Opening Prayer: Source of all peace, we come together in the gathering darkness of this holy night in your name.We open our hearts and minds in your presence and allow your peace to fill us.We pray that we become vessels of that peace, to be poured forth in our homes, our communities, and our world.Amen.
Reading: Richard Rohr
We go through our lives, our years on this earth, thinking of ourselves as separate. Thatsense of separateness basically causes every stupid, sinful, silly thing we ever do. The little, separate self takes offense when people don’t show us proper respect. The separate self lies and steals and does unkind things to other people. When we’re separate, everything becomes about protecting and defending ourselves. It can consume our lives.
One word for overcoming that false sense of separateness, that illusory self, is heaven, and, quite frankly, that is what death offers us. It is simply returning to the Source from which we came, where all things are One. The whole gospel message is radical union with God, with neighbor, and even with ourselves. I think that’s why so many of us are drawn to church each week—to receive communion and to eventually, hopefully, realize that we are in communion. We have never been separate from God except in our thoughts, but our thoughts don’t make it true! Nor are we separate from anyone else. Whatever separates us from one another—nationality, religion, ethnicity, economics, language—those are all just accidentals that will all pass away. We are One in God, with Christ and with one another. Every time we do something with respect, with love, with sympathy, with compassion, with caring, with service, we are operating in union.
Affirmations and Intentions:
May we look for your goodness in others when it hides beneath layers of coldness.
May we behold your radiance in the ones we neglect or spurn at home or work.
May we discover your love in our deepest self when we feel unloving and irritable.
May we embrace you in the persons whose faithfulness we take for granted.
May we see your empathy in those serving the wounded of the world.
May we unite with your peace hidden beneath the layers of humanity’s disharmony.
Silence to add your own intentions.
Closing Prayer:Holy Presence, we thank you for your gift of life that you have given us, filled with love, grace, joy and suffering. May we always feel the presence of your love and support however it may manifest in our lives. Knowing you are never farther than our next breath, may we breathe in and out with each other expanding our capacity to love and care for our brothers and sisters without hesitation. Through all the angels and saints, and Mary, Joseph and Jesus may we come alive.
Meditation/ContemplationLet us take a few minutes to become one through quiet deep contemplation.
The Calling of Peter and Andrew, Duccio, 1308-1311
Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via Zoom Here is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome and Theme
Mary Theresa: Good morning and welcome to the Upper Room’s Liturgy for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our theme this morning is our call to follow Jesus. Every Sunday we hear the words: “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.” And so we pray….
Opening Prayer
Mary Ann: Loving Source of All Creation, we open our hearts and minds and souls to you as you guide us on our life journey. Responding to your Spirit within us, may we follow our brother Jesus, loving you and our neighbor as we love ourselves.
(From Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity)
Lynn: (We are familiar with the story of Jonah.) God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh. Instead of facing his prejudice against the Assyrians, Jonah ran away. After a deep sea detour of some repute, he finally made it to the Assyrian capital. Much to his self-righteous chagrin, they embraced God’s love and forgiveness with such fervor and humility that even the cattle were wearing sackcloth and ashes. Compared with earlier biblical sources that suggested that God was some sort of exclusive tribal deity, the book of Jonah stands in direct opposition. Instead of sounding the alarm to circle the wagons against “the other,” the story of Jonah trumpets the conviction that God’s grace is extended to all people, even the ones for whom we might hold human hatred and prejudice.
John Shelby Spong believes that the story of Jonah is about human prejudice. He says: It’s about a prophet who is called by God to speak to people for whom the prophet does not care. He refuses to speak and goes in the opposite direction. But God keeps pushing him back to Ninevah. To me, that story is designed to demonstrate that the love of God does not have boundaries. Nations have boundaries and tribes have boundaries and prejudices have boundaries and fears have boundaries. But the love of God has no boundary! And any time you impose a human boundary on the love of God, you have done something evil, cruel, destructive, and ungodlike. If God can love even the Ninevites, there must be something bigger going on here. It goes beyond just tolerating people. It goes on to acceptance and affirmation of people—not despite their differences, but because of their differences.
Spong believes that such efforts are at “the very heart of the Christian gospel,” saying that the wars in his life have primarily been “against prejudice expressed toward black people, prejudice expressed towards woman, prejudice expressed toward gay and lesbian people, prejudice expressed toward Jews and other religious groups. If the love of God is bounded by my tribe or my race or my gender or my sexual orientation or my religion, then the love of God becomes one more human idol.”
We’re called to love our neighbor as we do our own self. That love is more than just a superficial, Hi, how are you? It involves cost, risk, and vulnerability to provide a safe place for people who are lonely, rejected by society, or beat up by others or the circumstances of life. Observing Mother Teresa’s work with India’s “untouchables,” poet Sydney Carter was moved to reflect: “Let love be dangerous.”
These inspired words were written by David Felten and Jeff Proctor-Murphy and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Bernie: Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
These are the inspired words of the Gospel writer known as Matthew, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Homily Starter: Mary Ann Matthys
The Holy One calls humans into divine partnership all the time.
Invitations to enter into sacred reciprocity with the creator of the universe happen all the time.The Holy One calls us. The pages of scripture are filled with invitations.Esther, the woman at the well, Samuel, Isaiah, Mary the mother of Jesus, Moses, Mary sitting at Jesus feet listening to him teach, and even Martha in a roundabout way.
I like to think I would be like James, John, Simon called Peter and Andrew.I like to think I would have dropped everything and followed Jesus immediately but if truth be told I am more like Jonah.I am the one who says “Who me?Surely you can’t want me to ….”And if you add in being sent to people who are challenging, even impossible to like much less love, that makes my wholehearted “Yes” even harder.
Sometimes the Holy One calls us to tasks that are hard, even seemingly impossible.
The antidote to hate is Love with a capital ‘L’. What if Divine Presence calls us to love the white supremacist down the street?Will we hear the call through all the noise of unrest in our society?Can people so filled with hate even understand the love of our creator?Do we write them off before we even begin?Do we tuck our heads under the covers and pretend we didn’t hear the call to love, the call to enter a conversation, the call to bring peace, love, compassion, and hope to a hurting world…even those who harm others… even the white supremacist down the street?
Our first reading today talks about the love of the Holy One being without boundaries.Divine love extends to everyone.Humans are the ones that impose boundaries on the love of God.Jonah was angry when the people of Nineveh turned their hearts toward God.He didn’t want them to receive a second chance.Our Creator is all about second chances, even and perhaps, especially for those who harm, hate, and create chaos for others.
Jesus’s call to follow is inclusive of all people.He shows us how to love everyone, especially those on the margins.Loving those on the margins comes easy for me.But what about our enemy?Jesus invites us to love our enemies.That is a very hard invitation.That is where Love becomes Dangerous.
What did you hear in today’s liturgy?
Shared Homily
Statement of Faith
Mary Theresa: Let us pray together our statement of faith.
MT: 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.
MA: We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, bright star in the firmament of the prophets, mystics, and saints.
Joan: 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.
MT: 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.
MA: 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
Mary Theresa: 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.
Mary Ann: Please join in praying our Eucharistic prayer together:
(Eucharistic prayer taken from the work of Diarmuid O’Murchu and Jay Murnane)
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:
Here in this Place – Holy Holy Holy by Christopher Grundy
Mary Theresa: 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.
Joan: Please extend your hands in blessing.
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.
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.
(pause)
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.
(pause)
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 communion with the words: (I am/You Are) called, consecrated and chosen.
Communion Song: I Will be Your Standing Stone by Melanie DeMore
Mantra: I will be your standing stone; I will stand by you.
Prayer After Communion
Mary Ann: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!
Mary Theresa: 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 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
Mary Ann: Let us pray together our blessing:
Holy One, Open our hearts to the deep calling of the Divine in our lives.
Help us hear your call in our lives. Empower us to respond wholeheartedly to your invitation to “Come” and “Follow.”
Show us the path forward. Guide our steps.
Strengthen us to stand with one another when love becomes dangerous.
We are here for such a time as this.
Together let us bring hope, peace, compassion, and love to a world in need.
Welcome to our liturgy this evening.Tonight we will explore the difference between how we take things in, how we “see” things, and how the Holy One sees things.Tonight’s readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary, the lectionary used by most Protestant denominations all over the world.Its readings sometimes differ from those in the Catholic lectionary.Tonight is one of those nights.
Opening Prayer:
Holy One, help us to see as you do.Our vision is limited.We are distracted by appearances.We are hemmed in by assumptions.Your vision is limitless.You see us as we are now and you also see us as we can be.You see our true selves, and you love what you see.Help us to see ourselves and one another with your eyes.
God addressed Samuel: “So, how long are you going to mope over Saul? You know I’ve rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your flask with anointing oil and get going. I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I’ve spotted the very king I want among his sons.”
“I can’t do that,” said Samuel. “Saul will hear about it and kill me.”
God said, “Take a heifer with you and announce, ‘I’ve come to lead you in worship of God, with this heifer as a sacrifice.’ Make sure Jesse gets invited. I’ll let you know what to do next. I’ll point out the one you are to anoint.”
Samuel did what God told him. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the town fathers greeted him, but apprehensively. “Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I’ve come to sacrifice this heifer and lead you in the worship of God. Prepare yourselves, be consecrated, and join me in worship.” He made sure Jesse and his sons were also consecrated and called to worship.
When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Here he is! God’s anointed!”
But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”
Jesse then called up Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. Samuel said, “This man isn’t God’s choice either.”
Next Jesse presented Shammah. Samuel said, “No, this man isn’t either.”
Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel. Samuel was blunt with Jesse, “God hasn’t chosen any of these.”
Then he asked Jesse, “Is this it? Are there no more sons?”
“Well, yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep.”
Samuel ordered Jesse, “Go get him. We’re not moving from this spot until he’s here.”
Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health—bright-eyed, good-looking.
God said, “Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one.”
Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed him, with his brothers standing around watching. The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life.
Samuel left and went home to Ramah.
These are the words of Samuel, judge and prophet.We affirm his words by saying, Amen
Jesus went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” And he did—walked away from everything and went with him.
Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. “What is he doing eating and drinking with misfits and ‘sinners’?”
Jesus heard about it and spoke up, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.”
This story about Jesus was told by the writer we know as Luke.We believe that this story tells us a deep truth about Jesus.We affirm this truth by saying, Amen.
Homily Starter
There once was a wetland; a vast, wide, shallow river.It covered 4000 square miles (about 3 million acres) in south Florida.This grassy river, this marshland, was full of life.Wading birds like herons, egrets, ibis, and wood storks.Alligators, crocodiles, many fish, and even panthers, roamed.People lived here too, in this place called everglades.The Miccosukee people and the Seminoles lived well, taking what they needed and leaving the balance of water, sun, earth and air unhindered.
Then one day, sometime at the beginning of the twentieth century, some people looked at this wet and glorious land and decided that it was worthless.In their view this abundant and fertile land was no good for development because it was too wet.And in their view, if it was no good for development it was no good for anything.So the draining of the everglades began.And it has continued until this very day.Anyone visiting south Florida can easily witness the vast series of canals that take water away and pipe it into the sea.
But over the years there have been people who saw the beauty and the inherent value of this land, even when others could not see it.People like Guy Bradley, the first Audubon ranger who gave his life protecting heron nesting colonies from poachers, and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, who in 1947 wrote her definitive book, “The Everglades: River of Grass.”Eventually, because of the vision of these people and others who could see beyond development possibilities, a remnant of this beautiful, wet, land has been saved as a US national park.
I cannot end this story with “and they lived happily ever after.”The Everglades and its wildlife are still threatened by pollution and lack of water.It is still not the biggest, most robust of lands.It may be a bit like young David, overlooked and undervalued.It may even be seen as a bit like Levi and his friends, better left ignored and not part of the “insiders.”But where there is vision, where there are people who see the innate value of this land the way its Creator does, there is hope.So I will end my story with hope.
This story came to me from my meditation on today’s readings.Please share the thoughts that came to you from these same readings.
Shared Homily
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.
Eucharistic Prayer
Denise: 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….”
Denise:We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.
Denise: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:
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.
Denise: 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: Back at the table, he took the Passover Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.
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 is 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.
As we celebrate and recognize You in this bread and wine we love and recognize you in each other. We are filled with gratitude and joy. Glory and Praise to you both now and forever. Amen
All:
Through Jesus, we have learned how to live.
Through Jesus, we have learned how to love.
Through Jesus, we have learned how to serve.
Please receive communion with the words:“See with God’s Eyes.”
All: 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.
Denise: 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.
Please raise your hands as we bless one another:
We are made from the stuff of ancient stars.There is beauty in every one of us.The Holy One sees this beauty and loves it in us.Let us go forth in that love and rejoice in it.Amen.
Good evening, my friends.Let us sit together a moment in silence and open ourselves in oneness.
Blessings,
May all our sorrows gradually stretch our heart to be more fully open.
May we experience a depth of caring in our lives sufficient to convince us that we are deeply and truly loved and lovable.
May we learn to respond to the persons and events in our lives less and less from the place where we are hurt, afraid, or angry, and more and more from the place where we are loved.
May we always be a safe and trustworthy place to those who entrust something of themselves to us.
May we come to see that each of us is more than our pain, and come to experience the difficulties of our lives neither as prisons or identities but as resources for strength and growth.
May we glimpse and delight in the beauty that is at the core of each of us.
May our lives unfold according to the inmost longings of our heart, and may there always be a friend or friends to share that journey.
May we know a hope that always reaches further than any hope or disappointment.
May we always be a blessing to ourselves and to one another.
Norman King, January 1, 2004
Petitions/Intentions:Let us open our hearts, in silence or speaking..beginning with the words
“ I bring to the table….”
Closing Prayer
May we always be a blessing to ourselves and to one another.
