Please join us between 5:00 and 5:25 pm via Zoomphone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome to our celebration of Holy Thursday, known traditionally as ‘Maundy Thursday’ because Maundy is Latin for mandate or commandment. The prescription Jesus gives to his beloved friends and followers during their Passover supper is to love each other as he has loved them. The tenderness and kindness of this love even in the face of danger for Jews in occupied Palestine is our inheritance straight from Jesus. It is a courageous love, a dedicated and insistent love, a love to last in our time and for all time. Let us use as our opening prayer the words from Deuteronomy that inspired the Jewish prayer called Shema.
Opening Prayer (Donna)
Listen, Israel: Yahweh our God is the one, the only Yahweh. You must love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Let the words I enjoin on you today stay in your heart. You shall tell them to your children, and keep on telling them, when you are sitting at home, when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are standing up. (Deut. 6:4-7)
Opening Song: Come Be in My Heart by Sara Thomsen
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading
THE MANICURE by Debra Burger
Susan came to get me. It was time for my manicure.
She wasn’t warm and friendly, as others had been before.
There was distance in her eyes. She called me Barbara,
and complained there was too much to do. I wasn’t liking her.
I’d planned a day of indulgence and pampering,
slaved all week for this chance to be treated like a queen.
And here she was indifferent, her mind miles away
This was not the service I expect when I pay!
I soaked my hands in soapy water. She took out the nail file.
She wasn’t concentrating. I was fuming all the while.
After a simple breath, I asked, “Are you feeling okay?”
Never could I have guessed what Susan would say.
“Yesterday my car was totaled. The other driver was uninsured.
And I think maybe I’m pregnant. In fact, I am almost sure.”
I asked if this was happy news. She quickly answered “Yes”
Her only child had died a year ago. It was sudden infant death.
My thoughts were spinning round, as Susan filed my nails.
The pain this woman had endured made my annoyance pale.
As she applied the polish, we spoke of her ordeal.
The months spent empty and enraged, she’d only just began to heal.
With compassionate friends, she found she was not alone.
She said, “When I get beyond myself, I can find my way home.”
And so, I had a manicure. It came in a different way.
It was not the service I expect when I pay
But with a simple breath, there was a moment of grace,
I went from a manicure to a holier place.
For life had just shown me that we never are alone.
And when I get beyond myself, I can find my way home.
Life had just shown me that we never are alone.
And when I get beyond myself, I can find my way home
These are the inspired words of Debra Burger and the community affirms them by saying: AMEN
Gospel Acclamation: Thy Word
A Reading from the Gospel according to John
JN 13:1-15
It was before the Feast of Passover, and Jesus realized that the hour had come for him to pass from this world, but now he showed how perfect this love was.
The Devil had already convinced Judas Iscariot, son of Simon to betray Jesus. So during supper, Jesus-knowing that God had put all things into his own hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God-rose from the table, took off his clothes and wrapped a towel around his waist. He then poured water into a basin, and began to was the disciples’ feet, and dry them with the towel that was around his waist.
When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Rabbi, you’re not going to wash my feet, are you?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t realize what I am doing right now, but later you’ll understand.”
Peter replied, “You’ll never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Then, Rabbi, not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well.”
Jesus said, “Any who have taken a bath are clean all over and only need to wash their feet- and you’re clean, though not every one of you,” For Jesus knew who was to betray him. That is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
After washing their feet, Jesus put his clothes back on and returned to the table. He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me “Teacher,” and “Sovereign”- and rightly, for so I am. If I, then- your Teacher and Sovereign- have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
These are the inspired words from the gospel of John and the community affirms them by saying: AMEM
Homily (Connie)
In today’s readings, we are reminded of the valuable lesson of the Last Supper and it’s relationship to the Feast of Passover with a relevant twist—to focus on a present and future as demonstrated by Jesus. In the first reading, we learn about an unexpected encounter with a manicurist that illustrates a teachable moment that was not aligned with the client’s expectations.
As I reflected on this, I wondered what a ‘Last Supper” of our Upper Room Community would look like as we reminded ourselves of our journeys together and the timeless lessons we learn as we gather together, I am profoundly impressed by the love, joy, kindness, acceptance, and quest for social justice demonstrated by our community. It is evident in the joy created when we send supplies to the Ukraine, Family Promise, the South end Children’s Café, etc.
During the Last Supper/Passover Meal, Jesus reminded His disciples of all that he taught them and demonstrated that they needed to replicate caring for each other as he washed their feet, one by one. His actions are later explained as “serve one another as I have served you” and love one another as I have loved you.
It also occurred to me that I have been blessed by “last suppers of people who are close to me, and, like Jesus are prepared to leave this Earth. As we review our life together, I become aware of a relationship legacy that stays with me and creates an opportunity to celebrate their life.
Brian McLaren describes this meal as a feast on meanings. What meanings are you celebrating tonight and during Holy Week?
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
Donna: We bring to this table our blessings, cares, and intentions. Please pray these intentions in the silence of your hearts. Amen.
Donna: 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.
Connie: Please join with open hearts and hands in praying the Eucharistic prayer together: (written by Jay Murnane)
Great Spirit of the wonder-ful expansion and evolution of creation, we come together with joy and amazement in this season of grace and rebirth.
We join together in an open, hopeful circle of life, to bring courage out of the heart of our fear, to bring a gentle acknowledgement of communion out of the alienation of the illusion of our separations.
Joined consciously with the fire and wind of your Spirit, with the emerging buds of spring’s regeneration, with the laughter of children this precious world ‘round, we sing out a simple song of thanksgiving:
Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
Donna: We thank you for Jesus, our way to the truth about living.
We recognize our call to continue the ministry of Jesus and commit ourselves to work for justice and peace in the world today. Grant us nourishment at this table providing strength and perseverance as we stand up and speak truth to power.
Empower us with the grace of openness to be accepting of all who join us at the table of blessing as we recall the meals when Jesus gathered with people who hungered for acceptance and sustenance. Let us live lives focused on your bountiful love.
We recall now one of those meals when he had gathered with companions of the journey. Jesus, hoping to lead by example, welcomed them to the table by first washing their feet, a sign of servanthood to be emulated.
Washing of Hands
Connie: We pause now to wash one another hands as a gesture in imitation of what Jesus did in washing the disciples’ feet. It is a symbol of our willingness to serve one another and meet one another’s needs.
Song during ritual: The Servant Song by Richard Gillard
Donna: Please join in praying the words of consecration:
Lift the bread
When he returned to his place at the table, he took the Passover Bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat of the Bread of Life
Given to strengthen you
Whenever you remember me like this
I am among you.
Lift the cup
Connie: Jesus then raised a cup of blessing, spoke the grace 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.
Communion Song: The Summons
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy One, you are 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.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
Blessing: (Donna)
Know that the God of all creation Is here with us, understanding our hearts.
From those hearts, we speak a blessing:
The richness of the promise
Of light and water be yours
The light that calls you
To continue in hope
The water that flows
In renewal and generosity.
The healing of the promise
Of love be yours.
The love which has formed you
And called you
And makes of you creators of a world.
Strong vision be yours
Strong and gentle hearts
And resilient spirits.
May God’s own peace
The peace born in justice
And shared in tenderness and cherishing
Be with you always.
Closing Song:
Return to Love
