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 to the Upper Room. Today we are challenged to have open minds and hearts to each other. We are called to be influenced by each other to bring our highest self into being. As we begin our time together may we reflect on the people in our lives who inspire us to grow and mature in wisdom.
Opening Prayer by John Philip Newell:
Clear our heart, O God,
that we may see you.
Clear our heart, O God,
that we may truly see ourselves.
Clear our heart, O God,
that we may know the sacredness of this moment
and in every moment
seek you
serve you
strengthen you
as the Living Presence in every presence.
Clear our heart, O God,
that we may see.
Opening Song: Circle Chant
https://youtu.be/5rivT9rnmuc?si=kk83U9tY-ZeC_5tg
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Frist Reading: Excerpts from NCR article, Good Event Bad Event by Joan Chittister
In this Taoist tale, an old peasant has only one son and one fine stallion with which to farm his land. All the other farmers in the valley pity him for his poverty but the old man says of his situation simply, “Bad event, good event, who knows?”
Then, one day, the farmer’s only stallion bolts from his hitching post and thunders up into the mountains, leaving the farmer and his son to do all the sod-breaking work by themselves. Neighbors commiserate but the old man says simply, “Bad event, good event, who knows?”
Suddenly, the next morning, the stallion races back down the mountain and into the corral, followed by a whole herd of wild horses. The neighbors are astounded by the man’s new wealth and congratulate him but the old man says simply, “Good event, bad event, who knows?”
Soon after, one of the wild stallions throws the son, falls on him and breaks his legs, crippling him for life. The peasants grieve such a loss but the old man says simply, “Bad event, good event, who knows?” Then, one day in the fall, just at the beginning of the harvest, the local warlord rides into the valley and conscripts into his army every young man there with one exception: the crippled, limping, apparently useless son of the old farmer.
The other farmers in the valley wail in despair at their misfortune and the old man’s luck, but he says simply, “Good event, bad event, who knows?”
Despair, that story taught me, can be found in every situation, however much good may also be there. But in the end, how we see a situation depends on what we’re looking for.
The fact is that the history of God’s ways with God’s people has always been a good event, bad event situation, a continuing affirmation of life despite the unending threats to it of death. We are the children of a history steeped in despair turned to hope, of bad events turned to good.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia by Jan Phillips
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw?si=--pVN-oGxOXOrCUN
Gospel: Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other, for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Shared Homily
Today, we are challenged by the familiar teachings and examples of Jesus, who models open heartedness to all and who befriends the outcasts and dines with the marginalized. One of his favorite ways to teach is with parables. When we hear this parable, we are tempted to make the mistake of looking down on others in judgement. This well-crafted parable sets us up to become the very thing it teaches us to avoid. I think a common read of this parable is to see the Pharisee as the one who exhibits behaviors we should avoid and the tax collector as the one whose behaviors we should emulate. But as in the story that Joan Chittister tells, “good event, bad event, who knows?” By seeing one or the other character as good or bad we are doing what the parable is teaching us to abandon. We are making a judgement and seeing one person’s behaviors as good and the other person’s behaviors as bad.
If we look a little deeper at the characters, we can see things to avoid and things to emulate in both. The judgmental Pharisee who does amazing, good works and the honest tax collector who feels bad but might not actually change the actions he feels bad about. Chittister says, “in the end, how we see a situation (or a person’s behaviors) depends on what we are looking for.” I think we need to combine aspects of what each person in the parable exhibited. The righteous actions of the Pharisee as well as the honest humility of the tax collector are qualities to embrace and emulate. I think we must avoid judging others and must be transformed by our awareness of actions we feel bad about by choosing to abandon those actions.
Amy Jill Levine has an interesting interpretation of this parable and points out that the phrase “rather than” can also be interpreted as “because of” So the last line would read: “this man went home justified because of the other.” Levine says just as one person’s harmful acts can negatively impact a community or person the opposite can be true. Righteous acts of one person can positively affect a person. Did the actions of the Pharisee help the tax collector see the things he feels bad about and did the humility of the tax collector help the Pharisee to become less judgmental? If so, these men went home justified because of the other. We will grow and mature if we challenge ourselves to keep our minds and hearts open. If we do this, like the men in our gospel who went home justified because of the other, we may return home each evening better because of what we learn about ourselves from those we meet.
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
Presider: 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 blessings, cares and concerns.
Intentions shared
We bring these and all deeply held blessings, cares, and concerns to the table of friendship and peace.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Presider: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together:
(Eucharistic prayer taken from the work of Diarmuid O’Murchu and Jay Murnane)
O Holy One, you have been called by many names by many people in the centuries of our planet’s life. Yet, no name truly defines you or describes you. We celebrate you as the marvelous, loving energy of life who caused us and our world to be. We celebrate you as the Source of light and life and love, and we celebrate your presence and all-ways care.
O Holy One, we stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history – a time when humanity must choose its future.
As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future holds both peril and great promise.
May we recognize that, in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms, we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.
United with our vast universe, with our Mother-Planet and her people everywhere, with one another and You, Holy One, our spirits dance and sing this song of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy
We give grateful thanks for those who came before us, for all those who gave from their hearts, who gave from their lives, that there might be a better world, a safer world, a kinder world, we pray for peace in their name.
And for the children, that they may live, that they may have children of their own and that it will go on - this great blossoming that is meant to go on and on – we pray for peace, in their name.
And for all peoples of this earth who have no voice in this,
For the animals that have no voice in this,
For the plants, the trees, the flowers that have no voice in this,
For all who share this earth with us, we pray for peace in their name.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus. He showed us so simply, so tenderly, how the world is in our hands. He had nothing in this world but your love, companions on the journey, and his very self. Together, that was more than enough, and that remains our clarity in the midst of confusion: the miracle of healing, new hope, nurturance, nourishment, liberation and life.
Presider 2: Please extend your hands in blessing.
All: Your Spirit is here in us and in the gifts of this Eucharistic table. May we become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world.
Presiders stand at table, Presider 1 lifts bread.
On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at the Seder 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 plate:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat; this is my very self.
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.
Please receive the bread with the words: See with new eyes.
Communion Song: Song Like a Seed by Sara Thompsen video by Denise
https://youtu.be/5CXoyhfSo4Y?si=OSPp7em1Oz54VJa2
Prayer After Communion
Loving Source of All, we have looked for others to save us and to save our world. Yet, we are called, and consecrated and sent into the world to establish justice and show the blessed fulfillment that comes with simplicity and the giving of ourselves in love. We will make new our commitment to the harmony of the original vision of creation.
We will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and our small circles. Like Jesus, in all openness, we will be filled with your own Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
For it is through learning to live as he lived,
And why he lived,
And for whom he lived,
That we awaken to your Spirit within,
Moving us to worship you truly,
O Holy One,
At this time and all time and in all ways.
And we say yes to You!
Presider: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
All: Holy One, who is 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 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 (Miriam Therese Winter)
BLESSING
Presider: Let us pray together our blessing:
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
May you see others with new eyes.
(Excerpts from For Presence by John O’Donohue)
Closing Song: Behold Now the Kingdom by John Michael Talbot
https://youtu.be/TWd0OE5jaoA?si=J861_Iph8VpLrwjo
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