phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-865
Welcome: What does God look like? A few weeks back we heard this Exodus reading and it raised more questions, as only scripture can and does. Where will these readings take us tonight?
Let us pray: Holy One, we long to see your face, to know you and to love more deeply. May this day and every day bring us closer to your mystery.
Opening song:
Ancient Words (shortened) by Michael W. Smith, video DHS
https://youtu.be/gqtEtqmjHf4?si=CRdqCFPNZsP5GwpK
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A Reading from the Book of Exodus (33:18-23)
Moses said to the YHWH, “Please show me your glory!” YHWH said, “I will make all of my goodness pass before your eyes, and I will pronounce my Name. I AM, in your presence: I will show my grace to whom I will show my grace, and I will show my compassion to whom I will show my compassion. But you cannot see my face. No human can see my face and live.”
Then YHWH said, “Look—here is a place beside me, where you can stand on a rock. When my glory passes you, I will place you in a cleft in the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. When I remove my hand you will see my back; but my face you must not see.”
These are the inspired words from the Book of Exodus, and the community affirms with AMEN!
Second Reading: A reading from “Zulu personal Declaration”
I;
I am;
I am alive;
I am conscious and aware;
I am unique;
I am who I say I am; I am the value UQOBO (essence)
I forever evolve inwardly and outwardly in response to the challenge of my nature;
I am the face of my humanity;
The face of humanity is my face.
Our community affirms these words with AMEN!
Gospel Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker – MTVideo
Gospel: A Reading from the Gospel of John 14:15-21
Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
These are the inspired words of John a disciple of Jesus. We affirm these words with AMEN!
Shared Homily
No human can see my face and live! This is one of those statements that we accept at “face” value, or we reflect and discover a little more. When you think of what God looks like what do you envision? When we were kids, we might have thought of God as that old, bearded man in the sky. Maybe we saw artwork that depicted God as an old man, or a man with thunderbolts and lightening around him. We humans need to “see” or imagine a God who fits what we think or believe. I have desperately tried not to envision God as an old man or even as a man. Maybe we cannot see God’s face because God does not have a face at least as we humans can understand.
We say God is Love, God is a Verb, we have so many ways to say what God is like. Mostly though we experience God- “in, around, and among us.” I experience God in nature, I experience God right here when we are sharing, and someone’s shared insights opens my eyes or heart in a new way. We have come to see God’s face in the experiencing of living, searching, loving and caring for each other and all creation. Or as the Zulu’s understood God…the face of humanity is God’s face! Or as the gospel says we know God’s Spirit because God is in us, remains with us and will not leave us. God is love, we receive and abide in that Love. Perhaps it is as simple as that.
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 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 prayers and blessings. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
We are a priestly people. We are anointed. With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
All: 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: Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy
All: 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
All: This bread and wine is a sign 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.
(All lift the bread)
All: Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, share, go and love one another.
(All lift the cup)
ALL: 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.
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 receive the bread and cup with the words: I receive and abide in God’s love.
Communion Song:
Imago Dei by Richard Bruxvoort Collngan
https://youtu.be/dCN4unX1K3I?si=VbyBQyF_VACccuwl
Communion prayer:
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, Amen.
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
BLESSING
Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together:
May we continue to be the Face of God to each other. May the certainty of our connectedness to one another and all creation ignite us to love more fully. May we continuously try again and again to let go and live as children of the Holy One. And like Jesus be a shining light and a blessing for all.
All: Amen.
Closing Song: Blessings by Hollow Coves (video, DHS)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.