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Love of Wisdom
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, quiet our minds so that we can find your peace within us. In that peace, let wisdom grow. AMEN
Opening Song: Quiet Place by the Many – video by MT Streck
https://youtu.be/hcq385i1kHE
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Wisdom of Ben Sirach 15:1-4, 8, 11-12, 14-20
Whoever reverences the Holy will come to Woman Wisdom.
Whoever holds to the heart of the Law will know Her.
She will meet you like a mother, you who need of the food of learning.
She will meet you like a lover, you who need the water of understanding to drink.
Lean upon Wisdom; you will not fall.
Trust in Her; you will not be shamed.
Wisdom is far from arrogance, liars never think of Her.
Do not say, ‘It was because of God that I fell away.’ God doesn’t do hateful things.
Do not say, ‘It was God who led me astray.’ God has no need of evil-doers.
God, in the beginning, created human beings, making us subject to our own free choice. If you choose, you can keep God’s commandments.
How you act is a matter of choice.
Set before you are fire and water: Stretch out your hand and choose.
Before each person are life and death. Whichever they choose will be given them.
Great is the wisdom of God, for God sees all things.
The eyes of God behold all the works of Creation; God understands every human deed.
God has not commanded anyone to be wicked, nor shows leniency toward those who deceive.
These are the inspired words of a Wisdom Writer, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
ALLELUIA Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker – MT Video
https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk
GOSPEL
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Matthew 5:38-48
You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist anyone who is evil. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also. If someone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go a second mile also. Give to everyone who begs from you. Don’t turn your back on someone who wants to borrow.
“You have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of God. God makes the sun rise on those who do evil and those who do good. God sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, why should you be rewarded? Don't even the “tax collectors” do the same? And if you greet only your kin, are you doing anything exceptional? Don’t even “the Gentiles” do the same? Love fully and wholeheartedly, with integrity, just as Your God loves with integrity.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Matthew, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter—Julie: Maybe it’s because today is Valentine’s Day but as I was preparing this liturgy, I found myself thinking about a man I dated years ago. Very nice man. He once told me that he believed that every word in the Bible was true. Startled, I asked him what he meant by that because I believe there are many kinds of truth: journalistic/factual truth, spiritual truth, emotional truth, etc. Plus, I worked for decades as an editor and know how easily words and meanings can get changed. And that’s not even considering two millennia of translations! It turned out that this guy believed the Bible was literal truth, that to consider anything else would be to “make God a liar.” Oh boy.
You don’t need to look further than today’s gospel to realize how problematic a literal view of scripture can be. Give the literal clothes off our backs? In this weather? And if you love your enemies doesn’t that mean you no longer have any enemies? Oh Jesus, the paradoxes you pose! They’re great at cutting through the noise in our minds and getting our attention though, aren’t they? Attention is the precursor to insight and understanding and maybe even wisdom.
Ah wisdom. The stuff of our first reading. Wisdom, our mother, our lover, our support. Wisdom, our help in making the right choices and in understanding those Zen koan-like gems Jesus offers us in the gospel. Let us lean into Woman Wisdom when life is challenging, when we’re faced with hard choices, when we’re trying to understand what Jesus is teaching us. Wisdom may require more of us than blind belief, but it gives us a much richer reward.
My beloved community, what did you hear? What will you do? What 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
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
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, Holy, Holy: Here In This Place by Christopher Grundy
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 belong here.
Communion Meditation: All Belong Here - The Many - Lyric Video
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.
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 continue to be the face of God to each other. May we call each other to extravagant generosity! May we be a blessing in our time! AMEN
Closing Song: Extravagant Love--The Many
https://youtu.be/C931lJxY_-g?si=X3KI3telVGy8Y2-c
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