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Welcome: Lent has begun, and we are off to the races. Only a month till Holy Week. We are all evolving and changing. We are evolving and changing together. Maybe this lent and Holy Week will be a totally new awakening for each of us.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray: Holy One, we do not know where we are going, or what is down the path. We know that you are with us always, never leaving our side. Hold us tight the world is about to turn! Amen.
Opening Song: God of Abundance by Kit Mills
LFirst Reading: A reading on missing an opportunity
This past year, Denise and Dennis and I walked the streets of Troy and passed out gloves, hats, scarf, and socks. We had water, clementines, crackers and granola bars too. As it got colder, we asked our community, friends and families to donate winter coats and other warm clothes as well. I bought a $50 grocery cart where we could put coats and wheel them through the streets. The winter clothing was greatly appreciated by everyone we encountered. On a particularly cold day we met a young man named Shawn. He was wearing a sweatshirt, no coat. He tried on several coats, but none fit very well. One was sort of a fit, but the sleeves were too short. I encouraged him to keep it because it was warmer than what he had. He would not take it and said someone else could use it more. Shawn did say he wished he had the grocery cart that we were pushing so he could collect more bottles and cans. In the moment I was focused on distributing coats, I did not “hear” his need. I missed an important opportunity. It wasn’t until I was driving home that I thought I could have given Shawn the grocery cart. I have been looking for Shawn since.
The community affirms these words with AMEN!
Gospel Acclamation: Spirit of the Living God by Michael Crawford-video by MTStreck https://youtu.be/xoJN0owUoWA
Gospel: A reading from the Gospel of a disciple known as Mark. (MK.12 41 -44)
And sitting down opposite the treasury, Jesus was watching how the crowd cast money into the contribution box. Many rich people cast in much. One poor widow, cast in two bronze coins. Calling his disciples, Jesus said to them, “Amen I say to you, the poor widow herself cast in more than all those casting in the contribution box. For all cast in from their abundance, but she from her need cast in all of whatever she had, her whole life.
The community affirms these words with AMEN!
Homily Starter: Ideas for this reflection were adapted from Amy Jill Levine’s writings in Jesus for Everyone Not Just Christians.
Jesus is in the temple, sitting in front of the Court of Women which is opposite the Treasury. There is a lesson here, just by where Jesus is choosing to sit. Jesus is sitting near the women in solidarity as he is watching the Treasury and instructing his disciples.
We often read this gospel and the gospel where Jesus is overthrowing the tables in anger, and we come to believe that the temple in general and those in authority is a “den of thieves.” We have misunderstood many stories about the temple and the authorities. All these misunderstandings have led to biases and prejudices. With all this it is easy to forget that Jesus lived and died a practicing Jew.
Yes, there were issues within the temple but overall, the temple was not exploiting those who entered, rather there were all types of safeguards for the poor. Sliding scale for sacrifices, remember Joseph and Mary had to offer only two doves or pigeons, no entry fee, and the temple tax was a half shekel. Jesus and his disciples taught in the temple. Paul was still teaching in the temple well after Jesus was crucified. If the temple and those in charge was as terrible as we have come to understand Jesus probably would have protested or at the very least boycotted the temple.
We have similar problems in our churches today. Asking members to pay for sacraments, keeping non-members from the Eucharistic table, TV evangelists and others asking people to empty their bank accts so they will receive an answer to their prayers, not to mention, churches going bankrupt destroying people’s retirements. Perhaps the worst of all are the sexual abuse scandals that have plagued not just the Roman Catholic Church but other denominations as well.
Amy Jill Levine looks at this gospel a little differently. According to her “the problem in this gospel is not the temple or the authorities but poverty itself.”
We have the same problems today with poverty that Jesus was pointing out…the rich are giving from their abundance the widow is giving from her need. Billionaires pay proportionately less taxes than everyone else. We hear phrases such as “the poor(immigrants) should work harder, pull themselves up out of poverty, and stop relying on welfare. We are talking about first world poverty issues here…third world poverty is even worse, look at the Sudan, India, Gaza and so many other places. And we all recall that Jesus reminded us that the poor will always be with us.
If we focus on the widow’s poverty as Amy Jill Levine suggests, the last verse and the last three words sums up Jesus’ entire teaching then and now.
The widow cast in ALL that she had HER WHOLE LIFE! I had never caught that before- she gave her whole life.
This was her mission and therefore our mission. The most important commandment of all---Love your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, with ALL your mind and ALL your strength…and to love your neighbor as oneself. This commandment is in the Jewish, Muslim, Christian traditions and taught in many ways in other traditions as well.
When I missed the opportunity to give Shawn the grocery cart, I was focused on passing out coats, (a good deed for sure) but not focused on Shawn who was standing right in front of me.
We don’t have to empty out our bank accts, or go to bed hungry like so many, but we can strive to stay awake, and aware of opportunities to give our all in this and every moment.
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.
Prayers for the community.
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Presider: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Eucharistic Prayer for Lent
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of everything that has ever existed. Through your goodness you set this universe in motion. Through ages and eons, you have called your creation to become, and we are becoming.
You called our brother Jesus into the wilderness of the desert, and there you revealed to him his own path of becoming, and he called his friends to follow.
During this season of Lent, let us enter into the wilderness of our own lives. Let us rest there with open eyes and hearts, as you reveal to each of us the path that we are called to.
In great joy and gratitude, we join with friends living now and with those living in eternity. Together we celebrate the continuing evolution of our becoming, as we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Peter Mayer - ideo by Denise Hackert-Stoner
We thank you for Jesus, who in word and action reminded us of who we are, and who we are called to be.
Through his compassion for the least among us he showed us what love looks like.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
The bread and wine on this table have been blessed by air, water, and soil to become the gifts before us today. We bless them together once more, and gratefully receive them, for they come from you, Holy One.
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for supper with the people closest to him. Like a household slave, he washed their feet, so that they would remember him.
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)
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)
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.
Please receive Communion with the words….May I be aware and give my whole life.
Communion Meditation/Song: Every Step of the Way by Christopher Grundy
Prayer after communion
Holy One, like Jesus, we are willing to enter the wilderness of our lives, opening ourselves to you and to the path of our own becoming. Like Jesus, we want to be the people you created us to be. We want to live compassionate lives, bringing hope to many, simply by being true to our best selves.
We open ourselves to your Spirit, especially during this holy season of Lent, and we call on that Spirit to fill us with your life and purpose, as we join with our brother Jesus in giving you unending gratitude. 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 always know we are created to love and care for one another.
We are co-creators and stand in solidarity with every person and all creation.
May our name be a blessing in our time. Amen
Closing Song: Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
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