phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Bless and Be Blessed
Welcome: Welcome to you all! I’m so happy to be here with you all today as we bless each other and ourselves.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, we gather together this afternoon to be in communion, in community, with each other and with you. Please help us to set aside the busy and concerns of our day and to settle and find peace in you. AMEN.
Opening Song: Quiet Place by the Many – video by MT Streck
https://youtu.be/hcq385i1kHE
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
Tuesday was the feast day of the late Bishop Barbara Harris. She was a gay, Black woman, the first woman bishop in the Anglican communion. Here are her words:
My friends, we search for many things in this world. We thirst after money, power, prestige, position; we may even pray for them. But like our Lord, we are at a crossroads in the church and in society. We still have a choice, and Jesus is asking us, “Do we have a thirst for the kingdom?” Are we content to settle for the temporary thirst quenchers of life, things that will never slake the thirst of our parched, dry souls? Or do we thirst for righteousness, for peace, for justice, for the liberation of all God’s people? Do we have a thirst to merge as truly faithful Christians, to be more than we are? Each of us must answer for himself or herself. Jesus is patiently waiting for our answer.
A question for us in the face of hostility and hatred is, Do we ever astonish anyone with our witness? Or is our witness bland and tepid? Do we ever by risky, sacrificial, costly relationship with Jesus astonish anybody? Would that we might!
God does not always–or even usually–call us because we are finished products or perfect instruments for his service. God calls us, then remolds, equips, and empowers us for his service. Not only do we have this treasure in earthen vessels (as St. Paul reminds us), but when the vessel becomes cracked or marred, God like a potter, does not cast it away. God reshapes us into a new vessel.
These are the inspired words of the Bishop Barbara Harris and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM from Proverbs 8:32-33, 34, 35-36
The psalm response is: Blessed are all who seek Wisdom.
R: Blessed are all who seek Wisdom.
And so, my people, hear Me well.
Happy are you when you keep My ways!
Take My instruction seriously and grow wise.
Don’t neglect My lessons.
R: Blessed are all who seek Wisdom.
Happy are you who listen to Me,
watching daily at My gates
waiting beside My door.
R: Blessed are all who seek Wisdom.
All who find Me, find Life,
and receive My loving blessing.
All who lose Me, lose their souls.
All who hate Me, love death.
R: Blessed are all who seek Wisdom.
SECOND READING
A Reading from the First Letter of Peter 4:12-17
Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if it were unexpected. Rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Jesus, so that when the glory of the Christ is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly. If you are insulted as a follower of Christ, blessed are you. God’s spirit, in Her glory, will rest upon you.
See to it, however, that none of you suffers for being a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a destroyer of another’s rights; but whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the name of Jesus. It is a time for judgment. We, indeed all believers, are accountable to the good news of God.
These are the inspired words of an Early Church Pastor and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Alleluia: More Light by Christopher Gundy video by MT Streck
https://youtu.be/a8XaUlqb8t0
GOSPEL
The Good News Attributed to Luke 6:17-26
Coming down the mountain, Jesus stopped in a level area where there was a great number of disciples. A large crowd of people was with them from Jerusalem and all over Judea, to as far north as the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. People had come to hear Jesus and be healed of their diseases, and even to be freed from unclean spirits. Indeed, the whole crowd was trying to touch Jesus, because healing power was coming out of him and healing them all.
Looking at the disciples, Jesus said:
“You who are poor are blessed, for the reign of God is yours.
You who hunger now are blessed, for you will be filled.
You who weep now are blessed, for you will laugh.
You are blessed when people hate you, when they scorn and insult you and spurn your name as evil because of the Chosen One.
On the day they do so, Rejoice! Be glad!
Your reward in heaven will be great and everlasting, for your ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full now.
Woe to you who are full now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will weep and grieve.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for your ancestors treated the false prophets in the same way.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Luke and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter—Julie: I wrote a nice homily starter for today’s liturgy. It connected the gospel to current events and even had a clever line or two. But then I reread the gospel, sighed, and deleted it. Back to the drawing board. All because of this line, “Looking at the disciples, Jesus said.” More specifically, “Looking at the disciples.” Those four words pulled me up short. Why, with that “large crowd” there, did Jesus address the Beatitudes to the disciples, the people who were with him every day?
I think it’s because he was desperately trying to get through to them. While they were inspired to follow him, the disciples didn’t always understand what Jesus was trying to teach them. That’s no knock on them. Jesus was operating on a whole different plane than they were. His ideas were so radical as to be almost incomprehensible. And even when they did understand him, they had trouble living his teachings. I get it. Two thousand years later, it’s still a challenge.
Let’s take this idea of the poor and hungry being blessed. Jesus is the only one in the Bible saying such things. And he said them while looking at the disciples. I think he was trying to get the disciples to understand that they had the power to eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, hunger and poverty. They did too, for a while, after the death of Jesus when they were living communally and pooling all their resources. Jesus didn’t ask anyone to give more than they could spare, only to share with those who had so much less, to comfort those who were grieving, and to not be ashamed when they were mocked for living a different sort of life. I think Jesus was asking his disciples to, as our own Jeannie Albert recently reminded me, “live simply so others can simply live.”
Look, I’m not starting a commune. But I will ask you to imagine, just for a moment, looking Jesus in the eye as he said, “You who are poor are blessed.”
What did you hear? What will you do? What will it cost you? What would you like to share about today’s readings?
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
Julie: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this 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 concerns held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN
O Holy One, you have birthed us in goodness, gifted us with life and cherished us in love. In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells; a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth.
In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment, that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with all who sing the ancient hymn of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here In This Place – New
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk
Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power. We, your creatures, often deviate from that wisdom, thus hindering your creative presence in our midst.
Sending among us Jesus, our brother, you birth afresh in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the gift of Your Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew, amid the variety and wonder of life.
(Extend hands in blessing.)
We invoke Your Spirit upon the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, that they may become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world.
On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within 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 love one another.
(Lift the cup)
He then raised high 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.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives,
As we share communion, we will become communion
Both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
In faith and hope we are sustained; in grace and dignity reclaimed. In praise, we thank you.
Please receive communion with the words: I am blessed.
Communion Meditation: At This Table by Idina Menzel video by Denise
https://youtu.be/n9Xf4cHOcwQ
Prayer after communion: Let us pray. Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways. AMEN.
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 raise your hands as we bless each other with the words of Bishop Harris:
May you never forget that the power behind you is greater than the task ahead of you. AMEN.
Closing Song: Blessings by Hollow Coves (video, DHS)
https://youtu.be/5M3JL9sHS5Q
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