phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Julie Welcome! Welcome to you all! We are so happy to have you join us this afternoon as we contemplate how we bring each other back to life.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, you show us how to love and for care for each other, in this life and the next. May we live your love always. AMEN.
Opening Song: All Are Welcome by Marty Haugen
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING: A Reading from the First Book of Kings 17:17-24
A Gentile widow from Zarephath in Sidonia extended hospitality to Elijah, a traveling prophet, opening her home to him. Not long after Elijah came to stay with the widow, her
only child became ill. The sickness grew more severe until the boy stopped breathing. The widow cried out to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, prophet of God? Did you come to remind me of my lot in life and kill my only child?”
“Give me your son,” Elijah said. He took her child from her arms and carried the boy to the upper room where he was staying. He laid the child on the bed. Then he cried out: “O
God, will you afflict even the woman with whom I am staying by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and called out to God, “I pray, O God, my
God, let the breath of life return to this boy.”
God listened to Elijah’s plea. The breath of life returned to the small body, and the widow’s son revived. Elijah lifted up the boy and carried him down to his mother, saying, “Look, your child lives!”
The widow, overcome, said to Elijah, “Now I know for certain that you are a sent from God and that the word of God is truly on your lips.”
These are the inspired words of an Ancient Storyteller and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
SECOND READING: A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles 9:36-42
In Joppa, there was a disciple, a woman named Tabitha, which in Greek is “Dorcas”. She never tired of doing kind things or helping those who were poor. About the time when some other disciples of Jesus were passing through, she grew ill and died. Some women washed her and laid her in an upstairs room.
Lydda was near Joppa, so the disciples, who heard that Peter was in Lydda, sent two couriers to him with the request, “Please come at once.” So Peter got up and went.
When he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. All the townswomen who had been widowed were there, weeping. They showed Peter tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made. Turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, rise up.” Tabitha opened her eyes, looked around, and sat up. She was helped to her feet. Then Peter called for all the saints, especially the widows, and showed them that she was alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe.
These are the inspired words of an Early Church Historian and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
GOSPEL: A Reading from the Good News attributed to Luke
7:11-17 + 8:41-42c, 51-55a
Jesus went to a town called Nain. The disciples and a large crowd accompanied him there. As Jesus approached the entrance to the town, a body was being carried out on a bier— the only child, a son, of a widow. A considerable crowd of
townspeople were with her.
Moved with compassion upon seeing her, Jesus said, “Don’t grieve. Don’t mourn.” Jesus stepped forward and touched the bier. At this, the bearers halted. Jesus said, “Young man, get up.” The youth sat up and began to speak.
Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Awe seized them all. They began to praise God: “A great prophet has risen among us!” they said. “Truly, God has visited us.”
This report about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
…
When Jesus returned from having sailed to a town opposite Galilee, the crowd welcomed him, for they had been waiting for him. A man named Jairus, an official of the synagogue, came forward. Falling at Jesus’ feet, he begged him to come to his house. Jairus’ only child, his daughter who was about twelve years old, was dying…
When Jesus arrived at the house he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother. All were weeping and mourning for her. Jesus said to the mourners, “Do not weep any longer, for she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed him, because they knew that she was dead. But Jesus took the child by the hand and called to her: “Child, arise!” Her breath returned and, immediately, she
arose.
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Luke and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Shared Homily Julie:
Today we depart from the traditional gospel for the second Sunday of Lent, the story of the transfiguration. Instead, we have a trio of readings about people, humans, bringing other people, other humans, back to life. Sometimes I forget that Jesus wasn’t the only one doing it. He didn’t even start it as we see in the first reading when Elijah brings the child of a Gentile woman back to life. In our second reading, Peter brought Tabitha/Dorcas (such Salem witch trial names!) back. And finally, in our gospel, Jesus brought two people, neither of them the notorious Lazarus, back. One was a widow’s son, and, on the opposite end of the social stratum, the other was the daughter of a synagogue official.
The tradition continues today and I’m not talking just about medical interventions. Think about all the times we or someone we love slid into depression or despair. Think about the love and care that refreshed their spirit and brought them back to the land of the living. Humans helping other humans. Always.
“The raising of the dead is a sign of spiritual connection between the prophets of old, the prophet Jesus, and the prophetic ministry of Jesus' disciples,” which includes us. And these readings are “fitting for Lent as we move through the acknowledgement of our own mortality toward Jesus’ death and resurrection.” What I especially love is how inclusive these stories are. The son of a Gentile woman. A woman who helped the poor. A widow’s son. An official’s daughter. All are loved. All are valued. All are welcome.
So, my friends, what did you hear? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you? Please unmute and share your thoughts and insights on today’s readings.
Note: Text in quotes is from the commentary of the Comprehensive Catholic Lectionary.
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
Julie: As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our prayers for the community. Please share your blessings, cares, and concerns starting with the words, “I bring to the table…”
We pray for these and all the unspoken intentions held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
(Written by Jay Murnane)
Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of all creation. Through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We give thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.
We open our awareness to the goodness of all of creation and we remember our responsibility to serve. You invite us to build the earth into a community of love rooted in justice. You placed confidence in us, for you made us and you know that we are good.
In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all the faithful servants who have gone before us and we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here In This Place by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, and revealing us as one with you and all of creation.
He lived among us to show us who we are and challenged us to know you. He taught us the strength of compassionate love.
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 died, Jesus gathered for supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet, so that they would remember him.
(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, go share my love with the world.
(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)
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.
You are called, consecrated, and chosen to serve. Please receive Communion with the words: I arise today.
Communion Song: Deer’s Cry by Lee Harris
Prayer after communion:
Julie: Holy One, we are willing to do everything Jesus did, to re-create the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates hope, of a light that illumines people and confronts the darkness of every injustice and inequity.
We trust you to continue to share with us your own spirit, the spirit that animated Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, all honor and glory are yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. 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
Julie: Let us raise our hands in blessing and pray together:
May we bring each other to life every day. May we, like Jesus, be a shining light in the world. AMEN
Closing Song: Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
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