phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome, as we continue our celebration of Easter. Let us recognize the presence of our brother Jesus in this gathering. And let us celebrate.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, open our minds and hearts to your truth. Allow us to hear you, to see you, to live in your Divine Love, just as our brother Jesus did. And as we strive to live as he did, help us to become more and more the people you created us to be. Amen.
Opening Song: Now the Green Blade Rises, by Stephanie Seefeldt https://youtu.be/pYINjdHC2SQ
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Acts 4:13-21
Observing the boldness of Peter and John
and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men,
the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed,
and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.
Then when they saw the man who had been cured standing there with them,
they could say nothing in reply.
So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin,
and conferred with one another, saying,
“What are we to do with these men?
Everyone living in Jerusalem knows that a remarkable sign
was done through them, and we cannot deny it.
But so that it may not be spread any further among the people,
let us give them a stern warning
never again to speak to anyone in this name.”
So they called them back
and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John, however, said to them in reply,
“Whether it is right in the sight of God
for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges.
It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
After threatening them further,
they released them,
finding no way to punish them,
on account of the people who were all praising God
for what had happened.
This is an ancient account of the early followers of Jesus, told to us by the author we know as Luke. We respond by saying, Amen.
Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker
Gospel: Mark 16:9-15
When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had driven seven demons.
She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that he was alive
and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
After this he appeared in another form
to two of them walking along on their way to the country.
They returned and told the others;
but they did not believe them either.
But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them
and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had been raised.
He said to them, “Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
This account of the resurrection of Jesus is passed down from the ancient writer we know as Mark. We respond with, Amen.
Homily Starter:
We know that death changes lots of things. We have all experienced the changes it brings to our lives and the lives of others. But we learn from the experience of Jesus and his friends that death does not, after all, change everything. It does not change the fundamental truth that lives in the core of a person. That truth, the personhood uniquely created and beloved by God, continues to live in some way. We see this in the resurrection experience. It is this profound truth that we explore tonight.
There are many ways to die. One day, sooner or later, we will, each of us, experience bodily death. But before then, at some time during our lives, we all experience profound changes; changes that are so life-altering that we might compare them to a death. I can share one such experience.
When I was in my early forties, I initiated divorce proceedings. For almost 20 years I had been a wife. I was the mother of two young teens. I worked at a job I loved, but from which I earned very little money. I had friends, and my husband and I had friendships with other couples. I was active in my parish, and many of my friendships were rooted there.
And then, the divorce. Suddenly a single parent, I was forced to find a better paying job. Some of my friends didn’t seem to recognize me. One friend from church turned away weeping when I told her about the divorce. I lost touch with our couple friends. I walked the earth as the same person but unrecognizable to many people, including myself.
And yet, as time passed, and as life carried me farther into this new territory, I began to recognize myself more and more. I realized that although the waters I navigated, and even the boat I traveled in may have changed, the person working the paddle was the same. I was still me. At my core I had not changed.
Is it so surprising then, that when Mary Magdalene and the other two disciples reported seeing Jesus in different forms, they were met with disbelief? Life changes us in some ways. It seems that death changes us even more. And yet…
Soon after, these same disbelieving disciples were healing people and invoking the name of Jesus. Not their dead friend, but the person at the core, the one who even after suffering and dying, was in some way with them, paddling his boat before them, navigating them through the waters of change.
What did you hear in tonight’s readings? Please share your thoughts.
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 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.
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. 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 by Karen Drucker
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 re-member him.
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)
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.
Please receive Communion with the words, I honor the Divine within you.
Communion Meditation/Song: May the Christ Light Shine in You by Kathy Sherman https://youtu.be/tY0Rj9Yd2lk
Prayer after communion:
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 is 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
Please raise your hands in Blessing:
May our lives reflect the Holy One. May we continue to recognize the Divine in ourselves and in one another. Amen.
Closing Song: Arise by Three Altos
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