.

         

We jumped the ropes to see closely the original altar artwork. A dignified bust of Jesus was surrounded by winged seraphim and doves, water flowing from their beaks into the four rivers mentioned in Genesis. Deer and sheep grazed around a scene of John baptizing Jesus in the water. A small golden city nestled, protected by the rivers and surrounded by palm trees and peacocks. Nearby stood a lush meadow of flowers dotted with birds and pools of water where pairs of swans swam idly by.

         

We stood silently staring at this no longer seen artwork and it came to us; we stood in paradise. We were back in the garden of Eden.

 

Reader 3: We have since found more early church interiors with sanctuaries depicting cosmos stars in midnight skies, sparkling waters teeming with fish and verdant meadows filled with flowers and fruit trees.  Paradise was the dominant image of early Christian worship, not as afterlife but as of this world on earth in our time—sparkling mosaics showed experiences of life in a world created with us and for us as good and delightful. Images of the crucified Jesus do not appear in churches until the tenth century.

 

Nearly everything we had previously understood about Christian theology and ritual began to shift…

         

These are the words of theologians Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker and we acknowledge them with Amen.

 

Alleluia Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker

https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk

 

Gospel Reading:    John: 4: 13-14

          Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman: “If only you recognized God’s gift, and who it is that is asking for a drink, you would have asked for a drink instead, and he would have given you living water. Everyone who drinks water from this well will be thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give them will never be thirsty; no, the water I give will become fountains within them, springing up to provide eternal life.

These are the words of the gospel author known as John and we acknowledge them with Amen.

                                                            Pause

Shared Homily and Reflections:

Presider 1: Today, we look back to the pre-empire early Christians to find the roots of our love for the earth and creation. It isn’t hard to imagine the first thousand years of Christians enjoying scenes of Jesus and the apostles in a pastoral landscape as they worship. After all, they lived in a largely agrarian society, close to the land, in unspoiled awe. For them, the whole year might have been the season of Creation.

         

The mystery that is harder to imagine is how Eden-like artwork above church altars was ultimately replaced by Jesus’ suffering on the cross. Like archeologists, Brock and Parker travelled from Italy to Turkey and back to piece together how artwork reflects theology.

         

The oldest crucifix art dates to 975 in the areas of conquest by

Charlemagne. Brock and Purdy believe the violence of the times - the carnage of war - displaced the love of nature. We do know that by 1095, crusaders were promised a place in Paradise after death when they joined the holy pilgrimages to slay Muslims and Jews. Brock and Parker identify a “piety of suffering” that honored the hardship of this world in exchange for eternal life in heaven. Thus, heaven was postponed.

         

Theories of purgatory and atonement were developed at this time with the effect of making even wider the distance between earth and heaven. Reaching heaven required sacrifice as well as the mercy and grace of God. Jesus would eventually be seen to ransom us from sin through crucifixion and death. Visuals of Jesus as healer and teacher in a landscape of beauty were replaced by Jesus on the cross, suffering for us. Gratitude and reverence for the God of creation took second place to a God of salvation, deserving of obedience and penance.

         

We of the Upper Room and many other Christians are reclaiming the beauty of Creation and the gratitude to God in the here and now. We insist on the theology of the early church and not the violent, dark vision of the medieval church. We reclaim Jesus as so much more than martyr; we reclaim this life of ours as more than hardship and our earth as more valuable than an environment to be plundered for power and riches.

 

Terri: I love the beautiful image of the Church of St. Giovanni in Rome in the first reading. The view beyond the altar depicts what I imagine the Garden of Eden to look like. As I look beyond the altars of the traditional Churches of my early life, I do not see that wondrous view of Creation.

         

And then the well-known story of the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well. I at first thought literally of the thirsty soil of this summer. I think about how many around the world are thirsty. Digging deeper I wonder what, other than water, am I/are we thirsty for? Peace, justice, integrity, healing, belonging, joy?

         

When Jesus says, ‘If only you recognized God’s gift…you would have asked for a drink, and he would have given you living water.”, Jesus is offering more than satisfaction of physical need. In gifting us the living water, is the Holy One telling us that we may just be living fountains? If, in the immense love of the Creator, we are, as part of creation, instilled with living water, that changes everything.

         

As fountains of living water, we have the ability and perhaps the obligation to share that gift with all of creation. If we are infused with the living water, we have the power to quench the world’s thirst. If we are fountains of living water, we have the extraordinary gift and the responsibility to honor and grow the Garden of Eden, here and now, in this room, in our homes, our communities and our earth. May it be so!

 

Please share your thoughts. What living water are you thirsty for?

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 and Intentions of the Community:

Presider 2: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this friendship 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 blessings, cares, and concerns held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN

                                       

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Presider 2: Let us raise our hands in prayer with open hearts:

All: We are amazed at our universe and our planet Earth which sustains our lives in glorious beauty. We are blessed by the lights of the heavens, the sun, moon and stars; we are blessed by knowing ours is but one galaxy among many. The very size of creation suggests to us the immense love of the Creator. We are blessed also by darkness in the evenings which eases us into contemplation and rootedness and the healing balm of sleep.

We are blessed by oceans with exotic looking marine life, raucous waves and the cliffs and shores which envelop them. Streams and rivers, snow, sleet and rain complete the blessing of water that sustains us, calms us and gives us playgrounds in which to frolic.

Forests and mountains are a further blessing of solitude and summit, of cooling shade and distant horizons. The silence they offer is a sacred reminder to stay in the quiet beauty of each blessed moment in time.

Plant life, both decorative and life sustaining are our living companions, sharing in the sun, wind and rain. Animal life in all its extravagant variety shares with us the glory of creation. They deserve our vigilant protection and loving care in this earth garden gifted to all forms of life.

Humbled and grateful for the many blessings of Creation, we sing for joy…

Holy, Holy, Holy: by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk

When heartbreak or despair make us hard-hearted, when the world’s pain seems unreconciled, our appreciation of Creation can dwindle or lapse. The urgency of reversing climate change is not always a priority; valuing Creation is sometimes an afterthought.

May our recognition of Earth as Eden fill us with gratitude. May the grace of the Divine, and the healing of Jesus fill us with wholeness and wisdom enough to save ourselves and the world.

Presider 2: Please extend your hands in blessing.

We are grateful for the bread and wine that call us to be renewed with the love of the Holy One. Divinity lives and breathes in every plant, land and sea animal and all people across Earth.

We are grateful for this bread and wine which join us with Jesus and the Last Supper companions. Together through history people of good intention stand with the broken and wounded of the world as Jesus did. As we value the garden of Earth, we acknowledge that climate change most severely impacts the impoverished and marginalized peoples of the world.

On the night before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his companions. He reminded them of all they had learned together in years of nomadic ministry. To underscore the importance of humble service, he bent down and washed their feet.

Returning to the table, he lifted the bread, spoke a blessing, broke the bread and offered it to all present saying,

                    Take and eat, go and share my love with

                            all whose lives you touch.

 

Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke a blessing and offered it to all present saying,

                  Take and drink of the covenant. Whenever you

                   remember me like this, I am among you.

 

Presider 2: Please receive the bread with the phrase, You are the living water. (For those in the room – If you wish to, please come to the friendship table to share the cup)

Communion Song: Flowers of the Forest by Mike Oldfield

https://youtu.be/gC-vTJUzft0?si=wj4pqoH8zziG4DC7  

 

Prayer after communion:

Bread and wine are transformed by your Spirit and we are transformed as we open our hears to Your Spirit. What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives; as we share communion, we become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.

 

Jesus prayer for the Season of Creation:

All: Generous Creator, the intricate and elegant biodiversity of our world is your hallowed autograph on our lives, our souls and our hearts.

We yearn for the wholeness of being inharmony with Your will and with all living things. Each day, we draw on your life-giving energy with awe when we find nourishment in seed and field, river and forest.

We acknowledge our shortcomings, especially our feelings of powerlessness in the face of climate change, and injustice. We seek to be reconciled with those we have hurt and we resolve to do better.

With your unfailing wisdom and the wind of your Spirit, inspire us to reach out and love one another and care for the world, our home. Strengthen us to work for local and global justice.

May we one day reap a harvest of equality and fairness as if they were wildflowers, propagating spontaneously, unerringly and in surprising abundance. Amen

                                                                                                    Lynn Kinlan

 

BLESSING

          All: May we drink of the living water promised by Jesus.

          May it nudge us to respect the earth and all the animals and

           plants that are our companions here.

          May we be agents of environmental justice that brings peace to all peoples.

          May we act as though the future depends on it. Because it does. Amen.

 

Closing Song: Woodstock Lyrics for Back to the Garden by Crosby, Stills and Nash

https://youtu.be/g25DlXOWmMo?si=yYU7m4gF63yTU_b0

 

Sources:

Brock, Rita Nakashima and Rebecca Ann Parker. Saving Grace. Beacon Press, 2008.

 

Rita Nakashima Brock (born April 1950 in Fukuoka, Japan) is an American feminist scholar, Protestant theologian, activist, and non-profit organization leader. She is an independent scholar and a Commissioned Minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).Brock has authored one book, co-authored four books, co-edited five books, and published many essays primarily on moral injury, theology and culture, feminist theology, sexuality and religion.

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker received a bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound in 1975, a Doctorate of Ministry from Claremont School of Theology in 1979, and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Northwest Theological Union.^[She was ordained a United Methodist minister in 1992 and holds dual fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association.

 

Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community Moment of Oneness September 17, 2025 Prepared by Kathie Ryan

 

Living Fearlessly!

 

Opening Prayer: Holy One we are filled with gratefulness and yet also filled with anxiety and fears for our world.  May we be aware of your presence and release our anxiety and fear into you loving hands.  Amen

  

A reading from the Prophet Isaiah (41:10)

Fear not, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you, and I will uphold you with my strong right hand.

 

 A Reading from Robert Nicastro-Center for Christogenesis

In a world facing ecological collapse, technology unmoored from wisdom, and a deepening crisis of meaning, fear has become the undertow of modern consciousness. Drawing from the urgency of the biblical prophets, who dared to speak hope into history’s darkest hours, we must reframe fear not as an adversary, but as a crucible of transformation. Fear is not darkness to escape, but a threshold of possibility; a charged space where divine longing stirs human courage and the future leans in, inviting response. To live fearlessly is not to reject vulnerability, but to embrace it as the birthplace of deeper trust in the unfolding of love at the heart of the cosmos. In the spirit of the prophets, and the evolutionary rhythm of life itself, fear becomes the spark that calls us to risk more boldly, rise more fully, and become more wholly ourselves.

 

(Kathie:  The Holy One is as close as our next breath.  Breathe deeply and let go of our fears and anxiety.)

 

Please take a moment in the silence. 

 

Leaning In: A Prayer of Intention by Christopher Grundy

 

https://youtu.be/rot5M9Kirhc

 

Let us bring to our gathering tonight all those we wish to remember in prayer. 

Closing:  As we prepare for the end of our evening, let us hold each other and our world in prayer and remember how blessed we all are!  Amen.

Song: “It's a Wonderful World.”

 

https://youtu.be/ddLd0QRf7Vg

Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community Saturday Liturgy, September 13, 2025 Season of Creation Our Inheritance, Presider: Julie Corron

 

Welcome: Welcome! I’m so glad to be here with you today as we continue our celebration of the Season of Creation.

 

Opening Prayer Let us pray. Holy One, as we celebrate this glorious Season of Creation, we are reminded of what we have inherited here on beautiful planet Earth and what we will leave behind for our children and their future. Let us feel your love and support as we care for all your creations. AMEN

 

Opening Song: Deep Peace, Sara Thomsen, Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner

https://youtu.be/5dIAcqaUUz4

 

LITURGY OF THE WORD

 

First Reading

A Reading from the Book of Numbers 27:1-7 

 

A claim was presented by the daughters of Zelophehad, who had belonged to the clan of Manasseh. Manasseh was the son of Joseph and his wife. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. The women stood before Moses, the priest Eleazar, the leaders, and the whole community, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They stated their case against a traditional practice: “Our father died in the desert. He was not among the company of Korah’s group, those who banded together against our God; but he died in the desert in the same way that many others of that generation died. He left no male heirs. Why should the name “Zelophehad” be taken away from our clan because he had no son? Give us our holding on the same property as our father’s brothers.” 

 

Moses took their case before God for a ruling. God said to Moses, “The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they say: You will indeed give them their property, their inheritance among their father’s brothers. See that their father’s heritage is passed on to the daughters."

 

These are the inspired words of an Ancient Chronicler and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.

 

Gospel Acclamation:  Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker, Video by MT Streck

https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk?si=LjKW18DK_ms_MYHw

 

Gospel

A Midrash on the Gospel attributed to Luke: 11-32 

 

Then Jesus told them this parable: “A widow had two daughters. Neither the widow nor her deceased husband had any male heirs in their families. Under an exception to the law crafted by Moses himself, the widow inherited her husband’s property. Because she had no sons, she knew that her daughters faced a blessing and a curse. She herself had discovered the freedom of self-determination and the accompanying responsibility of caring for wealth. 

 

The older daughter seemed to understand that marriage would deprive her of the freedom she had developed when her mother inherited her father’s estate; but the younger daughter wanted to marry outside her tribe and people. She needed her inheritance for her dowry. 

 

When her mother’s pleading failed to convince her that a better future lay in remaining on the estate, the mother gave her younger daughter monies sufficient for a generous dowry and took her to the clan of the man she wanted to marry. 

 

For a few years, the mother heard almost nothing of her younger daughter. Meanwhile, the daughter found herself subject to the whims of her husband. She had no opportunities to use the skills she had developed helping her mother run her father’s estate. True, she now had children of her own, but they were daughters. Her husband discounted them and treated her as if she were barren. Indeed, he had married a second wife who had born him a son. When she attempted to talk to him about her status, he struck her and demanded she be silent. She was a foreigner, unloved, unappreciated, ignored or physically abused. She hated her life, and she hated herself. She longed for her mother and her home. 

 

Considering her unhappy situation, she thought of her mother’s servants whom her mother treated better than her husband treated her. She thought, if I can leave, I will go to my mother and say: Mother, I have sinned against you and against heaven. I no longer deserve to be treated as your daughter, but I ask you to allow me to live with you and my sister as a servant. 

 

She traded an expensive ring for one of her husband’s servants to travel with her and take her and her daughters home. 

While she was yet a long way away, her mother caught sight of her, walking slowly on the dusty road with two little girls by her side. Her heart leaped within her as she imagined it was her daughter returning home. She walked quickly toward the tiny group of travelers. When she saw that truly it was her daughter returning home, she ran to her, embraced her and kissed her. She joyfully embraced her granddaughters. She was filled with compassion and forgiveness at their homecoming. 

 

The daughter told her mother the words she had planned to say, asking that she be welcomed as a servant into her mother’s home. Her mother, however, directed the servants, saying, ‘Quickly, bring my daughter and her daughters fine new robes, and new sandals for their feet. Give my daughter a ring. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this daughter of mine was dead, and has come to life again. She was lost and has been found. Indeed, she brings me the gift of two beautiful granddaughters I would never have known.’ 

 

Now the older daughter had been managing accounts inside the house when she heard the sound of servants rushing about preparing a feast. Musicians were gathering and preparing for a dance. She called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.

 

The servant said to her, ‘Your sister has returned! She has brought her young daughters with her, and your mother has slaughtered the fattened calf because she has come home and has brought her children with her!’ 

 

The older sister became angry. She refused to greet her younger sister, help prepare the feast, or even come out of her room. Her mother went to her and pleaded with her; but the older daughter shouted: ‘All these years I served you and not once did I disobey you; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. Then, this daughter of yours returns, who abandoned you and our estate, who swallowed up your property in a dowry to marry a foreigner, and you slaughter the fattened calf for her?’ 

 

The Mother said, ‘My beloved daughter, you are here with me always. Everything I have is yours. You have been my helper and my companion. You are the joy of my life. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your sister was dead and has come to life again. She was lost and has been found.’” 

 

This is an inspired retelling of a story by the anonymous storyteller we call Luke and the community affirms it by saying AMEN.

 

Shared Homily: Julie: Oh, my goodness. There is so much going on in today’s readings. We’ve got inheritance disputes, sibling rivalry, and children, lost and found, just as a start. We all want what we’re entitled to but who decides that? In the first reading, Moses had to take the case all the way to God! Is that because it was so complicated or because it was so inconceivable that women should inherit?

 

Today, we borrow from our Jewish siblings in our take on the gospel. Biblical narratives that are retold in new ways are called "midrash". Rabbis often used midrash in their interpretation of the Hebrew Bible texts. The midrash of the gospel story of the prodigal son gives another angle on the story, one that includes immigrants, the rights of women, domestic violence, and inheritances. Here the older daughter is hurt and angry when she perceives her mother’s compassion and forgiveness of the younger daughter as a slight to her own years of devotion to the family. True confession: for many years, I identified with that older sister. That was back in my “good girl” era. It was a turning point for me when it finally sank in that we’re all lost. We’ve all lost our way at some point. We all need forgiveness. Oof. What a bitter pill it is to realize that we’re not perfect, that we’re not better than our pesky relatives or anyone else.

 

Not only that but we all need to forgive. We need to forgive ourselves and forgive each other—not instantly, and certainly not automatically, but in a meaningful way and in our own time. When forgiveness is tough, and it can be very, very tough, we can look to the Holy One for inspiration. After all, we’re not perfect, not in forgiveness or in any other aspect of our lives.

 

We need to take care too. We need to take care of ourselves and all creatures on this beautiful planet that we have inherited. How do we best do that today so that earth flourishes tomorrow?

 

What did you hear today? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you?

 

Statement of Faith:

All: 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 and Intentions, Blessings and Concerns

As we prepare for the sacred meal, we are alert to the wonders and dangers within our task of stewardship of Creation. We bring our gratitude, blessings and concerns to the friendship table. Please begin your prayer with “I bring to the table. …”

 

We pray for these and all the unspoken concerns held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN.

 

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

 

Let us pray the Eucharistic Prayer of Compassion for the Earth with one voice and open hearts,

 

All: Holy One, we are amazed at the universe and this planet Earth and we respond with gratitude and compassion. We are blessed by the lights of the heavens, the sun and moon, comets and stars; we are blessed by knowing ours is but one galaxy among many.

 

We are blessed by the darkness which keeps us from being blinded by the light and which eases us into contemplation and rootedness; likewise, we are blessed by light which awakens our souls to the glory of creation.

 

We are blessed by oceans and the cliffs and shores which envelop them, by streams and rivers, by snow and sleet and rain. The mountains are our blessing of solitude and summit where we can feel the softest wind, see the furthest horizon and expand our imagination and vision.

 

We are blessed by the children whose easy smiles and open arms teach us enthusiasm and delight at living in the present. We are blessed by friends and strangers, by those who have gone before us and the friends we have yet to meet. These companions are the face of your love and compassion.

Plant and vegetation, whether beauties of the land or harvest for our survival are also our companions, sharing in the sun and wind and rain. The biodiverse wealth of animal and marine life are our blessed companions, deserving also of our protection and care.

In celebration of Creation and all our blessings, we sing with joy:

 

Holy, Holy, Holy: Here In This Place – Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk

 

All: In times when the pain in our hearts breaks and the world’s pain seems unreconciled, our appreciation and awareness of Creation can dwindle or lapse. The urgency of addressing climate change is not always recognized; valuing creation and sustaining its life-giving properties is sometimes an afterthought.

 

May our recognition of Earth as our Eden fill us with gratitude. May the saving grace of the Spirit and of Jesus enhance the dialogue and sacrifice necessary to save ourselves and our world.

 

We celebrate the truth-tellers and the lovers of the environment, living and dead; Ansel Adams, the landscape photographer, John Audubon, the naturalist, Jane Goodall, the anthropologist, Greta Thunberg, and Erin Brockovich, climate activists and authors Henry David Thoreau and Rachel Carson. Like our brother Jesus, these visionaries were pioneers and prophets who sought to live fully and fearlessly the truth of their calling.

 

Julie: Please extend your hands in blessing.

 

All: We are grateful for the bread and wine that remind us that we are called to renew and to be renewed with the love of the Spirit of God who is in everything, every plant, animal and human everywhere. We thank you for Jesus, beacon of love and mercy, forgiveness and healing.

 

We are grateful for this bread and wine which remind us that we join Jesus in standing with the broken and wounded of the world who are most directly affected by climate change.

 

On the night before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his 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. 

 

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 share my love with one another.

 

lift the cup

 

Then he took the cup of the covenant, 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.

 

Bread and wine are transformed by your Spirit and we are transformed when we open ourselves to Your Spirit. Each time we share this bread with one another we choose to love others as you love us.

 

What we have heard with our ears, we will live in our lives; as we share communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.

 

Through Jesus we have learned how to live. Through Jesus, we have learned how to love. Through Jesus we have learned how to serve. AMEN

 

Please receive the bread and wine with the words, I am a spark of the Divine.

 

Communion Song: Come to the Water by John Foley, SJ, video by MTStreck

https://youtu.be/_FMuokL8tZc

 

Jesus Prayer for the Season of Creation

Let us pray, as Jesus taught us.

 

All: Generous Creator, the intricate and elegant biodiversity of our world is your hallowed autograph on our lives, our souls and our hearts. 

 

We yearn for the wholeness of being in harmony with Your will and with all living things. Each day we draw on your creative, life-giving energy with awe as we find nourishment in, seed and field, river and forest. 

 

We acknowledge our shortcomings, especially our feelings of being powerless in the face of climate change and injustice. We seek to be reconciled with those we have hurt and we resolve to do better.  

With your unfailing wisdom and the wind of Your Spirit, inspire us that we may reach out and love one another and care for the world, our home. Strengthen us to work for local and global justice. May we one day reap a harvest of equality and fairness as if they were wildflowers, propagating spontaneously, unerringly and in surprising abundance. AMEN.

                                        

Blessing

 

Please extend your hands as we bless each other

 

All: May we treat all of Creation as sacred. May we our lives show our respect for the earth we share with our sisters and brothers, with all creatures, around the globe. May we live as if the future depends on it. AMEN.

 

Closing Song: Canticle of the Sun by Marty Haugen

https://youtu.be/CfJ6WJPUff8