Opening Prayer: We recall the ministry of Jesus focused on bringing justice and equality to those who were oppressed and voiceless. As we join in prayer this evening may we commit to living a life that keeps justice and compassion uppermost in our mind.May we embrace the divine nature with which we are born, leading us to be voices for the voiceless, for the forgotten, for the oppressed in our society.May our efforts be blessed by the Spirit of Life and Love.Amen.
Reading: From the “Jesus and the Disinherited” by Howard Thurman
“The life working paper of the individual is made up of a creative synthesis of what the man is in all his parts and how he reacts to the living process. It is wide of the mark to say that a man’s working paper is ever wrong; it may not be fruitful, it may be negative, but it is never wrong. For such a judgement would imply that the synthesis is guaranteed to be of a certain kind, of a specific character, resulting in a foreordained end.
It can never be determined just what a man will fashion. Always, then, there is the miracle of the working paper. Wherever there appears in human history a personality whose story is available and whose reach extends far, in all directions, the question of his working paper is as crucial as is the significance of his life. We want to know what were the lines along which he decides to live his life. How did he relate himself to the central issues of his time? What were the questions which he had to answer? Was he under some necessity to give a universal character to his most private experience?
Our attention is drawn to such a figure because of the impact which his life makes upon human history. For what is human history but man’s working paper as he rides high to life caught often in the swirling eddies of tremendous impersonal forces set in motion by vast impulses out of the womb of the Eternal. When a solitary individual is able to mingle his strength with the forces of history and emerge with a name, a character, a personality, it is no ordinary achievement.
Such a figure was Jesus of Nazareth. To some he is the grand prototype of all the distilled longing of mankind for fulfillment, for wholeness, for perfection. To some he is the humanity, yielding healing for the sicky of body and soul, giving a lift to those whom weariness has overtaken in the long march, and calling out hidden purposes of destiny which are the common heritage. To some he is more than a Presence, he is the God fact, the Divine Moment in human sin and misery. To still others he is a man who found the answer to life’s riddle, and out of a profound gratitude he becomes the Man most worthy of honor and praise. For such his answer becomes humanity’s answer and his life the common claim. In him the miracle of the working paper if writ large, for what he did all men may do. Thus interpreted, he belongs to no age, no race, no creed. When men look into his face, they see etched the glory of their own possibilities, and their hearts whisper, “Thank you and thank God”.
Silent Reflection:
Affirmations and Intentions:
Warrior-Spirit Prayer of Awakening. . . . Response – May it be so.
May all beings be granted with the strength, determination, and wisdom to extinguish anger and reject violence as a way. Response – May it be so.
May all suffering cease and may I seek, find, and fully realize the love and compassion that already lives within me and allow them to inspire and permeate my every action. Response – May it be so.
May I exercise the precious gift of choice and the power to change [as] that which makes me uniquely human and is the only true path to liberation. Response – May it be so.
May I swiftly reach complete, effortless freedom so that my fearless, unhindered action be of benefit to all. Response – May it be so.
May I lead the life of a warrior. Response – May it be so.
-Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Sensei
Silence to add your own intentions.
Closing Prayer:Joyce Rupp
May we go forward this day with faith knowing our hard work and endless efforts have enriched and helped those we serve. Each time we look at our hands may we find a reason to hope, remembering all the good they have done. May the blessing of the Holy One enfold you and enhance your life with gratitude and respect. Amen.
Welcome and Theme (Kim):Our theme today is our personal commitment and own inner transformation.It is through this decision and inner journey that we can live the vision of St. Francis. As he approached his own transition, his last recorded words to his brothers were: “I have done what is mine to do, and now you must do what is yours to do.”
Opening Prayer (Suzanne):Today, Creator of the Universe, I ask that you help me to accept myself just the way I am, without judgment. Help me to accept my mind the way it is, with all my emotions, my hopes and dreams, my personality, my unique way of being. Help me to accept my body just the way it is, with all its beauty and perfection. Let the love I have for myself be so strong that I never again reject myself or sabotage my happiness, freedom, and love.~ Adapted from prayerist.com
First Reading: (Denise): A reading from Edwina Gately
You are called to become
A perfect creation.
No one else is called to become
Who you are called to be.
It does not matter
How short or tall
Or thick-set or slow
You may be.
It does not matter
Whether you sparkle with life
Or are as silent as a still pool.
Whether you sing your song aloud
Or weep alone in darkness.
It does not matter
Whether you feel loved and admired
Or unloved and alone
For you are called to become
A perfect creation.
No one's shadow
Should cloud your becoming.
No one's light
Should dispel your spark.
For the Holy One delights in you,
jealously looks upon you
And encourages with gentle joy
Every movement of the Spirit
Within you.
Unique and loved you stand.
Beautiful or stunted in your growth
But never without hope and life.
For you are called to become
A perfect creation.
This becoming may be
Gentle or harsh.
Subtle or violent.
But it never ceases.
Never pauses or hesitates.
Only is—
Creative force—
Calling you
Calling you to become
A perfect creation.
These are the inspired words of contemporary prophet and poet, Edwina Gateley, adapted from her poem,Called to Become. The community affirms them by saying:Amen
Second Reading (Mary Brandon): A reading from the first letter to the Corinthians(1 Cor 2:12-14, 27)
Brothers and sisters:
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Now the body is not a single part, but many.
You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.
Alleluia
Gospel (Jim): A reading from the Gospel writer known as Luke (Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21)
Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events
that have been fulfilled among us,
just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning
and ministers of the word have handed them down to us,
I too have decided,
after investigating everything accurately anew,
to write it down in an orderly sequence for you,
most excellent Theophilus,
so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings
you have received.
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
These are the inspired words of the person who gives us the Gospel of Luke, and we affirm them by saying AMEN.
Shared Homily - Kim Panaro
As we begin today we will take a moment in silence in honor of Buddhist teacher, monk and activist, Thich Nhat Hanh. This humble man transitioned to his new life this past Friday at age 95. His wisdom, words and teachings have blessed this community on many occasions.
Catholic christianity has had a blurry view of self-love . We are called to see the Divine in the poor, the widow, the orphan,the captive, our neighbors, the oppressed and even theflowers, rocks ,waterfalls and caterpillars. The Divine is in all things and all of Creation. However, we are not really encouraged to fully embrace love for ourselves. We are cautioned against pride and encouraged to be humble. But true humility is looking authentically and bravely at the whole truth not just the traditional “Lord I am not worthy” self-hating one. Paul tells us that there are many parts of the body and they are all valuable. By this, we could try to feel ok about being a pinky toe instead of a brain. But it can be tempting toharbor sadness or regret because brains seem more valuable. In my view it allows us toresign ourselves to differences but I don’t think it does much to increaseself-love. It is through compassionate self love that we can share authentic love with others.
Our poem from Edwina Gateley encourages us to see the perfection to which we are individually called. Not someone else’s vision of perfect, but the best version of ourselves. That’s it, that is all there is.There is no ideal to which we must aspire but aspire we must. So, let’s look at the path the gospel writer we know has Luke sets forth.
Step one is the decision. Jesus was first baptized in the Jordan, making an adult and free will commitment to turn all of his life and efforts toward God.In doing so and in prayer, he awakened to the anointing of the Spirit. Imagine how radically different things would be if we woke up every morning simply saying “The Spirit of God is upon me and I am anointed”. That awareness alone would sever some ties to feelings of being broken, defective, fraudulent or incomplete.
Step 2 is the the testing in the desert. Jesus went to face , as we heard last week from Clare Julian, the ego.The temptations of greed and power are but a few.How about the temptation toward gossip, shopping/eating/drinking/sexual behaviors as substitutes for authentic relationships with ourselves and others, the temptation to give in to fear not trust, the tendency to protect our image by blaming and judging others for our own shortcomings.These are a tiny handful of normal human ego struggles. Jesus’ temptations, following his commitment in baptism teach us the critical step, the non-negotiable necessity to self examine with open hearts and minds. Not in order to see that we are really rotten at the core. Quite the opposite, it is to humbly and without hesitation, embrace the whole of our humanity. It increases self-love to embrace the example of our brother Jesus in the desert. This step mirrors Thich Nhat Hanh when he said “ For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them”. This must include what we believe about others as well asourselves .
Third, our gospel today from Luke shows us Jesus quoting Isaiah in the temple. He declares that his path is not about sacrifices in the temple and following rules. It is Love in Action. Period.We are each called in our own way, with our own unique gifts, to a perfection that fully embraces our shadows,temptations, the missteps. When I was at the College of St Rose in 1982 studyingChristology,The teacher, a priest said, “Jesus was misquoted. He surely must have said to love yourself as you love others since that is a much harder and brave step”.
So, Luke’s prescription is personal commitment, self-examination and ministry rooted in love of self, others and the Divine.
What did you hear in the readings today?
Statement of Faith (Mary T. and Joan)
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
Suzanne:As we prepare for the sacred meal, we lay our stoles upon the table as a sign that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. Please voice your intentions beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…..”
Suzanne: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Kim: Let us pray our Eucharistic prayer with open hearts and hands:
We are grateful for our brother Jesus teaching us the way of compassion through entering into the suffering of others. May we care for ourselves as Jesus cared for us, seeing humanity through the eyes of “Love”. Through his loving eyes we are healed and we open our hearts to the pain and suffering of others.
Because of your empowering unconditional loving Presence Beloved, we are aware of your presence in and among us. Your love radiates from our hearts, minds, and bodies. The nurturance of ourselves and one another empowers your embodied presence. “We are not the survival of the fittest but the survival of the nurtured.” (Cozolino)
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.
In gratitude and joy we embrace our calling and we lift our voices to proclaim a song of praise:
Suzanne: Holy One, you speak to our hearts and say “I don’t need anything from you for me to love you - I don’t need you to evolve for me to love you - I don’t need you to grow for me to love you - I don’t need you to succeed for me to love you - I will stay with you in any circumstance. I was here at the beginning, I am here in the middle, I will be here in the end.There is nothing you can do to lose me.” “Just your being is love to me”.
We thank you for Jesus who heard the Divine voice of deep love for him as “this is my beloved son”. Jesus showed us a path to comforting ourselves as the Divine Beloved would comfort us and as we would nurture our own children, family and friends. May we hear God’s voice as Jesus did to love and forgive ourselves so that we may more fully love and forgive each other.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
Kim: We call upon your Spirit that is present in us at this Eucharistic table. We are grateful for the bread and wine that remind us of our call to be the light of Christ to the world.
Presiders stand at the table
Suzanne: On the night before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his friends.He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
Suzanne lifts plate as the community prays the following:
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.
Kimlifts the cup as community prays the following:
Kim: 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)
Please receive Communion with the words:
Let us share this bread and cup with love in our hearts.
Communion Meditation/Song: Return to Love by Andrea Bocelli & Ellie Goulding
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
Kim:Let us raise our hands in blessing pray together:
Today is a new beginning. Help us to start our lives over beginning today with the power of self-love. Help us to enjoy life, to enjoy relationships, to explore life, to take risks, to be alive and to no longer live in fear of love. Let us open our hearts to the love that is our birthright. Help us to become grateful, generous, and loving so that we can share this gift with all of Creation forever and ever. Amen. ~ Adapted from prayerist.com
Welcome: We come together this evening to celebrate the many gifts of community membership, knowing that however diverse, we are unified in the one Spirit of God that makes us whole and holy. As we yearn to be like Jesus in using our gifts, we recognize that we can fulfill the promise of scripture as he does.
Let us pray our Opening Prayer: There is a burning bush in each of us, Holy One. It is the flame of Your presence in all our ordinary moments. Your indwelling Spirit makes the days of our lives into opportunities for sacred encounter. Each burning bush moment, each precious epiphany enfolds us more closely within your embrace and makes us whole together as One. Amen. (adapted from Joyce Rupp)
The body is one, even though it has many parts; all the parts — many though they are— comprise a single body. And so it is with Christ. It was by one Spirit that all of us, whether we are Jews or Greeks, slaves or citizens, were baptized into one body. All of us have been given to drink of the one Spirit.
You then are the body of Christ and each of you is a member of it. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members share its joy. Furthermore, God has set up in the church, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then miracle workers, healers, assistants, administrators and those who speak in tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles or have the gift of healing
Do all speak in tongues, or do all have the gift of interpretation of tongues?
These are the inspired words of Paul and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Second Reading: A reading from Circle of Grace by Jan Richardson
Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light
Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable
who bear witness to
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow and grief.
Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes —
your heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope,
in love that illumines
every broken thing
it finds.
These are the inspired words of Jan Richardson and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Gospel: A Reading from the Gospel of Luke(4: 14-21)
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee where his reputation spread throughout the region. He was teaching in the synagogues and all were loud in their praise.
Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. Entering the synagogue on the Sabbath, as was his habit, Jesus stood to do the reading. When the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed him, he unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
“The Spirit of our God is upon me:
Because the Most High has anointed me
To bring Good News to those who are poor.
God has sent me to proclaim liberty to those held
captive,
recovery of sight to those who are blind,
and release to those in prison,
and to proclaim the year of our God’s favor.”
Rolling up the scroll, Jesus gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he said to them, “Today in your hearing, this scripture passage is fulfilled.”
These are the inspired words of the gospel author known as Luke and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
(Pause)
Shared Homily: Our first reading reminds us how we have more in common with each other than we have differences. The Spirit that moves every person actually rejoices in our distinctions, and our differences which are essential to the whole and cannot overcome our commonality, our unity. Interestingly, it is baptism that signifies us as becoming part of the whole — with no mention of original sin (a doctrine that will not come until centuries later).
Does anyone else sense a contradiction in what Paul offers about our gifts being equally important and honored and the hierarchy he suggests in which apostles and prophets come before lesser miracle workers and healers?The human temptation to hierarchy in Paul’s ancient times remains today, proving that the Spirit and we have more work to do…
Our second reading speaks directly to you and me and offers an admiring view of us as people who use our gifts to make ordinary moments and burning bush moments filled with holy possibility. Can we really believe in our hearts as a chapel and our hope and faith as persistent? When we can, we have the Spirit to light up a moment in time, to spread joy, comfort and hope to our loved ones, acquaintances and strangers. I imagine Jesus must have been like that all the time, even to the end of his earthly life as he comforted the thieves being crucified on either side of him.
No wonder the eyes of everyone in Luke’s gospel are on Jesus who reads Isaiah’s words about “the Spirit of our God is upon me” from Isaiah written five centuries earlier. He sits back down and proclaims “today in your hearing, this scripture passage is fulfilled”.There are two parts of this statement and together, they are astonishing.
The first part, “today in your hearing” indicates that the sharing of community in the good news is essential to its fulfillment. No one, not even Jesus can bear the light into the dark by oneself. The second part of what Jesus says, “the Spirit of God is upon me” traditionally has been taken to mean that he is stating he is the Messiah but it is heard by Jews of Jesus’ time in the context of the rest of Isaiah in which the Servant of God means the “people of Israel as a whole called to teach and enlighten, to be examples of justice and faith’ to all the world. (The Inclusive Bible footnotes in First Isaiah).
To hear Jesus say that the promise of Scripture, the work of liberty, recovery and release and the love of God’s favor is within our grasp when we work together make a lot of sense; it is a big job and we are all of use, each of us needed in such a great and heroic effort.
What did you hear in the readings?Please feel free to share your 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.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Presider: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we are thankful to be anointed just as Jesus is and we bring our blessings, cares and concerns to this celebration, beginning with the words, “We bring to the table…”
Intentions are offered
Presider: We pray for these and all unspoken concerns in our hearts. Amen.
Let us join with open hands to pray our Eucharistic prayer together:
All: Source of love and light, we join in unity of Spirit, love and purpose with your people everywhere, living and crossed over. With all of Creation across galaxies, we open our hearts and souls to become One.
In Your loving embrace we are liberated from division, fear, conflict, pride and injustice. We are transformed into wholeness which we resolve to bring to all whose lives we touch so that the scriptures and public ministry of Jesus may be fulfilled in our day. With gratitude, we meld ourselves with Your Divine presence which knows all, shelters all and transforms all into love, abundant and eternal.
In one voice, we praise your loving, healing ways and the glory of all Your creation:
We thank you Holy One, for Jesus, a man of courage whose exquisite balance of human and Divine points our way. We are reassured that Jesus strives with us in our time of need. We yearn with passion to live as Jesus, one with you and your Spirit in peace and abiding love.
May our desire to be One with You join us to all living things. We seek to heal what isolates us and to live in unity with all peoples of every ethnicity, skin color, gender orientation and class. May we have the imaginative sympathy to move with courage beyond the human confines of bias, miscommunication, ignorance and hurt and into the healing place where Divine light shines forth.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We call upon Your Spirit present in these gifts – bread that satisfies our hunger and wine that quenches our thirst – to make us more unified in living the fullness of holy compassion and Sophia wisdom.
Anticipating the likelihood of betrayal, arrest and pain, Jesus wanted more than anything to be with his friends, to share a meal, exchange stories and create fond memories. To strengthen the bonds of friendship that evening, Jesus washed the feet of his companions in an act of love and humility.
After returning to his place at the table, Jesus lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to everyone saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace and offered it to everyone saying:
Take and drink. Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you.
(pause)
Let us share the bread and the cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace, using the words, I am Gifted by the Spirit
Communion Meditation:Let Justice Rain by The Many
https://youtu.be/RORyLr9y2Y0
Communion Prayer: As we remember you in this bread and wine, we recognize you in each other. Knowing that Jesus spent his ministry with the marginalized and hurting, the needy and shunned, we seek to remain open to bringing love, dignity and healing to those in need. May we see with the eyes of Jesus, touch with the hands of Jesus and heal with the heart of Jesus. Amen.
Reader: Let’s pray as Jesus taught us:
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. (adapted by Miriam Therese Winter)
Final Blessing: We are graced by the Presence of the Divine in our lives and our growing awareness of how we can become more like Jesus. May we live in a unity of Spirit even in the midst of pandemic illness and civil discord. May we ourselves be healed and resolved to ‘bear the light’ for others experiencing unbearable hurt and need. May justice spring forth in the light of our lives. Amen.
Closing Song: The Power of the Dream by Celine Dion
