Upper Room Sunday Liturgy, November 23, 2025 - Presiders: Deb Trees and Bridget Ball

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 all to the Upper Room Liturgy for today, the Final Sunday of the liturgical year and the celebration of the Cosmic Christ. We see each other through the senses of the Holy One, who creates us as Beloved. We know we will be and are with each other in Paradise, as Jesus promises us. Let us take our awareness to this space of presence and love, as we pray our liturgy together today.

Opening Prayer: Holy one, we experience your grace within and among us. We are grateful for your love of each of us, and we mirror your love to ourselves and to each other. Help us to do our best to experience you in our lives, and to show that by our actions. Keep us in your grace. AMEN.

 

Opening Song: Awake O Sleeper. Marty Haugen

https://youtu.be/3X-ApQ289Fc

LITURGY OF THE WORD

 

First Reading: A reading from Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

I know more about grace than I did two weeks ago. For instance,

that Auden was right when he wrote, “I know nothing, except what

everyone knows – if there when Grace dances, I should dance.”

I understand that Auden meant grace in the theological sense,

meant it as the force that infuses our lives and keeps letting us off

the hook. It is unearned love – the love that goes before, that greets

us on the way. It’s the help you receive when you have no bright

ideas left, when you are empty and desperate and have discovered

that your best thinking and most charming charm have failed you.

Grace is the light or electricity or juice or breeze that takes you from

that isolated place and puts you with others who are as startled and

embarrassed and eventually grateful as you are to be there.

These are the words of Anne Lamott and we affirm them by saying, Amen.

Gospel Acclamation: Spirit of the Living God sung by Michael Crawford

https://youtu.be/xoJN0owUoWA?si=uHC5nwlta6B1g3kr 

Gospel: The Gospel reading from Luke 25: 35 - 43.

Meanwhile the people stood looking on. Even the leaders said with a sneer: “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is God’s Christ, his chosen one.” The soldiers, too, came up in mockery, bringing him common wine, and saying as they did so: “If you are the king of the Judeans, save yourself.” 

Above him were the words “This is the king of the Judeans.” 

One of the criminals who were hanging beside Jesus railed at him. “Are you not the Anointed One? Save yourself and us,” he said. But the other rebuked him. “Have you not,” he said, “any fear of God, now that you are under the same sentence? And we justly so, for we are only reaping our deserts, but this man has not done anything wrong. Jesus,” he went on, “do not forget me when you have come to your realm.” And Jesus answered: “I tell you, this very day you will be with me in paradise.”

These are the words attributed to the writer Luke, translated from the New, New Testament by Hal Tausig, and we affirm them with AMEN.

Homily Starter: Deb Trees.

This summer as I was driving home from my vacation and passing through other states, a huge all black truck including dark tinted windows, passed me on the driver's side. A black placard standing several feet behind the cab read in Big Capital Letters: CHRIST IS KING. And below that to the side, a smaller message said: “Make our politicians afraid again.”

I actually did a double take. My first reaction was I was glad I was heading out of this part of the country.  And my second thought was to feel sorry for the people who have to live in that community. It was the farthest thing from Jesus that I could think of.

So, when I started to prepare for this Sunday’s liturgy, this image came to me on this solemnity of Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. We here in the Upper Room have softened it a bit, to Cosmic Christ. I know that this weekend is the final Sunday of the Liturgical Year, but where did this image come from? 

I figured it would come from some Roman or Napoleon influence. Googling and AI are apt to say that Christ the King Sunday was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI to counter nationalism, secularism and atheism. It was first celebrated in 1926 and changed to the final Sunday of the liturgical year in 1970. The teaching: Our allegiance is not to this world, but to the Creator. 

Oh boy, it is so easy for us to twist things to our own needs and liking. I think that Jesus would be quite aghast to see what we are doing today with his name and teaching. 

Beginnings and endings are helpful for us humans to keep things on track. Acknowledging the life of Jesus each year, and living his messages, help us to follow as best we can. We move through waiting for him to be here with us, to his birth, to his life, to his death, to his resurrection, and now, to his triumph. And then we start it all over again. 

But it seems to me that we also know the Holy One is here present with us, no matter what stage of life we are in. Presence is always evident in our lives. All we have to do is become quiet, slow down, refocus our awareness, and there is the holiness that we are just a small part of. It permeates our being. 

Love, kindness and mercy are at the heart of the Creator. Each of us is loved beyond measure. And when we act with love, kindness and mercy, we are blessed to become more like the Universal Spirit that is the basis for our lives. Grace becomes our base. And then, we can be rest assured that we are dwelling in Paradise.

What did you hear in your hearts today? Please share.

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 share our intentions, cares, blessings and concerns with heartfelt humility and love…

Thank you Creator. We are Grateful for the Holy One’s support and love for all of our sharing, and for those intentions in our hearts. AMEN.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

All: 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: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ 

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 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. 

 

All lift the plate and pray:

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)   

 

All lift the cup and pray:

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) 

We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity. 

Please receive communion saying: Grace and awareness are your gifts to us.

Communion Song:  Everything is Holy Now by Peter Mayer

https://youtu.be/s_SgAmljIJc

Prayer after Communion:

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. 

Presider 2: 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

Presider 1: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing:

ALL:  May we know that the Grace of the Holy One permeates our being at all times. May we know that we are never alone and cannot possibly be alone by the very Grace of God.

May the Fire of Love ignite our hearts and radiate through us.

May the Spirit of truth and justice burn within us.

May we continue to be the face of the Holy One, and 

May we be a blessing in our time.

AMEN.

 

Closing Song: How can I Keep From Singing, Pete Seeger

https://youtu.be/UxQhxKPbFTY 

 

Upper Room Saturday Liturgy, November 22, 2025 - Presider: Denise Hackert-Stoner

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 and Theme:

 

Welcome to this sharing of faith and friendship.  Your presence here is a gift.  Thank you.

Opening Prayer: 

Beloved, we hunger for a world where everyone finds joy, where everyone finds love, where everyone finds abundance.  You have shown us the way to that world.  Help us to follow.

Opening Song: Coming Together by Christopher Grundy 

https://youtu.be/N9HDjzi-Q5c  

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading:  A reading from the 1 Maccabees 6:1-13

As King Antiochus was traversing the inland provinces,
he heard that in Persia there was a city called Elymais,
famous for its wealth in silver and gold,
and that its temple was very rich,
containing gold helmets, breastplates, and weapons
left there by Alexander, son of Philip,
king of Macedon, the first king of the Greeks.
He went therefore and tried to capture and pillage the city.
But he could not do so,
because his plan became known to the people of the city
who rose up in battle against him.
So he retreated and in great dismay withdrew from there
to return to Babylon.

While he was in Persia, a messenger brought him news
that the armies sent into the land of Judah had been put to flight;
that Lysias had gone at first with a strong army
and been driven back by the children of Israel;
that they had grown strong
by reason of the arms, men, and abundant possessions
taken from the armies they had destroyed;
that they had pulled down the Abomination
which he had built upon the altar in Jerusalem;
and that they had surrounded with high walls
both the sanctuary, as it had been before,
and his city of Beth-zur.

When the king heard this news,
he was struck with fear and very much shaken.
Sick with grief because his designs had failed, he took to his bed.
There he remained many days, overwhelmed with sorrow,
for he knew he was going to die.

So he called in all his Friends and said to them:
"Sleep has departed from my eyes,
for my heart is sinking with anxiety.
I said to myself: 'Into what tribulation have I come,
and in what floods of sorrow am I now!
Yet I was kindly and beloved in my rule.'
But I now recall the evils I did in Jerusalem,
when I carried away all the vessels of gold and silver
that were in it, and for no cause
gave orders that the inhabitants of Judah be destroyed.
I know that this is why these evils have overtaken me;
and now I am dying, in bitter grief, in a foreign land." 

This story is passed down to us from our ancestors.  We acclaim their wisdom with, Amen.

Second Reading: “Waiting for the Barbarians” by Constantine Cavafy translated by Evan Jones

“--Why are we waiting in the agora?

“Because the barbarians arrive today.

“– Why is there such uncertainty in the Senate?
Why do the Senators sit there and not legislate?

“Because the barbarians arrive today.
What laws can our Senators enact now?
The barbarians will legislate when they arrive.

“– Why has our emperor awoken so early,
and seated himself before the city’s main gate,
on his throne, solemn, wearing his crown?

“Because the barbarians arrive today
and the emperor wants to greet
their leader. As is the custom, he will
present him with a parchment.
Many titles and names are written on it.

“– Why have our two consuls and the praetors chosen
today to don their red, embroidered togas?
Why are they wearing bracelets adorned with amethyst
and rings with shiny, glistening emeralds?
Why do they carry expensive walking sticks
gilded and inlaid with silver?

“Because the barbarians arrive today,
and such things impress barbarians.

“– And why have our outspoken orators not come as always
to spout their words, to have their say?

“Because the barbarians arrive today,
and eloquence and speeches bore them.

“– Where has this anxiousness and confusion come from
all of a sudden? Look at the haunted faces.
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly
and everyone returning to their homes so worried?

“Because night fell and the barbarians never arrived.
Some men travelled to the border region,
and reported that the barbarians no longer exist.

——

“Now what will we do without the barbarians?
They were a sort of solution for us.”

Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia by Jan Phillips 

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

Gospel:  Matthew 5:1-12

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This is the Gospel from the writer we know as Matthew.  We affirm his words with "Amen."

Homily Starter:

I think there are times we forget how very counter-cultural Jesus was; how very radical his message still is.  Today’s readings bring that radicalism into focus.

We see the fearsome Antiochus, king of the Greek Syrians, and villain in the Hanukkah story, at the end of his life.  He has, as was the norm for rulers in his time and it seems, in ours, pillaged with each victory, replacing local culture and religious practices with those of the Greeks.  He has basked in the glory of colonization and domination his whole life.  It’s the road he has followed; it’s how he defines himself.  Until he fails to take Persia, and soon after learns that the statue of Zeus (“the abomination” on the altar in Jerusalem) has been destroyed.  Losing has not been a reality for Antiochus, he has been a winner, always.  And because the accumulation of wealth and land has been everything to him, he has now lost everything.  He has nothing.  He is nothing.  And so he dies a lost man.

The poet, Constantine Cavafy, was born in 1898 in Egypt.  It was a period of war and occupation, and Constantine was forced to flee to Constantinople, which today is known as Istanbul, Turkey.  He knew the pain of rootlessness, the uncertainty that comes when rulers vie for control, living to accumulate wealth and lands.  His poem reflects the machinations of these leaders, and the clever ways they control their populations with false threats of violence from outside forces which never actually exist.  And when those levers of control fail, when the contrived grievances are exposed, those leaders, and their citizens, are left with nothing.

Neither Antiochus, nor the fictitious rulers and citizens in Cavafy’s poem, are happy.  Indeed, they are lost and empty.

Jesus offers a different way; a way that is a complete turn-around, from the ways of the occupiers.  In the Beatitudes he offers a kind of “opposite day” of a lifestyle.  A lifestyle that says, “take everything you ever knew about success, everything you ever knew about wealth, everything you ever knew about happiness, and do just the opposite.”  “Win at all costs” becomes “The meek shall inherit the earth.”  “The more you have the happier you will be” becomes “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  “Protect yourself and your possessions” becomes “Blessed are the persecuted.”  

What a crazy, upside-down way of life he is asking his followers to live!  I wonder how many walked in this way?  I wonder how many of his followers today walk in this way?  I wonder if more of us, as a human race, did walk in this way, how it might change the world?  The whole world?  

The Kin-dom of God is within reach.  It is waiting in the next room.  There is a door to that room that needs to be opened.  Is the key to that door the Beatitudes?  

What did you hear in today’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 creation. You have surrounded us with beauty and love, and we are grateful for it. 

You have given us the key to life in the Kin-dom.  We see that key in the way Jesus lived his life.  We take hold of that key by living our lives in his way.

In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all those who model the way of Jesus, both living and eternal, and we sing a hymn of praise. 

Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker 

https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI

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.

(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, this is my very self.

(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.

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 am open to healing in everyday life.”

Communion Meditation/Song: Behold the Kingdom – John Michael Talbot – video by Denise Hackert-Stoner https://youtu.be/TWd0OE5jaoA

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 we find joy as we walk in the way of Jesus.  May the Beatitudes become for us the key to the Kin-dom of God.  Amen.

 

Closing Song: Choose Life by Colleen Fulmer https://youtu.be/8raDrcCNbPs