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| Higher Calling by Mary Ann Matthys |
Higher Calling by Mary Ann Matthys
Welcome: Good morning and welcome the Upper Room. Today is the second
Sunday in the 50-day season of Easter. “Doubting Thomas” meets the
Resurrected Jesus today. What a wonderful time for us to be together in
order to consider what he has to teach us. Like Thomas we can be
transformed by Jesus as we face fear, uncertainty and confusion in our
lives and in the world.
Opening Song: Christ Be Our Light
https://youtu.be/nn7Hl6ki9z8?si=-Dh22Kx0X2g3q06k
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Wounds by Diana Butler Bass
On the Sunday following Easter, many Christians read the story known as “Doubting Thomas” about the disciple who just couldn’t believe that Jesus had appeared to his friends after the crucifixion.
The emphasis of this text is on seeing and believing. On this particular Sunday, however, I’m struck by the touching of the wounds. Perhaps the heaviness of the world right now draws my attention toward those wounds. Jesus, the one whom Christians believe to be the Son of God, is wounded. Still. After death. Beyond resurrection. We have a wounded God, a vulnerable God, who bears brokenness even on a spiritual body.
The wounded God and the wounded world touch.
It is a stunning theological idea — the wounded God. Sharing our woundedness takes us from doubt to belief, from fear to trust. To peace.
These are the inspired words of theologian, Diana Butler Bass and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Second Reading: Excerpt from Faith After Doubt by Brian McLaren
Blessed are the curious, for their curiosity honors reality.
Blessed are the uncertain and those with second thoughts, for their minds are still open.
Blessed are the wonderers, for they shall find what is wonderful.
Blessed are those who question their answers, for their horizons will expand forever.
Blessed are the those who often feel foolish, for they are wiser than those who always
think themselves wise.
Blessed are those who are scolded, suspected and labelled as heretics by the gatekeepers,
for the prophets and mystics were treated in the same way by the gatekeepers of their day.
Blessed are those who know their unknowing, for they shall have the last laugh.
Blessed are the perplexed, for they have reached the frontiers of contemplation.
Blessed are they who become cynical about their cynicism and suspicious of their
suspicion, for they will enter the second innocence.
Blessed are the doubters, for they shall see through false gods.
Blessed are the lovers, for they shall see God everywhere.
These are the inspired words of Brian McLaren and the community affirms them by saying, Amen.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia by Jan Phillips
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw?si=PXy5PyEmT6RQSkps
Gospel: A reading from the gospel attributed to John (20:19-31)
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked
where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nail in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.
Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be
with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out
your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My
Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
These are the inspired words of the gospel writer known as John and the community
affirms them by saying: Amen.
Shared Homily
The gospel of John was written around 90-100 CE. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, and the religious and political dangers and tensions were at a fever pitch.
Poor Thomas is branded as the “doubting” for all of Christian history. Yet isn’t doubt in the face of an absurd premise reasonable? “Our dead leader is alive” they claimed. Why would anyone expect him to believe this at face value? The tendency to doubt is healthy and valued by mystics and reformers as the path to personal spiritual growth and communal transformation. Faith (trust in relationship) and doubt ( questioning within
the relationship) are on the same side of the spiritual coin. Apathy (disengaged) is on the other side.
When Jesus invites Thomas to physically inspect his wounds it is the wounded God in intimate relationship to the wounded person. Jesus had breathed the holy spirit on the community mirroring back to God breathing life into Adam. The idea is that the new creation, the followers of Christ will carry both life and wounds as they live the gospel. This doesn’t mean that believers that come later must believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus and not be a “doubting Thomas”. It means so much more than the reanimation of a corpse. The idea is that people will be in the right place (blessed) if they have a personal real relationship with the Risen One who retained his wounds.
Like Thomas, this real experience may lead us to proclaim Jesus as the lord and God in our lives. How do we ask this 2026 generation to find hope and comfort in faith? I seems to be another absurd premise. Still, I choose faith. I do not wrestle with the historicity of the resurrection. I seek communion and union with the Living Christ. I believe that through prayer, mediation, deep devotion to community, living an examined life and creativity, we are resurrected daily. For me, brother Jesus is more than a crucified religious and social reformer. He is a real part of the divine mystery. We do not need to be “woundless” or without doubts. We pick up our faith and doubts, tuck them under our arms and carry it all forward to help heal a hurting world. Just like Jesus.
What did you hear? Please share your inspirational thoughts.
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
Presider: 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 blessings, cares and concerns.
Intentions shared
We bring these and all deeply held blessings, cares, and concerns to the table of friendship and peace.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Presider: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together:
O Holy One, you have been called by many names by many people in the centuries of our planet’s life. Yet, no name truly defines you or describes you. We celebrate you as the marvelous, loving energy of life who caused us and our world to be. We celebrate you as the Source of light and life and love, and we celebrate your presence and all-ways care.
O Holy One, we stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history – a time when humanity must choose its future.
As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future holds both peril and great promise.
May we recognize that, in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms, we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.
United with our vast universe, with our Mother-Planet and her people everywhere, with one another and You, Holy One, our spirits dance and sing this song of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in this Place – Holy Holy Holy – with lyrics
We give grateful thanks for those who came before us, for all those who gave from their hearts, who gave from their lives, that there might be a better world, a safer world, a kinder world, we pray for peace in their name.
And for the children, that they may live, that they may have children of their own and that it will go on - this great blossoming that is meant to go on and on – we pray for peace, in their name.
And for all peoples of this earth who have no voice in this,
For the animals that have no voice in this,
For the plants, the trees, the flowers that have no voice in this,
For all who share this earth with us, we pray for peace in their name.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus. He showed us so simply, so tenderly, how the world is in our hands. He had nothing in this world but your love, companions on the journey, and his very self. Together, that was more than enough, and that remains our clarity in the midst of confusion: the miracle of healing, new hope, nurturance, nourishment, liberation and life.
Presider: Please extend your hands in blessing.
All: Your Spirit is here in us and in the gifts of this Eucharistic table. May we become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world.
Presiders stand at table, Presider 1 lifts bread.
On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at the Seder 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.
All lift their plate and pray the following:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat; this is my very self.
All lift their cup and pray the following:
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.
Please consume the bread and drink the cup with the words:
Communion Song: Holy Spirit Living Breath of God
https://youtu.be/L6zvC_Xu-RE?si=ch9iqDCteOx4RDFm
Prayer After Communion
Loving Source of All, we have looked for others to save us and to save our world. Yet, we are called, and consecrated and sent into the world to establish justice and show the blessed fulfillment that comes with simplicity and the giving of ourselves in love. We will make new our commitment to the harmony of the original vision of creation.
We will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and our small circles. Like Jesus, in all openness, we will be filled with your own Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
For it is through learning to live as he lived,
And why he lived,
And for whom he lived,
That we awaken to your Spirit within,
Moving us to worship you truly,
O Holy One,
At this time and all time and in all ways.
And we say yes to You!
Presider: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
All: 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 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 (Miriam Therese Winter)
BLESSING
Presider: Let us raise our hands in blessing:
Practice Resurrection.
Live fully…deeply.
Die the same way.
Embrace the “And”
Trusting the cycle.
It’s a new day.
Everything is up for grabs,
Say “Yes” to “No.”
After death comes rebirth.
Practice Resurrection.
(Written by Mary Ann Matthys, Upper Room Priest)
Presider: As we pray our closing song together we are each called by name.
Closing Song: Return to Love
https://youtu.be/gB-Yxy5BTGQ?si=78GGJNiHefvvasU1
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