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Welcome: Welcome to our liturgy as we celebrate Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. As we gather this morning let’s consider how Jesus was called to go to Jerusalem and ask ourselves how Jerusalem might be calling us.
Opening Prayer
Holy One, as prophets call to us from ages past, and as they call to us today, open our ears so we will listen. Open our minds so we will understand. Open our hearts so we will follow.
Opening Song: Invocation by Christopher Grundy
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A reading from the Gospel writer known Luke (Lk.13:31-33)
At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
These are the words of the Gospel writer known as Luke. We affirm these words by saying, Amen.
Gospel Acclamation: Spirit of the Living God by Michael Crawford-video by MTStreck
Gospel: A reading from the Gospel writer known as Matthew (Mt. 26:1-11)
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
These are the words of the Gospel writer known as Mark. We affirm these words by saying, Amen.
Homily Starter
Her brother and sister-in-law begged her to come home. She had received death threats from ranchers and loggers in response to her work as a defender of the Amazon forests and the farmers who tilled that land. But she stayed. She spoke out for the land and its people. The only thing that stopped her were the bullets of her assassin. The rainforest and its people were Dorothy Stang's Jerusalem.
His staff told him not to go. He was already over extended, exhausted. And recent violence in the city made him have second thoughts himself. But his call to civil rights was stronger than fear so he went. The only thing that stopped him was an assassin's bullet. Memphis was Martin Luther King Jr.'s Jerusalem.
He was warned. Don't go there. "Herod wants to kill you." But he was called as a prophet of the Kin-dom. He was called as an advocate for the poor, the prisoner, the sinner, the cast-offs of society. He was called to heal people wounded in body, mind, and spirit. The Kin-dom of God and all who are trying to build it called to him in voices that drowned out that warning. So, he came. And he didn't come quietly. As Passover approached and Rome planned parade and pageantry to remind the people who was in charge, he entered the city with his own parade. He entered with singing. He entered with Hosannas. He entered with a throng of supporters. He couldn't have been more obvious if he tried. And there he taught, and preached, gathered people together, and boldly spoke out against injustice and abuse. The only thing that stopped him was the cross. Jesus was called to Jerusalem by the cry of the poor.
Dorothy. Martin. Jesus. They did what they were called to do. Each went to their Jerusalem. And it cost them. There are so many Jerusalem’s. So many ways to be called. So many ways to love this world into life. And every call, every Jerusalem, demands a price. Is there a Jerusalem calling you? And on this day above all others, I ask, what will you do in response to that call? And what will it cost you?
Statement of Faith
All: 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 unspoken concerns. Amen.
With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
O Nurturing, Mothering one, you are always with us. We are grateful for Your constant loving and unconditional presence. At times we forget that You are holding us, attending to us. We fall and you pick us up. You send strangers, friends and family to our aid. We are never without Your Light and Spirit.
We experience great joy and we experience great pain and suffering. You are with us in the joy and the pain and suffering. When we experience Your presence, we long to sing our hymn of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker
Creator and Lover of all beings, we cannot grow in the darkness of this world without Your Light. Our desire to be in Your light is a gift from You. Help us keep our hearts and minds open to You through our love and care for each other and all creation.
Please extend your hands in blessing
This bread and this wine are signs of your nourishment and a sign of your great love. Your Spirit is upon us and we belong to you and one another.
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, revealing us as one with you, and all creation.
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for the supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet. Once again, he showed us how to love one another.
Back at the table, he took the Passover Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying,
Take and eat, this is my very self.
Then he took the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink of the covenant
Made new again through my life in you.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
Bread and wine are transformed by your Spirit and we are transformed when we open ourselves to your Spirit. Every time we share this bread and wine we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as you love us.
As we celebrate and recognize you in this bread and wine we love and recognize you in each other. We are filled with gratitude and joy. Glory and Praise to you both now and forever. Amen
Through Jesus, we have learned how to live.
Through Jesus, we have learned how to love.
Through Jesus, we have learned how to serve.
AMEN.
Please receive communion with the words “How does Jerusalem call you?”
Communion Meditation: Jerusalem My Destiny – sung by St. Vincent Choir – Solo: Dennis McDonald
Loving Source of our being, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We live justly, we love tenderly, we walk with integrity in Your Presence.
Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
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 Prayer of Jesus as adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
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.
Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together:
May we hear the small still voice that calls us to the Jerusalem that needs us. And may we have the courage to respond. Amen.
Closing Song: Anthem by Tom Conry
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