Tonight, we pray for all our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of war, displacement, poverty, hunger, climate change, injustice, illness, loneliness, persecution, and the many visible and hidden wounds of our world.
Opening Prayer
God of all people, open our hearts to the suffering of our brothers and sisters. Help us to see the person behind every statistic, the family behind every headline, the child behind every photograph, and the human story behind every crisis.
May no one's suffering become invisible to us. Amen.
Rock and Refuge, Stronghold of Souls, Unshakable One, infuse your strength into places where I feel the greatest weakness. Permeate the parts of my life that continually challenge my patience. Increase an ability to accept those who seem to be most unacceptable. Lessen any tendency in my spirit that gives way to a loss of hope. Reinforce an awareness of the daily manifestations of your presence. Boost my spirit when I think I cannot manage what is mine to be and to do.
Provider of Purpose, Firm Foundation, Enduring Love, support my determination to give the best of myself to others. Fortify the forgiveness you have placed and nurtured in my heart. Sustain a solid belief that I can get through what appears insurmountable. Bolster my efforts to be a person who reaches out to those who suffer. Foster greater trusting you when worries and anxieties attempt to prevail. Impart the courage I need to change what appears to be unchangeable. In you I find sufficient strength, abounding, love, and secure serenity amen.
Prayers for Our World Community
Tonight, we remember and pray for all our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of war, persecution, poverty, famine, and political instability.
We pray for communities facing devastating storms, floods, fires, droughts, extreme heat, rising seas, and the loss of their homes and livelihoods.
We pray for people who do not know where their next meal will come from.
We pray for those living with physical pain, disability, chronic illness, injury, or conditions that others cannot see.
We pray for the elderly person who receives no visitors. May we notice the people who are quietly suffering around us.
We pray for people experiencing racism, discrimination, human trafficking, exploitation, abuse, corruption, oppression, or denial of their basic rights.
We pray for everyone living with uncertainty. May they find people who will stand beside them. And may we become those people.
We pray for presidents, prime ministers, kings, legislators, judges, military leaders, diplomats, business leaders, community leaders, religious leaders, and all who make decisions affecting the lives of others. May those entrusted with authority remember that leadership is ultimately a responsibility to serve.
We pray for all who have asked for our prayers. (voice your intentions)
Welcome: Welcome to you all! I’m so happy to be with you here today as we celebrate liturgy together.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, help us to remember that we all, every single one of us, are the building blocks of your Church. Give us the strength to hold each other up when we need a helping hand. And help us to do so joyfully! AMEN
FIRST READING: A Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans (11:33-12:2)
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!How unsearchable are Your judgments!How unfathomable Your ways!
“For what human being has ever known the mind of God?
What human being has ever been God’s advisor?
Who has ever given a gift to God,
expecting the same in return?”
For from God and through God and for God is all that is.To God be glory forever.
Therefore, beloved, instead of giving “things” to God, present your very selves to God as a living sacrifice.You, your life, is holy and pleasing to God.Living for God is your spiritual worship. So, do not model yourselves after the pattern of this age.Rather be transformed by the renewal of your hearts and minds, so that you may discern the desire of God's heart; what is good and pleasing and true.
These are the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
GOSPEL: Readings from the Gospels attributed to Matthew and John (Mt 16:13-26; Jn 11:17, 21-27)
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Chosen One is?”They responded, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”Jesus asked, “But you, who do you say that I am?”Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the One from the Living God.” Jesus replied, “Simon, son of Jonah, blessed are you!Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Loving God of the heavens.So I say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community.The gates of Hades will not prevail against it.I will give you the keys of the reign of heaven, the everlasting kin-dom.Whatever you bind on earth will be bound always, in heaven.Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed always, in heaven.”Then Jesus strictly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
And from the Gospel attributed to John
When Jesus arrived in Bethany, near the house of Mary and Martha, Jesus found that Lazarus, their brother, had already been in the tomb for four days… Martha said to Jesus, “Teacher, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.Even now, I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live; and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.Do you believe this?”Martha replied, “Yes, I believe that you are the Messiah, the One from God, the one coming into the world.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storytellers we call Matthew and John, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter—Julie: My first job after college was in Quincy, Massachusetts, outside Boston. Part of settling in after I got my first apartment was finding the local Catholic church. I vividly remember walking out of church after mass that day, after hearing, again, the first part of today’s gospel, where Peter declares Jesus the Messiah. The sky was so blue that Sunday morning and as I walked down the stone steps of the church I thought, “The entire Church hierarchy is based on this gospel. Gah! I can’t do this anymore!” And I didn’t. I tried a few times over the years, going to the local Catholic church when I moved to Connecticut and then back here to New York. But the location didn’t matter because the patriarchy was everywhere. It wasn’t even that I wanted to be a priest back then, I just couldn’t stand being talked down to by the male priests, all because Peter called Jesus Messiah.
Can you imagine how different my experience would have been if the canonical lectionary paired Peter with Martha like the inclusive lectionary did today? Can you imagine how different the entire Catholic church would have been if these gospels were given equal weight, if we had a founding mother and not just a founding father? Imagine an entire Catholic church, girls and boys, women and men, steeped in the belief so beautifully stated in our first reading, “You, your life, is holy and pleasing to God.” I don’t have to imagine that anymore. Because with you my beloveds, I live that every single day.
So I ask you, what did you hear? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you? Which is to say, what would you like to share about today’s readings?
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.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Prayers of the Community
As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your concerns beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We pray for these and all the unspoken concerns held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN
Eucharistic Prayer
O Holy One, you have birthed us in goodness, gifted us with life and cherished us in love. In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells; a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth.
In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment, that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with all who sing the ancient hymn of praise:
Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power. We, your creatures, often deviate from that wisdom, thus hindering your creative presence in our midst.
Sending among us Jesus, our brother, you birth afresh in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the gift of Your Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew, amid the variety and wonder of life.
(Extend hands in blessing.)
We invoke Your Spirit upon the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, that they may become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world.
On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at 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 bread)
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 and love one another.
(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.
In faith and hope we are sustained; in grace and dignity reclaimed. In praise, we thank you.
Please receive communion with the words: I believe that I am holy.
Prayer after communion: Let us pray. Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways. AMEN.
Prayer of Jesus
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 as we bless each other:
May we shine like the face of God to each other. May we remember that we are holy and pleasing to God. May we be a blessing in our time! AMEN
Beloved Holy One, we give thanks for our spiritual visionary, Dr. Barbara Ann Holmes, who lived during our age and perceived far beyond what mysticism, community, justice, activism, liberation, and contemplation mean for us today. Shake us to our core with her insights, explanations, and energies to overcome the complex questions we struggle with today. Dr. Holmes, you are our beloved spiritual mother, professor, confessor, and interconnector to each other’s efforts on the journey. We appreciate assistance in our lives, Holy Mystery, as we seek support and encouragement. With the cosmic gratitude of Dr. Barbara Ann Holmes, we thank you for giving us a mirror mystic view of her life and works into the interconnectedness of all life. So be it.
VIDEO 1What is Contemplation?Dr. Barbara Ann Holmes
REFLECTION 1The Mystical Identity of Dr. Barbara Ann Holmes
In essence, Holmes’ central teaching is that justice, healing, and transformation are possible only when we see ourselves as part of a sacred, interconnected cosmos, guided by contemplative wisdom and rooted in community. (Patheos) Dr. Barbara Ann Holmes was a mystical scholar and spiritual visionary for the 21st century. She left our world in 2024, and her memory is fresh in her many teaching videos, written works, lectures, homilies and letters. Her life’s work bridged mysticism, activism, and ecology, showing the sacred found in everyday life. Our often short-sighted, culturally impoverished, white, European history and interpretations of mystical Christianity have been rattled, as she brilliantly and gently shows us how to live out the Word of Jesus in our times in a significantly more diverse and inclusive way. She did not see time and space as limitations, but pushed us to find answers and inspiration beyond mental boundaries we have built for ourselves.
She taught: “Every person has had a mystical experience. Maybe the seas have not parted, maybe they haven’t walked on water, but there have nevertheless been amazing miracles in our lives. We just haven’t shared them in community, so we don’t feel comfortable sharing them as individuals. I will tell you the basis of my personal mysticism so that you will consider yours….”
Dr. Barbara Holmes’ life arcs from learning from past family ancestors, through her own diverse educational experiences, being an educator herself, and off into the future guided by her understanding of contemporary cosmic consciousness. We will briefly view her teaching from three sources. First, she ensures we understand her ancestral underpinnings in her foundational study of African American contemplative mysticism, “Joy Unspeakable,” by way of her poetry. Second, Dr. Holmes shares with us inspiration on following the “Prophetic Path” to bring about our own and our community’s spiritual growth by healing the wounded village with crisis contemplation.Mystical contemplation is really God’s presence experienced, whether alone or in community. Third, in “Race and the Cosmos” we reflect on how her spiritual and intellectual maturity gave her a wider, deeper view that enriches our searching lives.
JOY UNSPEAKABLEA profound exploration of the mystical, contemplative spirituality deeply rooted in the African American church tradition and its far-reaching societal impact.
“Today’s wilderness can be found in bustling suburban and urban centers, on death row, in homeless shelters in the middle of the night, in the eyes of a hospice patient, and in the desperation of AIDS orphans in Africa and around the world. Perhaps these are the postmodern desert mothers and fathers. Perhaps contemplative spaces can be found wherever people skirt the margins of inclusion. Perhaps those whom we value least have the most to teach.”p. 111
POEM 1Dr. Barbara Ann Holmes
Joy Unspeakable
is not silent,
it moans, hums, and bends
to the rhythm of a dancing universe.
It is a fractal of transcendent hope,
a hologram of God’s heart,
a black hole of unknowing.
For our free African ancestors,
Joy Unspeakable is drum talk
that invites the spirits
to dance with us,
and tell tall tales by the fire.
For the desert Mothers and Fathers,
Joy Unspeakable is respite
from the maddening crowds,
and freedom from
“church” as usual.
For enslaved Africans during the
Middle Passage,
Joy Unspeakable is the surprise
of living one more day,
and the freeing embrace of death
chosen and imposed.
For Africans in bondage
in the Americas,
Joy Unspeakable is that moment of
mystical encounter
when God tiptoes into the hush arbor,
testifies about Divine suffering,
and whispers in our ears,
“Don’t forget,
I taught you how to fly
on a wing and a prayer,
when you’re ready,
let’s go!”
Joy Unspeakable is humming
“How I got over”
after swimming safely
to the other shore of a swollen Ohio river
when you know that you can’t swim.
It is the blessed assurance
that Canada is far,
but not that far.
For Africana members of the
“Invisible institution,” the
emerging black church,
Joy Unspeakable is
practicing freedom
while chains still chafe,
singing deliverance
while Jim Crow stalks,
trusting God’s healing
and home remedies,
prayers, kerosene,
and cow patty tea.
For the tap dancing, boogie woogie,
rap/rock/blues griots
who also hear God,
Joy Unspeakable is
that space/time/joy continuum thing
that dares us to play and pray
in the interstices of life,
it is the belief that the phrase
“The art of living”
means exactly what it says.
Griots, musical historians who preserve and transmit the oral traditions,
history, and cultural values of their communities
“Given where we are, contemplative practices must do more than offer respite and space for retreat. We need healing practices and transformative responses to issues that continue to divide our society. The world is the cloister of the contemplative. There is no escape. Always the quest for justice draws one deeply into the heart of God. In this sacred interiority, contemplation becomes the language of prayer and the impetus for prophetic proclamation and action.”Dr. BAH
Our world is exploding in crises of such proportions that we find ourselves at a loss in how to be healers. Instead of succumbing to overwhelming personal, cultural and national crises, Dr. Holmes reminds us that the Holy One is with us, “even unto the end of the age.” It is by taking the risks necessary to follow the “Prophetic Path” that we are called to pursue. She teaches that through crisis contemplation we receive the strength to walk on the troubled waters of our time, buoyed by the Spirit who descended on the Upper Room.She said: My scriptural context for immersing in crisis contemplation in community is we read in Scripture that in the Upper Room, the Spirit descended on the group, not just a single person.”The communal contemplative practices of the black church provide an interpretive grid that synthesizes inner and outer cosmologies. It is the community and not the individual monastic that becomes the concern. The spiritual practices become public theology through acts of shared liturgical discernment. These acts of shared contemplation move individual mystical events from the personal and private toward the public and pragmatic. Accordingly, the inward journey transcends the private imagination to become an expanded communal testimony where we draw our strength.Barbara A. Holmes
REFLECTION 3
Race and the Cosmos, one of the last of Dr. Holmes’ gifts, can rearrange our idea that:
“Liberation is cosmic, interconnected, and embodied; contemplation is active and inclusive; joy is a spiritual and cultural force; and the integration of science, theology, and activism can transform both personal and collective life.”
“We respond to a deeply interdependent and responsive universe through shared experiences. This means that despite signs of postmodern fragmentation and the rise of radical individualism, we cannot carve out shared destinies in isolation. We are born not only into a wondrous and mysterious life space but also into communities of interpersonal reliance.”
VIDEO3 Race and the Cosmos: A MeditationDr. Barbara Holmes
Holmes, B. A. (2017). Joy unspeakable: contemplative practices of the black church. (2nd edition). Fortress Press.
Holmes, B. A. (2020). Race and the cosmos : an invitation to view the world differently. Cac Publishing.
Holmes, B.A. (2021). Crisis contemplation: healing the wounded village. Cac Publishing, Center For Action And Contemplation.
Holmes, B. A. (2023). Liberation and the Cosmos. Fortress Press.
Holmes, B. A. (2024). Walking with Our Ancestors. Fortress Press.
Holmes, B.A. (2000). A private woman in public spaces : Barbara Jordan’s speeches on ethics, public religion, and law. Trinity Press International.
Prieto, P. (2025). Unity and Harmony. Orbis Books.
Thorner, I. (1965). Prophetic and Mystic Experience: Comparison and Consequences. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 5(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.2307/1384258
Weisenfeld, J. (1997). African American women and Christian activism: New York’s Black YWCA, 1905-1945. Harvard University Press.
