phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome everyone. Our scriptures tonight are on different ends of the continuum of spiritual readings. Let’s dig deep and see where we find connections.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, each week we gather to celebrate and experience your love in our sharing. Bless each of us with your strength as we navigate our chaotic paths in life. Amen.
Opening Song: “God Beyond all Names”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Htrmq0g_Nk
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A Reading from The Not-Yet God by Ilia Delio (adapted)
We humans are in transition but unsure of where we are going. We have built a world of extraordinary complexity, but it is world too large for our small brains to handle. Our religions arose in a different age and are no longer helpful in guiding us collectively on this earth journey in an expanding universe. Religious myths abound but they are tribal and conflicting and stifle the whole we desperately seek.
To pray is to acknowledge a deep current of love-energy within us, connecting and empowering us. Prayer can free the mind to explore the deeper God-self. God grounds our capacity for courage to face challenges, support one another, and risk doing new things. Where there is God, there is the invitation to create and act. Divine life is a high-flying adventure of the spirit.
The community affirms these words with Amen!
Alleluia: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker
Gospel: A reading from the Gospel of Luke
When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.
These are the words of a gospel writer known as Luke, and the community affirms them with AMEN!
Shared Homily
Just when we think we are done with the childhood stories of Jesus. Here comes one more. These gospels were written 70-100 years after Jesus lived. All the childhood stories of Jesus were told with a very specific purpose in mind. The writers’ believed Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one and they each wrote scriptures to prove their belief. The perfect example is the Messiah must come from Bethlehem. Jesus and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem to fulfill the scripture prophesy. Todays’ gospel is another example. We know Jesus was Jewish and all Jewish boys were presented at temple. The gospel writer had Simeon waiting in the temple to hold this child in his arms and declare that Jesus, would be the light of the revelation to the gentiles. Mary and Joseph are in awe of what is said about him. The last childhood thing we are told about Jesus is that he grew in wisdom and experienced the Prescence of God. The stage is set for us to know and believe Jesus is the One.
Illia Delio tells us we can become confused when we try to hang on to the old myths understanding, while at the same time we explore a new progressive theology. Every time we dig into the meaning of a gospel passage, we find inconsistencies. We share our thoughts and experiences and discover new meaning with more questions than answers. Isn’t that wonderful? We no longer sit, listen, and are told what to believe.
Our prayer lives have changed. We no longer just recite and repeat prayers. When we pray, we stand in solidarity with others. We hold each other as God is with us and holds us. We go deeper and experience God within, around, and among us. Whether we are reading the Hebrew Scriptures, or Christian Scriptures, or any other spiritual reading, we have a responsibility to study, pray, and share our experiences with others. We are growing, evolving and learning to love compassionately. We understand and experience the Holy One in others and all of creation.
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
As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to the table our prayers and intentions:
We pray for these and all unspoken prayers of our hearts. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
With open hands and hearts let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:
All: O Holy One you have sent prophets and messengers to show us the way-Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Moses and Jesus, Buddha and Mohammad, Hildegard and Teresa, Oscar and Dorothy, and all of us here and now who celebrate this liturgy today.
Everything we do, we do together with You. We cannot be without You. We cannot be without each other. You are made visible in this world with our acts of love and kindness. With grateful hearts we raise our voices and sing:
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk?si=xuoboLnFRpRWYWU2
All: Holy One, slowly this world is moving toward oneness. Your pattern of Love is in everything and there are messages of Love in every pattern. Help us to stand with each other in love and suffering. The pain of one, is the pain of all. May we co-create with You and restore balance and harmony in our world.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful 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 died Jesus did more than ask us to remember him. He showed us how to live when he washed the feet of his friends.
lift the bread
All: At the table, he took the Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat of the Bread of Life
Given to strengthen you
Whenever you remember me like this
Go and share your love with one another. (pause)
lift the cup
ALL: Jesus then raised a cup of blessing, spoke the grace 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.
We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. Please receive this bread with the words: God and I are one.
Communion Song: I Am the One – Janis Ian, video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
ALL: Holy One we know you as the voice of kindness within us and the constant hope that lives in our hearts. 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
now and forever. Amen.
Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
Adapted from Miriam Therese Winter
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 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.
All: Loving Source of our being, we are called to live the gospel of peace and love. This is our faith, to embrace life, to increase love, to have courage to be and walk into the mystery of your presence.
Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
May you know you are one with all creation, and our God is not a noun but a verb to be lived. Love intentionally, love extravagantly, love unconditionally. Our world waits in the darkness for the light that is you. Amen.
Closing Song: Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
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