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Welcome to our liturgy this evening. We gather in love, with a commitment to live in the hope that God’s Beloved Community will grow among us and beyond. Today, we reflect on the wisdom given by our teacher Jesus that is echoed throughout many scripture writings and by our modern-day human guides.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, we call upon you to open the ears of our heart so that we may answer your call to speak and act with loving integrity.
Opening Song: God Beyond All Names. By Bernadette Farrell. Video by Dr. Benie Sy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkPG-qiwsBY&list=RDxkPG-qiwsBY&start_radio=1
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Excerpt from the writings of Henri J. Nouwen
This brief lifetime is my opportunity to receive love, deepen love, grow in love and give love … Human existence is fundamentally a sacred window to engage in divine and human love. What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love. The more I think about the human suffering in our world and my desire to offer a healing response, the more I realize how crucial it is not to allow myself to become paralyzed by feelings of helplessness and guilt. More important than ever is to be very faithful to my vocation to do well the few things I am called to do and hold on to the joy and peace they bring me. I must resist the temptation to let the forces of darkness pull me into despair and make me one more of their many victims.
These are the words of Henri J. Nouwen, and we affirm them by saying AMEN!
Second Reading: A reading from a Letter to the Ephesians 4:1-4; 7; 11-13
I plead with you in the name of our Redeemer, to lead a life worthy of your calling. Treat one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness, and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the peace that binds you together … just as you were called into one hope. Each of us has received God’s grace in the measure in which Christ has bestowed it. To some, the gift they were given is that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some evangelists; to some pastors and teachers. These gifts were given to fully equip works of service and to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
These are the words attributed to the Apostle Paul and we affirm them with Amen
Scripture Acclamation: More Light: By Christopher Gundy; Video by MT Streck
Gospel: A reading according to the writer we know as Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered and began to plot how they might trap Jesus with his speech. One of them, an expert on the law asked a question to trick him: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He replied, “You shall love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the entire law and the prophets as well.”
These are the words of the writer we know as Matthew and our community affirms them with AMEN.
Homily Starter:
When asked what the single greatest commandment in each of the other synoptic gospels (Luke 27:10 Mark 12:30-31) the answer is fundamentally the same. Not one, but both the first and second laws flow through one another from God the Creator to self and others. Rather than being separate edicts they are inter-dependent on each other and become the source for a loving inclusive way to live our lives. The love connection is the truest sense of belonging.
This is a theme echoed among many of Henri Nouwen’s writings to address spiritual loneliness as a deep longing and search for home. Brené Brown was cited this week in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations acknowledging her personal dilemma and source of her own inner turmoil: “Spiritual homesickness has been a constant in my life. It was not an everyday experience, but a predictable and always reoccurring desperation to find a sense of sacredness within me, not outside of me: my soul, my home, God in me.”
The necessity for sustained connection to the oneness of creation is possible through a spiritual life in which you gradually learn to listen to a deep, soft, and gentle inner voice. It is the unifying call that Jesus also heard at his baptism, “You are the beloved, and my favour rests on you.” Hearing a call to earn favour is building a relationship with God and our fellow human beings.
As mentioned in the letter to the Ephesians, countless forms of ministerial service exist as opportunities to demonstrate our unique gifts. This is the key message given in the second reading. If we open ourselves to hear that voice speaking truth, it can help to tell us who we are and becomes a bridge to heal all wounds and fulfill the vision that Jesus brought to humankind.
Please share insights that resonated for you.
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 bring to the table our prayers and intentions for the community:
We pray for these and all unspoken prayers of our hearts. AMEN.
Eucharistic Prayer:
Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of all creation. Through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We open our awareness to the goodness of all of creation giving thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.
We remember our responsibility to serve and accept your invitation to build the earth into a community of love rooted in justice.
In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all the faithful servants who have gone before us and we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Peter Mayer, video my Denise Hackert-Stoner
Holy One, slowly this world is moving toward oneness. Your pattern of Love is in everything and there are messages of Love in every pattern. Help us to stand with each other in love and suffering. The pain of one, is the pain of all. May we co-create with You and restore balance and harmony in our world.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he died Jesus did more than ask us to remember him. He showed us how to live when he washed the feet of his friends.
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 of the Bread of Life given to strengthen you.
(pause)
Jesus then raised a cup of blessing, spoke the grace 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.
(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 so we may proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace.
Please receive this communion with the words: “God and I are united in Divine love.”
Communion Meditation: Song Like a Seed by Sara Thomsen - Video by Denise
https://youtu.be/5CXoyhfSo4Y?si=OSPp7em1Oz54VJa2
Prayer After Communion:
Holy One, your transforming energy is within us, and we join our hearts with all who are working for a just world. We are willing to follow the Way of Jesus, to re-create the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates suffering, of a joy that generates hope, of a light that illumines people and confronts darkness of every injustice and inequity.
Loving Source of our being, we are called to live the gospel of peace, love and kindness. This is our faith, to embrace life, to increase love, to have courage to be, and walk into the mystery of your presence.
We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to awaken your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, at this time and all ways. AMEN.
Prayer of Jesus:
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.
Adapted from Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together:
Holy One, we know you as the voice of kindness within us and the constant hope that lives in our hearts. We are grateful for the gifts of your Spirit. You planted the seeds for life to bring forth beauty and balance out of chaos so that we might truly be brought together as one people.
And like Jesus, standing where he stood, and for what he stood, and with whom he stood, we are united in your Spirit, now and forever. AMEN.
Closing Song: Grateful: A Love Song to the World by Empty Hands Music https://youtu.be/sO2o98Zpzg8?si=cUbeCx3bdPMXGtVu
Resources:
Photo Credit:
Dr. Benie Sy from his video God Beyond All Names. Music by Bernadette Farrell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkPG-qiwsBY&list=RDxkPG-qiwsBY&start_radio=1
Readings:
Henri Nouwen (1932-1996). Dutch-born priest, professor, theologian, spiritual writer of more than 40 books among his many endeavours: 2017 Book - You Are the Beloved: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living; Numerous YouTube videos including https://youtu.be/faQXF33rQuk?si=cSiOqWdBvUtqm86u
Letter to the Ephesians and Gospel writing by Matthew are from The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation. Priests for Equality. (2007).
Other:
Brené Brown quote - cited this week in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations – Week 41
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQhWxTDKKrvqnlpSwqDtfGNxZdJ
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