Opening Prayer: Holy One, you sent Jesus to show us how much we are cared for and loved. We go astray and you find us, calling each of us to a loving relationship with you and each other. What more do we need! Amen.
Opening Song: More Light by Christopher Gundy video by MTStreck
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Psalm 23
O my Beloved, You are my shepherd, I shall not want; You bring me to green pastures for rest and lead me bedside still waters renewing my spirit; You restore my soul. You lead me in the path of goodness to follow Love’s way.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow and of death, I am not afraid; For you are ever with me; your rod and your staff they guide me, they give me strength and comfort. You prepare a table before me in the presence of all my fears; you bless me with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the heart of the Beloved forever. Amen.
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 Gospel reading according to the writer known as Luke.
Who among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, doesn’t leave the 99 in the open pasture and search for the lost one until its’ found? And finding it you put the sheep on your shoulders in jubilation! Once home you invite friends and neighbors in and say to them: “Rejoice with me!” I’ve found my lost sheep. I tell you in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.
The community affirms these words with AMEN!
Homily Starter: We are about halfway to Holy Week. As children we heard a lot about sin during Lent. We were expected to fast and repent. We had to give up our favorite things, like candy, to increase the likelihood of making personal improvements or worse being good enough to get into heaven.
This Gospel starts out with the distress of losing and with the joy of the finding the lost sheep. We have equated the shepherd to God or Jesus being on the lookout for us as we stray and once, he finds us we know we are loved and cared for always. I wish this parable ended right there.
The last verse that the author Luke added changes the focus. The lost sheep is compared to a sinner in need of repentance. It implies that once we repent of our sins then there is joy in heaven!
Amy Jill Levine writes “the problem for us is that many of us today hear the word sinner and think only in religious categories. The sinner is the one who “breaks the Law,” but the “Law becomes understood not in terms of “Love your neighbor as yourself,” but in terms of earning one’s way into heaven, a form of legalism. Be good enough, repent, sin
no more and heaven awaits.
If we let go of the (religious or institutional) legal definition of sin, we see another deeper meaning of the lost sheep. When we lose something, anything we love, we search for a solution. Our hearts ache until we find what we have lost. Unfortunately, there will always be losses. The best we can do is put effort into the finding.
We are seekers and finders. We are not “sinners”, who need to repent but “sheep” who belong to the “flock”. We lose and find each other. When we are in community, “loving our neighbor as ourselves” we help others and ourselves realize no one is an “outcast”. We are together and we are complete again. We are whole again, and then, we really do have a reason to rejoice.
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 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.
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Presider: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
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, Holy by Peter Mayer shortened
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….I am never really lost.
Communion Song: Shepherd me O God Marty Haugen https://youtu.be/wdiusy9YUYc?si=kws8eFpGZaQ1jFZH
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 experience the Holy One who is every watchful, walking with us, and holding us in love. We are one community, one flock, standing together in God’s love. May today and everyday be filled with joy and peace. Amen.
Closing Song: Blessings by Hollow Coves (video, DHS)
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