Upper Room Saturday Liturgy, July 29, 2023 - Presider: Julie Corron

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

Surprised by Joy

Welcome: Welcome! We are so happy to have you join us today as we celebrate our liturgy together with some special music from Bruce Springsteen. 

Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, may we be surprised by joy in our lives and may our hungry hearts be nourished by your love. AMEN.

Opening song: Hungry Heart, Bruce Springsteen

https://youtu.be/vShI9ruGqoM

LITURGY OF THE WORD

 

FIRST READING 

A Reading from the First Book of Kings 3:5, 7-12 

In Gibeon, at a shrine in a high place, where Solomon regularly made burnt offerings, Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night in a dream. 

God said, “Whatever you ask I shall give you.” 

Solomon answered, “You, my God, have made me, your servant, ruler to succeed David, my father; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act— I, your servant, among the people you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted! Give your servant, therefore, a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil. For who is able, for this vast people of yours, to judge with justice?” 

God was pleased by Solomon’s request. So, God said, “Because you asked for this—you did not ask for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies—but you asked for discernment to know what is right— I now do as you request. I give you a heart so wise and discerning that there has never been anyone like you until now, nor after you will there be anyone to equal you. 

These are the inspired words of a Court Writer in Ancient Israel and the community affirms them by saying AMEN. 

PSALM Ps 119:18, 20, 24; 72-74a+ 81; 89+165+167 

Our Psalm Response is: My soul longs for Your presence. 

R: My soul longs for Your presence. 

Open my eyes to see clearly  

the wonders of Your ways, O Woman Wisdom. 

At all times my soul is stirred with longing for Your discernment. 

Your declarations are my delight;  

they are my counselors. 

R: My soul longs for Your presence. 

The words of your mouth, O Wisdom, are more precious to me  

than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. 

In the beginning, You called me forth and fashioned me. 

Now, give me understanding that I may know You. 

May those who seek You rejoice to see me, 

for my soul longs for Your presence, 

and I put my hope in Your teachings. 

R: My soul longs for Your presence. 

Wisdom is one with Creation, 

manifest throughout the Cosmos, 

as wonderful and vast as the heavens! 

Lovers of You, O Wisdom, have great peace; 

nothing can make them stumble. May my life bear witness to Your just judgments;

Great is my love for them. 

R: My soul longs for Your presence. 

SECOND READING 

A Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:26-27 

The Spirit helps us in our weakness because we do not know how to pray as we ought. That very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches human hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit. Thus, the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the desire of God’s heart. 

These are the inspired words of the Apostle Paul and the community affirms them by saying AMEN. 

 

Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker

https://youtu.be/o1rc7ojQtJU 

GOSPEL 

A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Matthew 13:44-52 

Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables: “The reign of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again. Out of joy, the person goes and sells all that they have, and buys that field. Again, the reign of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. Upon finding a pearl of great price, the merchant goes and sells all that they have and buys it. “Again, the reign of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full, they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus, it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the just and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. 

“Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” Jesus replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the reign of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from the storeroom both the new and the old.”

These are the inspired words of the gospel writer we call Matthew, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.

 

Shared Homily

Can you imagine how exciting it would be to find a buried treasure? Or a giant, beautiful pearl of great price? If Jesus was telling us parables today, there would probably be one about a winning lottery ticket, because we can imagine that better these days. But what Jesus is offering us is even more valuable than treasure. Jesus is offering us the kin-dom of God. And we’re not talking some someday, after you’re dead, up in heaven kin-dom of God either. We’re talking about a kin-dom right here, right now, right exactly where we are.

Wait, what? How is that possible? We’re all starting from pretty much the same place, with hungry hearts like Bruce Springsteen and a whole arena full of people sang about in our opening song. With some small variations, we humans are all hungry for the same basic things—love, belonging, safety—the things that aren’t really things offered by the kin-dom of God. 

Okay fine, we all hunger for love and safety and belonging. How do we find those now? Look around, you’re in exactly the right place to start. You’re with a group of likeminded folks who believe in God our creator, our brother Jesus, and our guiding Spirit Woman Wisdom. Our readings today lay out the whole map for us: we start by praying for an understanding heart and the ability to tell right from wrong like Solomon in the first reading. And then we embrace Woman Wisdom as in the psalm. Then we step into our call to love God as Paul recommends in the second reading. So that by the time we discover our own pearl of great price in the kin-dom of God, we’re open to be surprised by the joy that living as Jesus teaches brings us each day. Living as God teaches brings a life of joy and love. Let’s celebrate that today with hearts that aren’t quite so hungry now.

What did you hear today? We would love to hear your insights on the readings. 

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.

 

 

Intentions

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 the unspoken prayers and blessings held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN.

 

Pause.

Eucharistic Prayer of Belonging

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

https://youtu.be/cVWY9ourooI

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 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, go and share my love with 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 am joy.

 

Communion Song: When the Saints Go Marching In, Bruce Springsteen

https://youtu.be/i6eKkirEcgE

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:

 

All:  O Holy One, who is within, around, and among us, we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom comes. 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 interpreted by Miriam Therese Winter

 

BLESSING

 

Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together

All:  May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we love compassionately and live fully. May we be surprised by joy today and every day. AMEN.

Closing Song: This Little Light of Mine, Bruce Springsteen

https://youtu.be/R0qAYq1GVec

Moment of Oneness, July 26, 2023

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507551772
Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: +1 646 558 8656

Opening Meditation Song: Christina Aguilera - Beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kEwGXLdbZ8 

Opening Prayer: Divine Beloved, we open up our hearts and minds to you this evening seeking your presence as we pray together as one inclusive community. Guide us and give us the grace to hear our inner voice of connection to your wisdom and see the beauty of our being that you created in us. May that connection emanate from us to others and the whole world of creation to fill our lives with positive energy to change the hearts and minds of all your children to live together peacefully and productively.

Reading: Richard Rohr

Through Jesus Christ, God’s own broad, deep, and all-inclusive worldview is made available to us. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the point of the Christian life is to stand in radical solidarity with everyone and everything else. This is the full, final, and intended effect of the Incarnation—symbolized by the cross, which is God’s great act of solidarity instead of judgment. This is how we are to imitate Jesus, the good Jewish man who saw and called forth the divine in Gentiles like the Syrophoenician woman and the Roman centurions who followed him; in Jewish tax collectors who collaborated with the Empire; in zealots who opposed it; in sinners of all stripes; in eunuchs, pagan astrologers, and all those “outside the law.” Jesus had no trouble whatsoever with otherness. 

If we are ready to reclaim the true meaning of “catholic,” which is “universal,” we must concentrate on including—as Jesus clearly did—instead of excluding—which he never did. The only thing Jesus excluded was exclusion itself. [1] 

Transgender priest Shannon Kearns provides an example of God’s inclusive solidarity with eunuchs, sexual minorities in the time of the prophet Isaiah:  

In Isaiah 56:3b–5 … the prophet says, “And don’t let the eunuch say, ‘I’m just a dry tree.’ The Lord says: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, choose what I desire, and remain loyal to my covenant. In my temple and courts, I will give them a monument and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give to them an enduring name that won’t be removed.”  

It’s a word of comfort and hope. A word of healing.... Eunuchs are told they will be given an enduring legacy. This piece about being given an “enduring name” rings loudly for many transgender and nonbinary people, especially the ones who have claimed new names…. This also rings loudly for the many people who have felt excluded and cut off from entry into religious spaces because of their gender diversity.…  

The message of the eunuchs is that the boxes don’t work. They aren’t fit to live in. They will likely kill us if we stay there. The freedom to move between spaces and worlds, the freedom to claim all of who we are, the freedom to be is what we are called to. The message of the eunuchs also calls us to look around and ask: Who is being excluded? Who is not welcome? Who is there no space for? That list of people and those names that come to your mind? The message in Isaiah 56 and from the story of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 says, “There is space for them in the kingdom of God, too.”… They don’t need to change to be worthy; they are made worthy by wanting to be included.  

Anyone who desires the water is welcome.

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:  As we conclude your brief time together in this moment of oneness, may we go forward with your love for us, Holy One, and feel re-energized and confident in your ever presence and solidarity with us in our suffering and pain and joy in our lives. Amen

Closing Video: UNITY embraces the POWER of inclusivity 

https://youtu.be/DqWedXyUuPo

Upper Room Weekend Liturgy, July 22, 2023 - Presiders: Lynn Kinlan, Jean Talbot and Denise Hackert-Stoner

 

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 
phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

A Celebration of Mary the Magdala

Reading

Cosimo (1500-1510)        

Lynn (Denise): Welcome and Theme: Welcome all to our liturgy today, made meaningful by the presence of each of us along with the Spirit that calls us to be here. 

We celebrate Mary of Magdala today and we ask the question of a two millennia -Who is this Mary Magdelene? and, how has she survived a history of being misunderstood and misrepresented? 

Jean (Denise) Opening Prayer: Holy One, we come to the quiet and we find You. We are like a small, sleeping child, like a mountain climber gazing in awe at the summit. We are at rest.  In the towering companionship of our brother Jesus and our sister Mary the Magdala, we are blessed to belong with each other  Amen.

Opening Song: Come to the Quiet by John Talbot

https://youtu.be/RFj2LWBccAw

Liturgy of the Word

Dave: First Reading: The Wisdom of Solomon (6:12 and 7: 7-10, 22-25, 28)

Wisdom is bright and does not grow dim. 

She is seen by those who love Her and is found by those who seek Her.

I prayed for help and the Spirit of Wisdom came to my aid.

I held no precious jewel to be Her equal.

All the gold in the world was just a handful of sand compared to 

Her and all the silver in the world was mud.

I loved her more than health or beauty;

I preferred her to the light of day.

She is an inexhaustible treasure to humankind, 

And those who acquire this treasure become God’s friends. 

In Wisdom, there is a Spirit of intelligence and holiness 

that is unique and unmistakable:

subtle, dynamic, perceptive, unclouded, unconquerable,

compassionate, shrewd, compelling, generous and loving,

faithful, faultless, directing all, knowing all.

For Wisdom moves more swiftly than motion itself. 

She is a breath of the power of God.

God loves the one who finds a home in Wisdom. 

We affirm these words from the Wisdom of Solomon by saying, Amen. 

Alleluia Eightfold by Jan Phillips

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

Gospel: John 11: 3-29

There was a certain man named Lazarus, who was sick. He and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were from the village of Bethany. Mary was the one who had anointed the feet of Jesus with perfume and dried his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. The sisters sent a message to Jesus saying Martha went out to meet Jesus , “Rabbi, the one you love is sick.”

Jesus loved these three very much. Yet, he remained where he was staying for two more days. Jesus arrived in Bethany days later and found that Lazarus had been in tomb for four days. 

When Martha went out to meet him she said, “If you had been here, my brother would never have died! Yet even now, I am sure that God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus told her, “I am the Resurrection and I am Life:

                          those who believe in me will live, even if they die;

                          and those who are alive and believe in me

                           will never die.

                Do you believe this?’

“Yes, Martha replied. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah. God’s only begotten, the One who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, Martha went back and called her sister Mary. She whispered, “The teacher is here asking for you.”

As soon as Mary heard this, she got up and went to Jesus and brought him and the gathering crowd to the tomb where Lazarus lay.

We affirm these words from the gospel writer known as John by saying,   

          Amen.

Shared Homily: Lynn (Denise) and Community

Penitent, Temptress, Apostle to the Apostles, Woman of Wisdom, Survivor of Struggle, Jewish Mystic. Mary the Magdala has been painted into many corners. Misunderstood and misrepresented, we are still looking for the real Mary M. 

The idea of Mary being a prostitute started with a Pope Gregory homily from 591in which he conflates the “sinful “woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume and the Mary in today’s gospel. Without evidence, Gregory declared her sins (unspecified by gospels) to be sexual in nature. Papal infallibility magically made all the Mary’s into one Mary.

What else has been mistaken? Mary Magdalene allegedly gets her name from  her hometown of Magdala on the Sea of Galilee. In fact, there is now a Church of Mary Magdelene located where her house is said to have been.. In truth, the village wasn’t called Magdala in the first century when Mary is reputed to have lived there. Recent scholarship suggests that she probably  lived in the village of Bethany with or near her brother Lazarus which would be nearly 70 miles away from Galilee.  The word ‘Magdala’ in Aramaic means tower. It may be likely because of her being the first resurrection witness and other apostolic events, that she came to be known as Mary the Magdala or Mary the tower, standing tall in faith. 

To support such a heroic title, we look at scholarship by Elizabeth Schrader, a doctoral student in New Testament Studies who did her thesis on Mary the Magdala. Schrader  learned Greek and Aramaic and used a digitized copy of Papyrus 66, the oldest and most complete text we have of the Gospel of John from around the year 200. 

 

She sees that the first Greek sentence in John’s gospel story about Lazarus  reads: “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and his sister Mary.” It seems awkward. It doesn’t say what we heard today, that Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha and that Mary was the one who anointed Jesus with perfume. Zooming in on the text, Schrader notes that edits  have been made in the margins. Apparently, sometime in the 4^th century, a single letter change to the Greek makes Mary into Martha (iota is changed to theta making Maria into Martha). Every single ‘sister’ is changed to ‘sisters’ and pronouns are changed as necessary too. 

As Theologian Bass tells it,  maybe “Somebody…decided that John was confusing and had bad Greek. And so, the editor went in there to fix it.” This discovery has now been published in the Harvard Theological Review and Schrader has presented her findings to the guardian committee for the worldwide Greek New Testament in Germany. So, it is a real find.

But why is adding Martha so important?  The scene in which Jesus declares, “I am the Resurrection and I am life…Do you believe this?” has him talking to Martha who has run out to meet him. Mary is still at home. Martha replies, “Yes, I have come to believe that you are the Messiah. God’s only begotten, the One who is coming into the world.” Mary’s minor role is merely  to lead Jesus and the curious crowd to the tomb where Lazarus lay. This doesn’t make sense if we note that Mary the Magdala is mentioned 12 other times in the gospels and Martha only once.(when Jesus scolds her for being busy with housework details).  

Other sources dating to before the edit confirm that Lazarus has only one sister and it is Mary of Bethany. Tertullian wrote a commentary on today’s gospel in the 3^rd century in which he identifies Mary as the one to acknowledge Jesus to be the son of God in this gospel story. Egeria, a pilgrim from the early 4^th century wrote a travel diary in which she mentions the place of a church near “where Mary, the sister of Lazarus, ran out to meet the Lord.” 

Okay, so No Martha and a highlighted Mary the Magdala. What really makes the identity switch critical is that Jesus has a very similar exchange with only one other person in any of the gospel records.  Jesus asks Peter, “Who am I?” Peter answers, “You are the messiah, the son of the living God.” Jesus then says, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” Schrader suggests that Peter is solid rock and Mary is a Magdala or tower. 

Mary the Magdala is a survivor. She will not be erased. She will not be forgotten. Like Ginger Rogers, who did everything that Fred Astaire did in their dancing routine except that she did it backwards and in high heels, Mary the Magdala, the apostle to the apostles followed Jesus and spread the good news— except that she did it in the midst of misogyny and patriarchy. 

So, what are your feelings about Mary M. and our readings? 

Statement of Faith (All)

 

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. 

 

Intentions

Jean: (Denise) As we prepare for the sacred meal, we voice our intentions 

                          beginning with the words, “We bring to the table…..”  

Lynn (Denise) We pray for both our blessings and concerns and the 

                         unspoken intentions in our hearts. Amen.  

Liturgy of the Eucharist

Lynn: (Denise) Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together with open hands:  

 

All: O Holy One, you birthed us in goodness, gifted us with life and You cherish us in love. In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells; a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth. 
 

In the power of that Spirit, we lift our hearts together with Mary of Magdala in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment. We yearn to know your will and to be thankful in union with all who sing the ancient hymn of praise: 

Holy, Holy: Here In This Place by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ 

ALL: Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power and generous love.  We, your creatures, often deviate from that wisdom, thus hindering your creative, loving presence in our midst. And yet, we believe and cherish our guiding faith.
 
Sending among us Jesus, our brother, you birth afresh in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the gift of Your Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew, amid the variety and wonder of life. 

Presiders move to friendship table, (as applicable)
 

Jean: (Denise) Please extend your hands in blessing.  

 
All: We recognize Your Spirit upon the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, that they may 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, go and share my love with one another.

All lift their cup and pray the following:

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.

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.

Lynn: (Denise) Please receive the bread with the words, You are a tower of wisdom

(consume bread and wine)

Communion Song: I’m Learning to Sit Without Knowing By Carrie Newcomer

https://youtu.be/I_t8WqgKL3I

All: We seek to discern wisely your call to speak truth with courage. We seek to act faithfully as Mary of Magdala has done, to witness all that is sacred and to bring peace in times of suffering and grief. 

May we be alert to the opportunities Your Spirit makes possible in us, nudging us to be full participants in the risky yet wonderful challenge of co-creation. 
 

Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways. 

Amen.  

 

Jean (Denise): Let us pray 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

Lynn: (Denise) With raised hands, let us bless one another. 

May we go forth completed by Love and inspired by the wisdom of those like Mary the Magdala who have come before us. 

May we be true to ourselves and to our God.

May we be open to wisdom, to understanding the struggles of others and always willing to change for the greater good. 

Amen. 

“My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison

https://youtu.be/QbMbx0jCoe4

Sources

Bourgeault, Cynthia. The Meaning of Mary Magdalene. Shambala Pub. Inc.,; Boulder, CO.2010 pp. 19-27.

Butler Bass, Diana. All the Marys Wild Goose Festival Closing Sermon 7-17-2022. pp.1-17. 

     https://diana butlerbass.substack.com/p/mary-the-tower