Upper Room Saturday Liturgy, June 22, 2024 - Presider: 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

Welcome to our Saturday liturgy.  How much do we need, and how much do we THINK we need?  Tonight, as we listen to a portion of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount along side the ancient tale about Midas, let’s consider these questions.  

Opening Prayer:  Holy One, in all the noise of promotion, advertisement, and commercialism, your small, still voice calls us to simply be.  Help us to hear.

Opening Song:  Simple Gifts by YoYo Ma and Alison Krause 

https://youtu.be/C1ln7GrhimQ

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading:  The Golden Touch

A Tale from Ancient Greece

There was once a king named Midas who did a good deed for a Satyr and was granted a wish by the God of wine, Dionysus. For his wish, Midas asked that whatever he touched would turn to gold. Although Dionysus tried to dissuade him, Midas insisted that the wish was an excellent one, and it was granted!

Excitedly, Midas went about touching all sorts of things, turning them into gold.

Soon Midas became hungry. He picked up a piece of food, but he couldn't eat it, for it had turned to gold in his hand! "I'll starve," moaned Midas, "Perhaps this was not such a good wish after all!"

Midas' beloved daughter, seeing his dismay, threw her arms about him to comfort him, and, she too turned to gold! "The golden touch is no blessing," cried Midas. He went to the river and wept. The sand of that river turned as yellow as "fool's gold" for it is there, they say, that King Midas washed away the curse of the golden touch with his own tears

This is the wise story of an ancient storyteller.  We affirm it by saying, Amen.

Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips  

https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw

Gospel:  Matthew 6: 24-34 (adapted)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"No one can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and riches.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field,
which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,
will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?'
or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'
All these things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.”

These are the words of Jesus as told by the writer we know as Matthew.  We affirm these words with Amen.

Homily Starter

Welcome to summer!  The weather has rung in the new season!  What about your wardrobe?  Is it still in style?  What about your grill?  Your patio furniture?  Are they up to date?  

We live in a culture that demands “New.”  “Improved.”  “Current.”  But what about us?  The people inside all the clothing?  Have we become so obsessed with accumulating new stuff that we no longer remember who we are?  When does our desire for nice things cross the line to greed?  And how do we know when we’ve crossed that line?   Midas was given a great gift.  He was able to see in no uncertain terms the line that he had crossed.  And he was able to repent, washing himself clean of his greed in the river.  He was able to watch the gold float down that river, and hug his daughter once more. 

Jesus tells his followers, “No one can serve two masters.  You will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and riches.”  There is no way around this saying.  It’s a very clear message.  And not easy to hear, either 2,000 years ago or today.  But to me, the beauty of this Gospel, why to me it is really very good news, comes in the next lines:  "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”  Yes.  Right there.  We are valuable.  Beyond anything we might be worrying about, beyond anything we may be aching to accumulate.  Our lives.  Our dear, unique, necessary, fruitful, beautiful lives, they are of great value.  And these core lives, our true selves, are cared for, are provided for, are kept safe.  No need to embellish them.  No need to worry.  We just need to remember who we are.

What did you hear in tonight’s readings?  Please share your wisdom.

Statement of Faith 

We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery 
beyond all definition and rational understanding, 
the heart of all that has ever existed, 
that exists now, or that ever will exist. 
 
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, 
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, 
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's 
prophets, mystics, and saints. 
 
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus 
as a vehicle of divine love, 
a source of wisdom and truth, 
and an instrument of peace in the world. 

We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One, 
the life that is our innermost life, 
the breath moving in our being, 
the depth living in each of us. 
 
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now, 
stretched out all around us for those 
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it, 
and hands to make it happen. 

Prayers of the Community

As we prepare for the sacred meal, we voice our intentions beginning with the words, “We bring to the table…..”  

We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.  

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Let us pray together our Eucharistic Prayer:

 ALL:  O Divine Fire of Love, how often have we felt your tender love, for you love us without limits or boundaries! How often have we been consumed with delight by your love in human touch!  How often have we felt your embrace through Earth's beauty, as part of your beloved creation! Your Spirit energizes us to work for a just and peaceful world and we raise our voices with grateful hearts as we sing:

Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker 

https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI

All:  Holy One, we recognize Your Spirit in the gifts of this Eucharistic table and the gifts within each of us.  May they become gifts of wisdom, light and truth.

We thank you for Jesus whose message blesses and transform our lives. He showed us how to live as your new creation.

Please extend your hands in blessing.

On the night before he faced his own death, 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 with 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.

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.

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 communion with the words, “Open wide the gate.” 

Communion Meditation:   Seek ye First, Maranatha https://youtu.be/EsBpM9IcBts?si=ptw_0APYwasJNO44

Let us pray together, O Holy One, you call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice.  We will live justly. You call us to be your presence in the world.  We will love tenderly. You call us to speak truth to power.  We will walk with integrity in your presence. 

Let us pray the prayer 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

Please raise your hands in blessing.  May the ever-present, empowering and magnificent love of the Holy One, fill us to over-flowing, so that we know that what we seek is already within us.  Amen.

Closing Song: Joy in our Hearts, Karen Drucker 

https://youtu.be/QRBSdrI1MBI

Moment of Oneness, June 19, 2024 - Prepared by Rosie Smead

Mystic Moment:  Servant of God Dorothy Day

November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980

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

OPENING PRAYER     Prayer for the Canonization of Servant of God Dorothy Day

Loving God, you called your servant Dorothy Day to show us the face of Jesus in the poor and forsaken. By constant practice of the works of mercy, she embraced poverty and witnessed steadfastly to justice and peace. Count her among your saints and lead us all to become friends of the poor ones of the earth, and to recognize you in them. We ask this through our Brother Jesus, bringer of good news to the poor. Amen

VIDEO 1    Life of Dorothy Day   https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2014/03/14/february-8-2013-the-life-of-dorothy-day/14669/

Servant of God - Dorothy Day

READING 1   Saint and Troublemaker

“Mystic saints, we are made to believe, lived in the distant past; that is, centuries before we were born, and have been presented to us as near angels, with all blemishes removed. We are not surprised to learn that Saint Wonderbreada of the North Pole, daughter of pious parents, had her first vision when she was four, entered the Nuns Order of the Holy Pallbearers at the age of 11, founded 67 monasteries, received the stigmata when she was 35, and that when she died 20 years later, not only was her cell filled with divine light but the nuns attending her clearly heard the angelic choir.”     Adapted from J. Forest

As we expand the search for contemporary mystics to inspire us, who lived at least part of our lifetime, there is more known about them and less often do they fit the ancient “sanitized” description just read above.  This would apply to Servant of God, Dorothy Day. Persons who knew her and about her are very accessible. When she reaches canonization in the Catholic Church, there is no doubt that she will be the patron saint of the homeless, and also of persons trying to manage an outrageous temper. She said: “We are all called to be saints. Sanctity is merely loving God and your neighbor. It’s not that hard. Sanctity is something ordinary. The scandal is not being a saint.” 

Her basic message reverberates today as it has down through the centuries and was stunningly simple: “We are called by God to love one another as He loves us. Love one another. No exceptions.”

DOROTHY’S INSTRUCTION ON PRAYER:

“Dryness and lack of recollection can be good signs too, you know. God usually gives comfort to weak souls who need encouragement, and when they have progressed somewhat and he thinks they are strong enough to bear it, he permits this dryness. If you are faithful to your morning and evening prayers, and make your morning offering, and carry your rosary in your pocket so that you will remember to say even a part of it every day, you will be getting along fine. If you have to force yourself to pray, those prayers are of far more account with God than any prayers which bring comfort with them. That act of will is very important.”    D.D.               

     

Servant of God Dorothy Day, a staunch supporter of civil rights and an anti-war activist, began her life of "voluntary poverty" on Staten Island. A convert to Catholicism, she was baptized at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Tottenville, Long Island, in 1927. She has been nominated for sainthood.

VIDEO 2      Don’t Call Me a Saint     https://youtu.be/RKiLCDaCAOU 

   

READING 2

Dorothy Day’s autobiography, “The Long Loneliness” divides her life thus: her first twenty-five years was her period of “Searching” for focus and centering. “Natural Happiness” is her middle period of life, if only the years in her 20’s when she had a common-law marriage, gave birth to daughter Tamar Teresa, converted to Catholicism, and drove forward into a new life purpose. The longest period of her life, called “Love is the Measure” began when she met the French immigrant, a former Catholic Brother and her soulmate, Peter Maurin, and co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement. Here’s a bit more..

Dorothy was the third of five children born to Grace and John Day in Brooklyn Heights, NY. The family bounced around due to John Day’s journalistic career. By the age of 17, Dorothy had completed two years studying journalism at the University of Illinois, then moving back to New York, slipped into a bohemian lifestyle in Greenich Village. As a journalist, Dorothy took jobs writing for several socialist, syndicalist, anarchist and other politically radical activist newspapers. Dorothy connected with folks in the Communist party in her neighborhood, joining them because she passionately believed there must be new ways to move toward social justice for the poor and disenfranchised. In her early 20’s she became an active member of the Communist Party, believing at that time the idea of equalizing material goods so the poor would have their share was a laudable philosophy. Her heart and soul burned for finding a new way to move toward social justice, equal rights and parity for women, and other political issues related to leveling the playing field of life for the poor and marginalized.  

PRAYER 2

Loving God,

Your servant Dorothy Day exemplified the Catholic faith by her conversion,

life of prayer and voluntary poverty, works of mercy, and

witness to the justice and peace of the Gospel.

May her life inspire people

to turn to Christ as their Brother and guide,

to see his face in the world’s poor and to raise their voices for the justice

of the Kin-dom.

We pray that you grant the favors we ask through her intercession

so that her goodness and holiness may be more widely recognized,

and one day the Church may proclaim her Saint. 

We ask this through Jesus our brother.  Amen.

Adapted from the Dorothy Day Guild Prayer

CONTEMPORARIES OF DOROTHY WORKING IN NYC

“Dorothy Day taught me more than all the theologians.” Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan told The Nation in 2008. “She awakened me to connections I had not thought of or been instructed in—the equation of human misery and poverty with warmaking. She had a basic hope that God created the world with enough for everyone, but there was not enough for everyone and warmaking.”

In a moving portrait of Dorothy Day, written shortly after her death in 1980, Berrigan recalled reading a book about Day and the Catholic Worker not long after he was released from prison in 1972, after serving time for his role with the Catonsville Nine:

"I stayed up all night, unable to put the book aside. What held me in thrall was an absolutely stunning consistency. No to all killing. Invasions, incursions, excusing causes, call of the blood, summons to the bloody flag, casuistic body counts, just wars, necessary wars, religious wars, needful wars, holy wars—into the fury of the murderous crosswinds went her simple word: no."     Postscript: Daniel Berrigan, 1921-2016     By Paul Elie

VIDEO 3       Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story        

https://youtu.be/DRQLnJJZnCo 

READING 3

In her 20’s Dorothy met Forster Batterham, a British biologist and anarchist; they had a daughter, “Tamar Teresa,” whom they both treasured. She had Tamar Baptised in a Catholic Church, but Batterham refused to accept her beliefs or to marry, which spurred on her spiritual awakening and her own Baptism in 1927. Her conversion to Catholicism radically changed the focus of her commitment to working with the poor, as her spiritual life blossomed and she felt rooted in her faith.  

Dorothy wrote to and befriended mystic monasatic Thomas Merton. Merton had boarded a train out of New York City for the quiet abbey; Dorothy moved into the slums to live close to the poor she served. Merton had written probably the best-selling autobiography in 300 years, “The Seven Storey Mountain” which of course Dorothy had read. They both had a passion for “restoring the Church to its earliest years of refusal of violence,” and they both return to us periodically stronger, like the perennials in our Spring garden. Pope Francis tapped both of them on the shoulder in his 2015 address to the U.S. Congress, for our role models on the journey. 

We are aware that mystics also seek feminine Divine wisdom; our soul longs for the Holy One as Mother, not the patriarchy of just a Father God. As Western-born seekers, we are able to soak in the beauty as well as the stinging words of Dorothy Day when we understand her life and legacy in our heart, and watch her take the awakening of her spirituality to the community, nation, and world. 

Dorothy Day and St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata

PRAYER 3       A PRAYER OF DOROTHY DAY

Thank God for turtles in backyards,

For smell of horses and the wagon load of celery,

For scrubbed sweet potatoes

Baking in a push cart oven,

For the smell of charcoal on a dull fall day.

For chestnuts, too, and the dry leaves of Bayard St.

For the little bird in the church yard,

Bright with the yellow breast.

For the pert grasshopper on Katie’s vegetable stand,

For babies, for kittens, for little humble things.

Teresa calls dungeons, the dark dark tenements,

But thank God for poverty which drives us from ugliness

To walk in parks, over bridges, or just among the people.

The sky is ours, the wind, the rain.

There is sun on bare branches, and sun on the housetops.

We cannot be home bound, we must look for God’s things,

So to the streets, to the parks, to the bridge, to the rivers, to the markets, to the bay,

Everywhere, even here,

Even in the dungeons

In the ugly cities,

There we thank Thee,

Loved One, God!

MINUTE MEDITATIONS FROM DOROTHY

Please pause after each meditation point for a few moments and apply to your own life.

1.

2.

3. 

4.

5. 

6. 

CLOSING PRAYER    DANCING WITH DOROTHY    (end after 3 min.)

https://youtu.be/q8-z01t905A   

References and Resources

Adeney, F. S. (2015). Women and Christian mission: ways of knowing and doing theology. Pickwick 

Allaire, B. (2019). Dorothy Day and the Great Quake.

Coles, R. (1999). Dorothy Day : a radical devotion. Perseus Books.

Day, D. (1970). Meditations. Paulist Press.

Day, D. (1997). Loaves and fishes. Orbis Books.

Day, D. (2011). The Duty of Delight. Image.

Day, D. (2015). House of Hospitality. Our Sunday Visitor.

Day, D. (2016). Thérèse. Ave Maria Press.

Day, D. (2017). The Reckless Way of Love. Plough Publishing House.

Day, D., & Eichenberg, F. (2017). The long loneliness: the autobiography of the legendary Catholic social activist Dorothy Day. Harperone.

Day, D., Eichenberg, F., & Coles, R. (1952). The long loneliness: the autobiography of the legendary Catholic social activist. Harperone.

Day, D., & Ellsberg, R. (2012). All the way to heaven: the selected letters of Dorothy Day. Image Books.

Day, D., & Ellsberg, R. (2015). Dorothy Day, selected writings: by little and by little. Orbis Books.

Day, D., & Jordan, P. (2002). Dorothy Day : writings from Commonweal. Liturgical Press.

Day, D., Quigley, M., & Garvey, M. (1994). The Dorothy Day Book. Templegate Pub.

Hennessy, K. (2017). Dorothy Day : the world will be saved by beauty : an intimate portrait of my grandmother. Scribner.

Hinson-Hasty, E. L. (2014). Dorothy Day for armchair theologians. Westminster John Knox Press.

Jordan, P. (2016). Hold Nothing Back. Liturgical Press.

Loughery, J. (2021). DOROTHY DAY : Dissenting voice of the American century. Simon & Schuster.

Mayfield, D. L. (2022). UNRULY SAINT : Dorothy Day’s radical vision and its challenge for our times. Broadleaf Books.

McBride, J. M. (2017). Radical discipleship: a liturgical politics of the Gospel. Fortress Press.

Miller, W. D., & Day, D. (1982). Dorothy Day. San Francisco Harper & Row.

Pycior, L. (2020). Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and the Greatest Commandment. Paulist Press.

Treece, P. (2011). God Will Provide. Paraclete Press.

Forest, Jim. “Servant of God Dorothy Day, Saint and Troublemaker” Portsmouth Institute 2024

https://portsmouthinstitute.org/servant-of-god-dorothy-day-saint-and-troublemaker/ article

McNamara, Robert. "Biography of Dorothy Day, Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, https://www.thoughtco.com/dorothy-day-biography-4154465 

QUOTES

Statustownquotes 

Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story  https://youtu.be/DRQLnJJZnCo    

Opening Prayer distributed by Claretian Publications, 205 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60606 312-236-7782 ext. 474  editors@uscatholic.org