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
Praying the Way
Welcome: Welcome! I’m so glad you’ve joined us today as we come together to pray our liturgy together as a community of believers on the Way of Jesus.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, you created us and remind us of our essential goodness. Help us to continue to share that goodness with all of your creatures. Help us also to trust even when we don’t understand, even when we are disappointed. AMEN
Opening Song: Need A Favor by Jelly Roll
https://youtu.be/TbXEQOhU2xw?si=GJuZ0Dc4hD3wHFmi
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading
A Reading from the Letter to the Colossians 3:12-17
As God’s chosen people, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another. Forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against another; forgive as God forgave you. Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and challenge one another in wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs of the spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of Jesus the Christ, giving thanks to the Holy One, the Beloved.
These are the inspired words of a disciple of Paul and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips shortened
Gospel
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Luke 11:1-10,13
Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” Jesus responded, “When you pray, say:
‘Loving Creator
Your name be honored.
Your reign come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us into a time of trial.’ ”
Jesus continued, “Suppose one of you has a friend, whom you visit at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. A friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set on the table.’ Your friend answers from within, ‘Don't bother me. The door has already been locked. I, and my children, are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though your friend will not get up and give you anything you want just because you are friends, if you are persistent, your friend will get up and give you whatever you need.
“So, I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. For everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. If you, who are lacking and limited, know how to provide to others what is needed, how much more will the God of All give the Holy Spirit to those who ask!”
These are the inspired words of the gospel writer we call Luke, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN!
Homily Starter—Julie
We all know them. The folks we only hear from when they need something. It doesn’t make for a very satisfying relationship, does it? Not when your only role is to babysit or be the driver or the ATM. And yet that’s how so many of us started off thinking of God, as a sort of Santa Claus to solve all our problems. Fortunately for us, the Holy One is a little more gracious than us, well, me at least. I can’t picture eye rolling or sighing from the Holy One. And while our faith and understanding of prayer may have matured, we can still fall into the trap our opening song so poignantly describes, only asking God for favors. It doesn’t even have to be a life-or-death situation. I slipped into it myself a week ago when I was fervently praying to get out of jury duty. Sigh.
In our gospel today, Jesus shows us how to pray to our loving Holy One. It’s a prayer that shows both our vulnerability and our wonder. For me though, the real lesson that Jesus taught us was to make time for prayer. In the gospels, he repeatedly goes off either by himself or with a small group to pray silently. And then he listens to the Holy One’s response. It’s very hard to hear the response if we’re listing demands punctuated with a quick amen. It’s also hard to hear the response when it’s not what we want to hear. We know that not every prayer is answered. We may never know why either. It’s certainly not based on whether we’re “good enough.” Good people get disappointed too. Part of maturing in our faith is continuing to believe even when we don’t get what we want or even what we need.
Taking care of each other is what the first reading is about, living a life based on the teachings of Jesus. I wonder if it was as countercultural for them as it is for us. “[C]lothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. … Forgive one another.” The prayer of Jesus includes forgiveness too, emphasizing its importance. In some circles, these qualities are mocked. Maybe that’s the advantage of living in small communities of other believers—no one ridiculing your compassion or kindness. And yet even in this crazy world, even in the midst of our own challenges and disappointments, we do our best to be kind and generous, both with ourselves and with each other. We keep bringing light to our world.
My friends, what did you hear today? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you?
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, 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
With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice.
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us as we set our hearts on belonging to you. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all creation.
You know our limitations and our essential goodness, and you love us as we are. You beckon us to your compassionate heart and inspire us to see the good in others and forgive their limitations. Acknowledging your presence in each other and in all of creation, we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here In This Place by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, and for all our sisters and brothers who have modeled for us a way to live and love in challenging times. Inspired by them, we choose life over death, we choose to be light in dark times.
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 faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and 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 plate)
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 one another.
(Lift cup)
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.
We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. Please share communion with the words: You are a spark of the Divine!
Communion song: Prayer (Prayer of Jesus sung in Aramaic) by Rafe Pearlman
Holy One, your transforming energy is within us, and we join our hearts with all who are working for a just world. We pray for wise leaders in our religious communities. We pray for courageous and compassionate leaders in our world communities.
We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to your Spirit, for it is through living as he lived that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, 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
Loving source of our being, you call us to live the gospel of peace and justice. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity in your presence.
BLESSING
ALL: May we love the universe the way our Creator loves us. May we live in peace and justice. And may we be a blessing in our time, AMEN.
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