Upper Room Liturgy of Oneness - October 11, 2020 - Presiders: Phillis Isabella Sheppard and Mary Theresa Streck and Joan Chesterfield

Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash

Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via Zoom 

Here is the Zoom link:   

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155

 

Should you not be able to connect via ZOOM, here is the phone-in information (audio only).

Phone Number: (646) 558-8656

Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

Welcome- Mary Theresa: Welcome to the Upper Room’s Liturgy in observance of Indigenous People’s Weekend. Our theme is “See No Stranger.”

Since the beginning of the European conquest of the Americas, White supremacy and Christian supremacy have caused great hardship and unspeakable atrocities against Indigenous People and People of Color.  

When the conquerors no longer “saw the faces in front of them as equal, they could call people strangers on their own land, savage to the touch, ripe for conversion: They could enslave them, pillage their resources, and build an empire on their soil in the name of God and country.” (Valerie Kaur) 

Valerie Kaur, a Sikh American civil rights activist, award-winning filmmaker, lawyer, faith leader, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project invites us to imagine a different story. She says,

“What if first contact in the Americas had been marked not by violence but by wonder? If the first Europeans who arrived here had looked into the faces of the indigenous people they met and thought not savage, but sister and brother, it would have been difficult, perhaps impossible, to mount operations of enslavement, theft, rape, and domination. Such operations depend on the lie that some people are subhuman. If they saw them as equals instead, might they have sat down and negotiated a shared future? Imagine institutions on this soil built on the premise of equality rather than white supremacy. Imagine the forms of community that might have emerged, and how that would have evolved through generations.” 

In our first reading, Valerie Kaur invites us to create a new way forward and to labor for justice through revolutionary love.

Please join in our opening song: “Would you Harbor Me?” Sung by the Three Altos  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN3LSyaNO2U

“Would You Harbor Me?” Lyrics by Ysaye Barnwell 

Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you? 

Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you? 

Would you harbor a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a heretic, convict or spy? 

Would you harbor a run away woman, or child, a poet, a prophet, a king? 

Would you harbor an exile, or a refugee, a person living with AIDS? 

Would you harbor a Tubman, a Garrett, A Truth, a fugitive or a slave? 

Would you harbor a Haitian, Korean or Czech, a lesbian or a gay? 

Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you? 

Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you?

Opening Prayer - Phillis:  

Loving God,

You have formed us in communities

by communities

for communities

Let your Love open our hearts, guide our steps, and

Light our path

so that Your Love in us

repairs all manner of injustice,

offers solace to those who grieve

and stands with those who suffer. Amen.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: 

Valarie Kaur Invites Us to Labor for Justice in Revolutionary Love (play segment beginning at: 4:05)

https://youtu.be/jnCf3NL-0dI

These are the inspired words of Valerie Kaur, faith leader and activist, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.

Alleluia: Deb

Gospel – Joan Pesce: 

A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew (adapted from MT 34-40)

The Holy One says, “Come my beloved and take your place in the kin-dom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why: 

I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.

Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored or marginalized, that was me—you did it to me.”

These words are adapted from the Gospel of Matthew, and we affirm them by saying, Amen.

Brief Pause for reflection

Shared Homily - Phillis Isabella Sheppard

Where is the Love?

In a time of Suffering, Grief, and Injustice

The womanist theologian, M. Shawn Copeland describes suffering as “Suffering, always means pain, disruption, separation and incompleteness. It can . . . push us to the borders of hopelessness and despair . . . can maim, wither and cripple the heart.... I understand suffering as the disturbance of our inner tranquility caused by physical, mental, emotional and spiritual forces . . .”  When this kind of suffering is inflicted, love is inhibited.

How are we to be love, in love, for love?  It seems we have to cultivate a disposition toward love. Love is a spiritual path embodied not in solitary reverie and contemplation, but in the messiness of community and struggle; the kind of messiness that makes us remember that Roberta Flack song “Where is the love that you promised that would be mine until the end of time?” Yes, opening ourselves to Love can expose us to heart break, and disappointment in ourselves and others.  Love is risky business.  We do not seek to be Love alone.  Love cannot be fostered in a vacuum for internal self-gratification.  Love has a purpose, aim, and context. 

Love forms our imagination, sharpens our sight, and directs our feet:  We need to see that at the borders of this country, children and families live a terror induced nightmare; we need to see that Black and Brown bodies are used for target practice, and those unhoused and in unsafe homes flit about seeking crevices of sanctuary. There are some of us who call this place sacred ground?  Where is the Love?  How is the Love lived?

Leviticus 19:33-34 gives us two directives: do no wrong toward the stranger and love the stranger. 

In her essay on love and violence, womanist ethicist Emilie M. Townes writes “love is one more piece to the fabric of the universe, … one more sign that the Emmaus Road is not the end of the journey but it is the beginning. …” Love is only the beginning.  Love is/is to be the impulse running through us.  Love is not limited by the immediate, the past, or the imagined future; this Love is the thread that connects us, across time, space, oceans, and cosmologies. Love links our lives to people across the globe—if we allow Love to shake us up and surge like a tsunami—turning wrongs right side up. Love dismantles, repairs and builds.

To take love seriously requires us to acquire, through practice, a disposition of Love and to position ourselves so that we are prepared, but not rigid; nimble, but surefooted—about why we exist in the world in this time and place. Love requires us to imagine a new way of being and to reach into the dirt and clay to create without knowing all that Love will yield. We Love in community, in relationship with God, and one another. 

This imagining is not just about producing a new idea, though this is good; but we seek the new that evolves in action, over time, and in the spontaneous and disruptive.  

Love requires us to listen beneath the surface.  Beyond the obvious. Beyond what we already know. Beyond the boundaries of here and what we think is the other side.  This path requires us to move into liminal spaces where we become Love.  

What are your thoughts?

Statement of Faith

Mary Theresa: Please join in praying our 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

Mary Theresa: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this gathering our blessings, cares and concerns. 

Denise reads intentions

(at conclusion)  We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.

Phillis:  O Holy One, you have been called by many names by many people in the centuries of our planet’s life. Yet, no name truly defines you or describes you.  We celebrate you as the marvelous, loving energy of life who caused us and our world to be. We celebrate you as the Source of light and life and love, and we celebrate your presence and all-ways care.

Mary Theresa: With open hands and open hearts, let us pray together our Eucharistic prayer:  

Joan: Source of Love and Light, we join in unity of Spirit, love and purpose with Your people everywhere and with those who have gone before us. With all of creation across billions of galaxies, we open our hearts and souls to become One.

Mary Theresa: 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. With gratitude, we meld ourselves into Your Divine Presence which knows all, shelters all, and transforms all into love, abundant and eternal and in one voice, we sing:

Here In This Place  by Christopher Grundy  https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ

Phillis: We thank you, Holy One, for Jesus, a man of courage whose exquisite balance of human and divine points our way and who 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 justice.

Joan: We seek to heal the differences that isolate us so that we may live in unity with all people, of every ethnicity, skin color, gender orientation or class. May we have the imaginative sympathy and love of Your Spirit to move with courage beyond the confines of bias, miscommunication, ignorance and hurt and into the healing place where Divine light and love abide.

Mary Theresa:  Please extend your hands in blessing.

Holy One, we celebrate and recognize you in this bread and wine and we recognize you in each other. 

Phillis: Knowing that Jesus spent his time with the lowly and hurting, the needy and shunned, we seek to remain open to how we can bring love, healing and unity to those in need. We ask for the grace to see with the eyes of Jesus, touch with the hands of Jesus and heal with the heart of Jesus. 

Joan: 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 friends in an act of love and humility.

            All lift the bread.

Mary Theresa: Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.

All lift their cups.

Phillis: 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. (pause)

All consume their bread and cup

Mary Theresa: Our Communion Meditation is Where Did Jesus Go by Sara Thomsen. Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner using photos by artists on Unsplash

https://youtu.be/biPM_MTQVgI

Joan: Let us join with disciples of all ages and pray as Jesus taught us:

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 and Commissioning - Phillis: Please raise your hands in blessing and pray together.

May we create the space for Love

because in us, Love shows up,

embodied, determined, intelligent,

questioning, and disrupting.

May our Love show up

in activism, organizing, dismantling, teaching;

in the streets, in our words, rituals, and prayers.

May Love show up in our preaching, praying;

in our working and our playing.

May Love show up

When we show up.

May we reveal Love in our lives,

our theologies, our convictions, and our values.

May love show up in our collective loving

beyond our own satisfaction.

Where is the Love? In Us. May we live it.

Amen.

Mary Theresa: Please join in singing our Closing Song: “We are singing for our lives” Sung by Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8amcZCoycok

Moment of Oneness, October 7th, Upper Room Community Weekly Prayer.

Moment of Oneness, October 7^th.  Upper Room Community Weekly Prayer.

As we gather in our homes, sheltered and supporting each other, we bring a sense of hope to our lives.  Our love for each other and for our communities, both small and large, is evident in our actions. We give our gifts with a sense of freedom and presence. We know that we can only give what we have ourselves. Our work, rest and play, our very existence, is a unique facet of our Creator, who blesses us and through us, blesses all.  May we continue to know the Holy One’s companionship. AMEN.

The Prayer of Thanksgiving, Early Christian Prayer found at Nag Hammadi.

The Prayer of Thanksgiving (from the Early Christian writings found at Nag Hammadi.)

1 This is the prayer they said: We give thanks to you, every life and heart stretches toward you, O name untroubled, honored with the name of God, praised with the name of Father. 

2 To everyone and everything comes the kindness of the Father, and love and desire. 

3 And if there is a sweet and simple teaching, it gifts us mind, word, and knowledge: mind, that we may understand you; word, that we may interpret you; knowledge, that we may know you. 

4 We rejoice and are enlightened by your knowledge. We rejoice that you have taught us about yourself. 

5 We rejoice that in the body you have made us divine* through your knowledge. 

6 The thanksgiving of the human who reaches you is this alone: that we know you. 

7 We have known you, O light of mind. O light of life, we have known you. 

8 O womb of all that grows, we have known you. 

9 O womb pregnant with the nature of the Father, we have known you. 

10 O never-ending endurance of the Father who gives birth, so we worship your goodness. 

11 One wish we ask: we wish to be protected in knowledge. 

12 One protection we desire: that we not stumble in this life. 

13 When they said these things in prayer, they welcomed one another, and they went to eat their holy food, which had no blood in it.”

— A New New Testament: A Bible for the Twenty-first Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts by Hal Taussig

Silent Reflection

Prayers of Petition

Holy One, you give us hope for our life as we learn to listen and follow you.  RESPONSE: We are full of hope and light.

Holy One, you make sure that we have the experiences to fulfill our calling to be servants, friends and companions on this journey.  RESPONSE: We are full of hope and light.

Holy One, you allow us to have free will and to give thanks for all that we are given.  RESPONSE: We are full of hope and light.

Holy One, we bless your name as you walk with us on this path.

RESPONSE: We are full of hope and light.

Please add your silent reflections now…

Closing Prayer:

Send us forth with the knowing of your spirit inside us. Be with us in Hope as we live our lives of Love and Service. Keep us always close to you. Our hearts are full of your Grace.

AMEN.

Upper Room Liturgy for the Feast of St. Francis - Last Sunday in the Season of Creation - October 4 2020 - Presiders: Jim Marsh, ARCWP and Rosie Smead, ARCWP

Welcome and Theme 

Good morning and welcome to the Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community. The Season of Creation, which began on August 30, culminates today with the Feast of St. Francis. 

I feel especially privileged to be a co-presider on this day since I was with the Conventual Franciscans as a young man. Francis of Assisi, certainly a very popular saint, has come to be associated with the environment because of his love for creation. In his canticle, he calls the sun and fire his brothers, and the moon and water his sisters, and on October 3, 1226 he embraced even sister death. There are many stories: his taming the wolf who terrorized the people of Gubbio, his preaching to the birds “My sweet little sisters, birds of the sky, … In every beat of your wings and every note of your songs, praise God who has given you the greatest of gifts, the freedom of the air. So please beware, my little sisters, of the sin of ingratitude, and always sing praise to God" are just a few examples. 

I’m also delighted that Rosie Smead, a priest in Kentucky, agreed to lead us in prayer since she has a great love for dogs which she has bred for many years. Let us not forget that dog is GOD spelled backwards. 

In 2015, Pope Francis published his second encyclical “Laudato Si” with the subtitle ‘On Care for our Common Home.’ Yesterday, at the Sacro Convento in Assisi, he signed and released his third encyclical “Fratelli tutti” which stresses our common humanity as sisters and brothers and the importance of promoting peace, harmony and solidarity with the world. This is very timely given the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and the global climate crisis which is causing great suffering to millions as well as our common home, mother earth. 

And so, my friends, I greet you using Francis’ words: Pax et bonum, Paz y bien, Pace e bene sorelle e fratelli tutti (Peace and all good, sisters and brothers all)! Let us begin our prayer in song …. 

 

Canticle of the Feathered Ones by Sara Thomsen

(video created by Denise Hackert-Stoner)

https://youtu.be/YmvOW4wzcpg

Inspired by the poem “Sunday Morning” by Anne Stewart of Ely, MN. Composed for the Duluth Poet Laureate “Noteworthy” event.

LITURGY OF WORD

Rosie: May Wisdom Sophia inspire us in these readings!

Reading 1: from the first known letter from Francis to all Christians

"O how happy and blessed are those who love God and do as Jesus said in the gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul, and your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, let us love God with a pure heart and mind. This is his particular desire when Jesus says: True worshipers adore Abba God in spirit and truth. For all who adore must do so in the spirit of truth. Let us also direct to God our praises and prayers, saying: "Our Father/Mother, who are in heaven," since we must always pray and never grow slack.

Furthermore, let us produce worthy fruits of penance. Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms … Women and men lose all the material things they leave behind in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For such, they will receive from God the reward and recompense they deserve. We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather we must be simple, humble and pure. We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God's sake. The Spirit of God will rest on all who live in this way and persevere in it to the end. God will permanently dwell in them. They will be Abba’s children who do his work. They are the spouses, brothers and mothers of Jesus, the Christ.

Reading 2: Listening and Interpreting Nature and God’s Messages 

The history of the universe and nature is being told to us by the stars, by the Earth, by the uprising and elevation of the mountains, by the animals, the woods and jungles, and by the rivers. Our task is to know how to listen and interpret the messages that are sent to us. The original peoples knew how to read every movement of the clouds, the meaning of the winds, and they knew when violent downpours were coming... We have forgotten all that.                     -Leonardo Boff (former Franciscan), theologian known for his support of liberation theology

Reading 3: We Are All Connected: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor 

‘Peace, justice and the preservation of creation are three absolutely interconnected themes, which cannot be separated and treated individually’ …. Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth.”  -Laudato Si’ 92 [Pope Francis]

Reading 4: Gospel of Matthew 

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The kin-dom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out at dawn to hire workers for the vineyard. After reaching an agreement with them for the usual daily wage, the owner sent them out into the vineyard.

About mid-morning, the owner came out and saw others standing around the marketplace without work, and said to them, ‘You go along to my vineyard and I will pay you whatever is fair.’ At that they left.

Around noon and again in mid-afternoon, the owner came out and did the same. Finally, going out late in the afternoon, the owner found still others standing around and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’

‘No one has hired us,’ they replied. The owner said, ‘You go to my vineyard, too.’

Rosie:  Let our response be a song of praise: ALLELUIA!

Homily Starter:   Jim  

[May the ramblings of my heart and mind help you to reflect on these readings through the lens of creation. Amen.]

I’ll focus on the themes of creation as incarnational, minority and our relationship as sisters and brothers all.

For Francis, all of creation was incarnational! It bore the footprint and face of God. Ilia Delio, OSF, a Franciscan sister, theologian and scientist, believes that Francis challenged his 13^th century world to see with new eyes. In her book entitled The Unbearable Wholeness of Being, she quotes Angela Foligno, a third order Franciscan after Francis’ death, who said “the whole creation is pregnant with God.” In his Canticle of the Creatures, Francis calls each aspect of creation his brother and sister. This song stresses a relationship of equals. In case you didn’t know, Francis was the “inventor” of the Christmas creche/manger scene because he was so taken with God, the Holy One, becoming human.

Pope Francis reminds us in his encyclical Laudato Si that “not only is everything related but that we are united in pilgrimage together with all of creation.” And if this is true, then we must take to heart the words of another Franciscan, Leonardo Boff, who reminds us in our second reading that the Holy One is speaking to us in creation, so be attentive, listen, interpret and respond.

It is said that while he was praying in the little Church of San Damiano, Francis had a mystical experience and heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him from the cross, saying “Francis, rebuild my church.” And we know how he responded. He never wanted to write a rule for his followers, but was forced by the religious authorities of the time as his movement grew in popularity. He kept it very simple, and really the very first line of the Rule says it all: “This is the Rule and Life of the friars minor, to live the Gospel of Jesus ……”  Everyone was to be a lesser brother, introducing the theme of minority in community living. In his letter to all Christians, Francis urges everyone to be humble servants, thus becoming “the spouses, brothers and mothers of Jesus.”

I believe that the entire RC Women Priest movement and intentional communities like ours, the Upper Room, are continuing to rebuild and reform our church. And just like the Portiuncula (home church to Francis and those early followers) sits within the basilica of St Mary of the Angels in Assisi, so also the Women Priest movement and communities like Upper Room and Mary Mother of Jesus take its place within creation, the most splendid cathedral imaginable. 

Our Gospel reading today speaks of another parable only recounted by the writer named Matthew. What is this parable about? Do we see ourselves in this story? Here we go again, Jesus is messing with our heads and our hearts! I purposely left out the rest of the story since we know it so well “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.” I’m not going there since it’s not where I place the emphasis today. 

Let’s focus on the first part of this gospel story. We’re told that the owner goes out five times to hire workers. What is striking to me is that on the fifth occasion, he says “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” The owner obviously recognizes them yet didn’t choose them earlier. Why? This becomes a crucial question for me.

There is nothing to suggest that they are lazy or irresponsible. I suggest that they are the unwanted, the marginalized, perhaps those we often discriminate against. Think of the unemployed and underemployed as well as the undocumented immigrants in our country. Is this kin-dom story about them? About us? 

When we consider the ending of this story, it makes no sense from an economic standpoint or even that of labor management because we confuse equality with fairness. I worked so hard; I deserve more than…. Imagine, we even want to control generosity which reflects God’s goodness. Is it because we believe there is not enough? Yet at the end of the story, no one’s well-being is threatened; all were able to provide for their family. 

At the end of his life, when Francis was about to embrace “sister death” surrounded by his community, he blessed them with the words “God has shown me what was mine to do. May God show you what is yours to do.”

If the entire cosmos is incarnational, how is it that we are so disconnected with each other and all creation? Creation is God’s first sacrament, and in our celebration of sacraments we often use the elements of water, oil, bread and wine. These natural symbols remind us of God’s presence and love. In a few minutes we will celebrate Eucharist which is food for all. Eucharist does not happen without soil, seeds, sun, rain and all of nature’s processes for growth. It does not happen without human intervention …. the sowers, the reapers, the vintners, the bakers, etc., etc, etc. Remember this when you eat and drink; feel the sun and rain that nurtured the fields, see the faces of those who sowed and the migrants who harvested. We are indeed one with all creation!

On this last Sunday of Creation, is there a connection between the cries of the poor and the cries of our planet, mother earth? My friends, we would do well to heed the words of the Gospel: “you also go into my vineyard.”  There is much work to do. Let us not lose hope, but bring hope to our world!

What did you hear?

As is our custom, the community is invited to share a brief reflection on the Word proclaimed today. Please unmute your device (laptop, iPad or phone) before beginning to share and mute again when you are done. 

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

Rosie:   As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring our personal cares, concerns and blessings as well as the needs of our world. Denise will give voice to those shared by the community this week …… Denise will give a silent opportunity for us to acknowledge other concerns before ending with “We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. AMEN!

Jim: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice:

O Holy One, you are always with us. In the blessed abundance of creation, we gather to celebrate Your nourishing gift of life. Creation reminds us of your love and our call to be stewards and caretakers.

We are grateful for Your Spirit that animates and sustains all that exists… the rainforests that nurture our world, the wetlands that give animals shelter and care, the coral reefs that cradle sea life, the sun, moon, stars and plants of all kind.

In gratitude and joy we lift our voices to proclaim a song of praise:

Here In This Place  by Christopher Grundy  https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ

Rosie: We thank you for our brother, Jesus, for Francis and Clare, for Therese of Lisieux (the patroness of women priests) together with all sisters and brothers who have modeled for us a way to live and love in challenging times. Inspired by their example, may we be peacemakers and reconcilers, choosing life over death, becoming beacons of light and hope in our world.

Please extend your hands (epiclesis)

(All:) We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us. We invoke your Spirit anew upon these simple gifts of bread and wine, that they and we might truly be Christ present to the world.

On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught, and to fix that memory clearly, he bent down and washed their feet.

Rosie lifts bread

When he returned to his place at table, Jesus lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread, and offered it to them saying:

Take and eat, this is my very self.

after a pause, Rosie lifts cup

Then Jesus 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.

Jim: In union with all peoples living on this planet and all our ancestors, we pray for wisdom to discern more wisely your call to us in the circumstances of our daily lives.

  We acknowledge that we have abused our earth. We have been slow to realize that we take much more than we need. At times, we fail to see its beauty and worth. May we be mindful that greed and indifference threatens all of your creation.

Holy One, may your Spirit renew, transform and work through us to restore and protect your creation. We resolve to act justly and courageously in confronting the suffering that desecrates our planet and its peoples. May we take risks and engage in good trouble on behalf of the marginalized who suffer greatly the environmental injustices of fouled air, tainted water, and a poverty of parks and public spaces that bring people together to enjoy creation in all its beauty.

Like Jesus, we seek to live compassionately: to care for widows, orphans, the sick, and to welcome the stranger. For it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, and glorify You, O Holy One, at this time and always. AMEN.

Rosie:  Jesus taught his disciples to pray, and so we pray in this Season of Creation ……

Generous Creator, 

the intricate and elegant biodiversity of our world 

is your hallowed autograph on our lives, on our souls and in our hearts. 

We yearn for the wholeness of being in harmony with Your will 

and with all living things. 

Each day we draw on your creative, life-giving energy with gratitude and awe 

as we find nourishment in, seed and field, river and forest. 

May we be stewards and co-creators with you in caring for the gifts of Your Creation. 

We seek to be reconciled with those we have hurt and we resolve to do better.  

With the wind of Your Spirit, inspire us that we may reach out and love one another and care for the world, our home.

Strengthen us to work for local and global justice that one day we will enjoy a harvest of equality and fairness as if they were wildflowers, propagating spontaneously, unerringly and in surprising abundance. Amen.

Jim: My friends, may we become what we eat and drink!

(All:) 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.

As we Eat and Drink, let us listen to the words of our meditation song

   

This Beautiful Earth  sung by Dianne Dela Fuente, words and music by Felix Jungco, OFM 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-FikLzrI8I

As the world wakes up in the morning, And the sun smiles with its warmth,

The birds spread their wings, As they soar the vast blue skies.

The flowers give off their scents; Fragrance fills the air.

Refrain:  Oh, this earth is a paradise, so delightful to behold.

         How can we be so unkind to this planet where we live?

        This God’s gift to humanity; Let not ruin make its way.

As the waters in the rivers flow into the roaring rapids.

All the trees sway and dance with the rhythm of the blowing wind.

As the rains drench the ground, the whole creation breathes with life. (Ref.)

All the mountains and the hills are crowned and covered with vegetation.

And a thousand creatures dwell, running and creeping everywhere.

The ocean and the deep blue seas are teeming with a million species. (Ref.)

Coda: Let us love this universe. It’s the only one we’ve got.

Let the future generations enjoy this gift of love.

It’s the living witness of the power of God’s grace.

Rosie: Christ calls us to be disciples, to serve with love and compassion, and to care for our the Earth and all creation. Will you care for creation?

All:  Inspired by Wisdom Sophia, we will care for creation and all the world’s vulnerable people! We will nurture our pets and all animal kin! We will celebrate the circle of life with them!

Rosie: Let us extend our hands in blessing each other ……

All: May we continue to recognize the mystery and wonder of Incarnation and Resurrection in all creation. May the Holy One bless you and all those you love. May it be so this day and forevermore. AMEN! Go forth in peace and joy.

Closing Song: Canticle of the Sun   -Marty Haugen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaFZAUyXuQU&list=RDwYw8vDZQXlk&index=3

Refrain The heavens are telling the glory of God, 

And all of creation is shouting for joy. 

Come, dance in the forest,  

Come, play in the field,  

And sing, sing to the glory of our God.

Praise for the sun, bringer of the day, 

He carries the light of our God in his rays; 

The moon and the stars who light up that way,  

Unto to your home. Refrain

Praise for the wind that blows through the trees,  

The seas mighty storms, the gentlest of breeze; 

They blow where they will; they blow where they please,  

To please our God. Refrain 

Praise for the rain that waters our fields,  

And blesses our crops so all the earth yields;

From death unto life her mystery revealed,  

Springs forth in joy.  Refrain 

Praise for the Earth who makes life to grow,  

The creatures you made to let your life show; 

The flowers and trees that help us to know,  

The heart of love. Refrain

                        St. Francis of Assisi icon by Theophilia

This is my icon of the great founder of the Franciscan Order, the Poor Man of Assisi, and possibly one of the most popular of Catholic saints: St. Francis of Assisi. I initially had a much more complicated composition (involving some doves, possibly the wolf of Gubbio), but then I thought it would be much more fitting to keep things simple. So I decided to show Francis in a posture of joyful prayer and praise (the orans posture) receiving the stigmata from the San Damiano crucifix. This to me sums up his character of joy, prayer, humility, simplicity, suffering, and his great love for Jesus Christ crucified.