Upper Room Moment of Oneness, December 3, 2025 - Prepared by Mary Theresa Streck

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507551772
Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
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First Week of Advent: HOPE

Prayer Leader: Welcome to our weekly Moment of Oneness when we take a break mid-week to pray together. Tonight, we focus on HOPE, the theme for the first week in Advent. There are so many uncertainties in our lives right now and our hope and our belief is that the Holy One is walking with us. We begin with the Song “We are Waiting for you” by the Many. We are waiting and hoping for the manifestation of “God-With-Us” fully aware that the Holy One is waiting for us to be signs of hope, the arms of love, and the ones that say: "There is another way."

Opening Song: We are Waiting for you by the Many

https://youtu.be/RndTVIsAuQA?si=bLdPqUPgxsKafm0q

The earth cries out
Nothing feels right
The world cries out
No justice in sight

Fires burning everywhere
Too many, too hot, too bright

We are waiting for you
We are waiting for you
We are waiting for that
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Gloria in Excelsis Deo

The child cries out
"Don't turn out the light"
Broken hearts cry out
No end of hurt in sight

Greed and guns rule everywhere
Too many, too strong to fight

We are waiting for you
We are waiting for you
We are waiting for that
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Let us be a sign of hope
Let us be your arms of love
Let us be the ones that say
"There is another way"

Let us be a sign of hope
Let us be your arms of love
Let us be the ones that say
"There is another way"

Let us be a sign of hope
Let us be your arms of love
Let us be the ones that say
"There is another way"

We are waiting for you
You are waiting for us, too
We are waiting for that
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Gloria in Excelsis Deo

We are waiting for you
You are waiting for us, too
We are waiting for you
You are waiting for us, too

Reading 1: Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann views hope as trust in what God has done and will do, in spite of evidence to the contrary. He wrote: Hope in gospel faith is not just a vague feeling that things will work out, for it is evident that things will not just work out. Rather, hope is the conviction, against a great deal of data, that God is tenacious and persistent in overcoming the deathliness of the world, that God intends joy and peace. Christians find compelling evidence, in the story of Jesus, that Jesus, with great persistence and great vulnerability, everywhere he went, turned the enmity of society toward a new possibility, turned the sadness of the world toward joy, introduced a new regime where the dead are raised, the lost are found, and the displaced are brought home again. [1]

Reading 2: Richard Rohr continues with: “Come, Lord Jesus” is a leap into the kind of freedom and surrender that is rightly called the virtue of hope. Hope is the patient and trustful willingness to live without full closure, without resolution, and still be content and even happy because our satisfaction is now at another level, and our Source is beyond ourselves. We are able to trust that Christ will come again, just as Christ has come into our past, into our private dilemmas, and into our suffering world. Our Christian past then becomes our Christian prologue, and “Come, Lord Jesus” is not a cry of desperation but an assured shout of cosmic hope [2].

Prayer leader: Let us pray for each other and for our world community.

(pause for prayers from the community)

Prayer leader: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions and we pray that

we are signs of hope, arms of love and the ones that say: "There is another way."

Amen.

Advent blessings to all and goodnight.

Closing Song: Choose to Hope by Marty Haugen
https://youtu.be/bOQJUbu9_wQ 

References:
[1] Walter Brueggemann, A Gospel of Hope, compiled by Richard Floyd (Westminster John Knox Press: 2018), 104–105.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent (Franciscan Media: 2008), 1–3.

THE COMPANIONS’ ROSARY

THE COMPANIONS’ ROSARY

Praying the Holy Rosary

In Original Blessing Theology

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87530775820

Introduction to The Companions’ Rosary

Saying the Holy Rosary is a special focus of prayer and meditation that provides for each of us a state of contemplation and mystical connection. 

When aligning to the Grace of Mary, we can have a sense of purpose in praying for others and ourselves. It can be a singular and private prayer or a community endeavor. 

For those of us who are becoming steeped in Original Blessing Theology, the traditional prayers of the Holy Rosary can be daunting. When changing the wording to better reflect the concepts of Blessing Theology, it seems important to keep a sense of the timing and inflection of the prayers as we have learned them. 

The Companions' Rosary is an attempt to combine the prayers of the rosary within present-day theology of original blessing. 

To all whom feel called to pray in this way, prayers and blessings to you. May we all continue to connect, in whatever way we can, to the Holy One, to Mary and to each other.  

And so it is.

The Sign of the “Cross”.  A Shield of Protection and Love.

The sign of the cross can impress on us the concept of a theology of sacrifice and atonement.  The sign of the “cross”, here, building on the trinity and St. Paul's greetings, can also be a Shield of Protection and Love.

In the name of Peace (hand at the forehead)

And Love (hand at the heart)

And Grace (The Infinity sign across from one shoulder to the other, and back to the heart.) 

AMEN.

Rose Aglow,

DETrees, 2017

THE COMPANIONS’ ROSARY

Praying the Holy Rosary

In Original Blessing Theology

The Sign of Protection and Love

In the name of Peace and Love and Grace. Amen.

A Simple Companions’ Creed

I believe in the Holy One, Lover, Creator, Enhancer, WHO IS Infinite and Present all at the same time.

Our Field of PEACE in all things.

I believe in Jesus, Friend and Companion, who shows us the Face of God in our human form. 

Our Sign of LOVE in all things.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, Our Heart and Soul, moving within and among us. 

Our Show of GRACE in all things.

I believe in this, our creed, in our communion of angels and saints and in life everlasting.
Amen.

The Prayer of Jesus

(From Miriam Therese Winter)

O 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 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.

The Hail Mary

Hail Mary, Full of grace, Our God is with you.

Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother and Friend,

Be with us now, at our hour, and beyond.  Amen.

The Glory Be

Glory and Joy Be to Peace and Love and Grace.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,

World without End. Amen.

Hail Holy Mary

Hail Holy Mary, Mother and Leader, Our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope. You show us how to live with Courage in our convictions. You teach us to stand by each other with unending support and love.

Thank you for being with us now.  Walk this path with us as you did with your son, Jesus. May we follow his example of inclusive love, as you taught him.

O Clement, O Loving, Sweet Mary of Nazareth. Be with us as we look to you.

Praying the Companions’ Rosary

1.   Make the Sign of the Protection and Love.

2.   Say the Simple Companions’ Creed.

3.   On the first bead, say The Prayer of Jesus.

4.   Say The Hail Mary on each of the next three beads.

5.   Say The Glory Be on the fifth bead.

6.   For each of the five decades, announce the Mystery or a special intention then say The Prayer of Jesus

7.   While fingering each of the ten beads of the decade, say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery or Intention. Then say a Glory Be.

8.   After saying the five decades, say the Hail, Holy Mary.

Diagram from USCCB, Accessed 9-29-19

A PRAYER FOR YOU

For all who say the Companions’ Rosary, a special Blessing from our Lady and Above. The Angels watch over you in Peace, Grace and Love.

With Joy and Appreciation for All,

Deb Trees, 2019

Debra Trees, FCM, ARCWP

The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary