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
Welcome: Welcome! I’m so glad you’ve joined us today as we come together on this summer day to remember our own power and to experience, in the words of our opening song, heaven right here.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, help us to remember and live the radical love that is at the heart of Jesus. May we live lives of truth and love and caring for others each and every day. AMEN
Opening Song: Heaven Right Here by Jeb Loy Nichols
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP3LTmG_HAs&list=RDhP3LTmG_HAs&start_radio=1
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading
From The Girl Who Baptized Herself by Meggan Watterson
When I piece back together the scripture that was deemed too doubtful to be included in the New Testament, Christ morphs from a blue-eyed, blond-haired, bearded man, holding a staff and telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies, to a radical Middle Eastern man freeing women from the illusion that their worth could ever be dictated by someone outside of them. Christ morphs from a judgy, sex-shaming rule maker into a Jewish rule breaker who cared more about taking care of people than fulfilling the letter of an unjust law.
[Thecla's] name, her story, her existence in the history of Christianity, her status as one of the earliest ministers in the Christ movement, and her legacy of becoming her own, all this has been erased.
But here's the thing about erasure. All it takes is one person to remember. And for that one person to tell someone else. And for that someone else to tell a group. And for that group to tell everyone they know. And then, a lost scripture of the Christian story is found again. Not because it has finally been formally canonized. Not because it's officially deemed sacred at long last. But because we have remembered our own power to tell the truth.
These are the inspired words of feminist theologian Meggan Watterson, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
Gospel
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Luke (10:38-42)
While travelling with his many disciples, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary who seated herself at Jesus’ feet and listened to his words.
Martha, tasked with the service of hospitality, became quite busy. She came to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, don’t you care that my sister has left me all alone to do the household tasks, to do my work as deacon? Tell her to help me!”
Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha! You’re anxious and worried about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”
These are the inspired words of the gospel writer we call Luke, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN!
Homily Starter—Julie This is not the liturgy I had planned. For weeks I had been planning to use a reading from the lectionary for the first reading. And then a new book came out last week, The Girl Who Baptized Herself by Meggan Watterson, and when I started reading it, I was powerfully reminded of what we do together here in the Upper Room. The Girl Who Baptized Herself is the story of Thecla, a young woman who was so moved and inspired by Paul’s preaching of Jesus’ teachings that she left her family and fiancé to follow and learn from Paul. When she asked Paul, repeatedly, to baptize her, he kept putting her off until she just baptized herself. Thecla went on to teach and perform healings with Paul, not that most people know that because her story wasn’t included in the “official” Christian scriptures. She was erased.
Just like the deeper meaning of the Mary and Martha story has been erased. By reducing Martha to a nag, her importance as a deacon is eliminated. Yes, Mary’s learning at Jesus’ feet with the men is important but so too is Martha’s preparing the sacred meal. In our terms, Mary and Martha lived the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. And then the patriarchy, while not eliminating these women from the gospel, did everything it could to distract us from the importance of this story, the story of two women empowered by that radical rule-breaker Jesus to roles that later centuries of men, male priests and deacons, then told us women we couldn’t do.
Today, by sharing these stories we remind ourselves and those around us that the Way of Jesus, the Christ movement as Watterson calls it, is radically different than the weaponized Christianity surrounding us. We can tell the truth. We can tell them that The Way of Jesus is one of equality, where women and men are equally empowered to lives of love and service, in all areas of life. We can remember our own power.
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
Guiding Spirit, when opposing forces in us tug and pull and we are caught in the tension of choices, inspire us to make wise decisions toward what is good.
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 remind 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 receive the bread and wine with the words: I live in love!
Communion song: Courageous Women by Jan Novotka, Video by MT Streck
Post-Communion Prayer
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
Please extend your hands as we bless each other.
ALL: May we remember our power and use it to lift each other up. May we love extravagantly. And may we be a blessing in our time, AMEN.
Closing Song: We Are the Ones by Karen Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.