“I was raised Catholic, went to church every Sunday and Vacation Bible School each year, and didn’t fit in. I was frequently the only child of color in those very White spaces, and I felt more watched than welcomed at church. “Faith,” to me, meant discomfort, obligation, and shame for most of my early life.
My experiences as the single “other” granted me a unique perspective in a community of people taught to recite the same prayers in unison, to defer to the authority of the Church on everything from yoga to birth control, and to profess the same beliefs: theological, social, and political. From an early age, I took issue with the messages the Church sent to women and girls, about our diminished capacities to lead, about our bodies, and about our purposes, theological, social, and political. By the time I was a young teenager, I was a full-fledged feminist reading Alice Walker and Betty Friedan, and I brought feminist/womanist perspectives to church with me.
Lent … evoked not reverence but resentment in me.
Lent felt like another burden I didn’t choose. Giving up dessert or Gilmore Girls made me feel emptier. “Giving something up” felt like another rule which led to more guilt, not closeness to God.”. (Sarah James)
Christ in the Wilderness” Public Domain
Silent Meditation:If our spiritual practice makes us feel separated from God, community, and even ourselves, have we really entered a season of Lent?
“Today, I am no longer a member of the Catholic Church. Away from those tendrils of patriarchy and homogeneity, I see sacrifice during Lent differently - not as an obligation, but an invitation.”. (Sarah James)
What invitations are you being invited to listen deeply to this season?
How shall you respond?
What’s at stake for your life and community if you listen or ignore?
Meditation III:
During this season on a path of welcoming darkness and light, hope and longing, may we listen to the invitations to live more fully where a staid ineffectual sacrifice has been given up for an unwieldy love for those right beside us, noticing because we listened before words were ever spoken.
Lynn: Welcome/ Theme – ‘How Do I Love Thee? Let me Count the Ways’
Kathie: Opening Prayer: God of Love, we know you are always present with us. We acknowledge Your fire of the Divine igniting our hearts and the Spirit of serenity you weave in the tapestry of our souls. We seek to be Jesus in our time and place and to create “lives that are holy and hearts that are true.” May we cherish this day which You have made. Amen.
You have heard it said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistancewhen you are confronted with violence. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other. If anyone wants to sue you for your shirt, hand over your coat as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go two miles.Give to those who beg from you.And don’t turn your back on those who want to borrow from you.
You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor—but hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for your persecutors.
This will prove that you are children of God; for God makes the sun rise
on bad and good alike; God’s rain falls on the just and the unjust.
If you love those that love you, what merit is there in that?
Don’t tax collectors do as much?And if you greet only your sisters and brothers, what is so praiseworthy about that?Do not pagans do the same?
Therefore, be perfect, just as Abba God is perfect.
These are the inspired words of the writer known as Mathew and we affirm them by saying, Amen
Pause…
Homily Starter: Lynn
Chapter 5 of Matthew from which today’s gospel is taken, includes the Beatitudes and examples of how we ought to consider the Spirit of the law and not just the letter of the law. His teaching stretches and resets Mosaic commandments and Pharisaic laws for the Jewish people. He explains why we have laws and why we try to follow them, making plain the reward of justice that comes to us when we do. As our second reading states, he “takes the law up a notch—or really down; down into the depths…of who we are in the world.” At one point in the chapter, Jesus declares, Don’t think I’ve come to abolish the Law and the prophets. I have come not to abolish them, I’ve come to fulfill them.
So far so good. Yet, Jesus appears to establish some pretty high hurdles. “Turn the other cheek”? If sued for your shirt, offer your cloak as well? Love your enemies”? Be perfect as God is perfect”? Kathie and I have researched the background for this gospel and discovered what one commentary states, the wording attributed to Jesus has been the victim of “tragic translations and even worse interpretations.” We will try today to clear it up without adding to the tragedy.
First, there is the prescription to offer no resistance when you are confronted by violence. Too often, this had been used to justify a spouse staying in an abusive marriage. Matthew, writing in Greek two generations after Jesus died, is more closely translated as Do not violently resist an evildoer. This becomes the springboard for the civil disobedience and non-violence of Gandhi and King.
The three examples which follow must be seen in light of the culture of the time and the audience around Jesus. Listeners were familiar with the protocol of a master slapping a servant on the right cheek with the back of his hand. Offering one’s left cheek is a disobedient but non-violent way of making it impossible for the master to slap the servant again on the right cheek. The servant looks away from the master in a silent rebuke.
In a second example, the poor man threatened with a lawsuit over a shirt is to hand over his coat as well. This would leave him literally naked in front of the rich person threatening him. Imagine the chagrin of the rich man at the humble willingness of a person forfeiting all his clothing. In the third example, peasant farmers were forced by Roman soldiers to leave the fields and carry their heavy gear for a mile. Again, we can imagine the offer of doubling this distance leaves the soldier non-plussed.
Jesus was formulating tools for the oppressed to use in dealing with the powerful, wealthy oppressors in occupied lands. In the face of exploitation and violence, they were to become more loving. Dignity becomes the birthright of the humble and justice follows for those who are generous. Jesus asks us to go against the grain of human nature, to dig deeply for the Spirit of why and how we act in the world, to have a generous heart that stuns ourenemy into rethinking.
And then,” Love your enemies and pray for them.” “be perfect, just as Abba God is perfect.”
Greek culture had 6 different words for love describing the playful love of children, the deep love of friendship, the romantic love of sexual passion, self-love, the patient love of long-established couples and agape or the selfless love of universal kindness we have toward all. The Latin translation of agape became the word charity. It is this kind of altruism and kinship among strangers and all those who touch our lives that Jesus and his scribe Mathew probably mean for us to use toward enemies. This love shows respect and wishes fair treatment even for those who can sometimes annoy us or tempt us to resentment.
We need agape more than ever in this time of polarizing division when anger appears so close to the surface. Imagine, if we love our enemies, we will have no enemies.
One last thought about the closing instruction to be perfect as Abba God is perfect. The root word in Matthew’s Greek is telos which is also translated as reaching completion or intended goal or, being determined. That makes it sound more like the first reading in which perseverance and hope lead to love. Jesus is asking us to persevere in the fullest Spirit of the Law for we are divinely designed to live in the Spirit. Remember, it being said of Elizabeth Warren, “Nevertheless, she persisted”?
Are the examples and the standards of Jesus too high? Or, does he see us as we are meant to be seen?
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
Kathie: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we are aware of our call to live the compassion and love that Jesus models for us. We bring to our friendship table our gratitude, blessings, and concerns. Please feel free to voice your prayer beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We pray for these and all unspoken concerns in our hearts. Amen.
With open hearts and hands, let us pray our Eucharistic prayer
All: Holy One, we yearn to be close to you and to live in the embrace of your gentle wisdom. Your divine grace leads us away from our anxieties, fears and distractions and toward all that is blessed and joyous so that we might live in the Spirit and serve the cause of equality and inclusion.
Each of us is divinely created in Your image. We are precious to you and to each other because of who we are. We are beloved and blessed in your unconditional love, quite apart from how we act or fail to act. We resolve to look upon all our sisters and brothers as precious and deserving so that we serve to spread the gospel of love and peace.
Thankful for Jesus, who treated all of Creation with respect and abundant love, we seek to follow his example to be a light in the darkness. We recognize Your loving Presence here with us today and always, and we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy
Kathie and All: Dearest Holy One, there are times when we feel scarcity and emptiness even though we know You love us more than our human imagination can grasp. May we have the presence of mind to live in Your love. We strive to see You reflected in every person we meet, especially those with whom we disagree and those in need of great caring. Guide us in sharing our gifts and in being open hearted so that we learn to also accept help from others.
We thank you for Jesus, because you knew what it was like to be an outsider in occupied and foreign lands. May your presence prompt us to bring gospel kindness and understanding to the divisions and conflicts of our time.
Lynn: Please extend your hands in blessing.
Lynn and All: We are grateful for the bread and wine that remind us that we are called to renew and to be renewed with the love of the Spirit of God who is in everything, everyone and everywhere.We thank you for Jesus, beacon of love and wisdom,offering us a perspective of openness and service. We are grateful for this bread and wine whichreminds us of the call to spread the good news of love in our world.
On the night before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his 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.
lift the bread
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
lift the cup
Kathie and All: Then he 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.
Bread and wine is transformed by your Spirit and we are transformed when we open ourselves to Your Spirit. Each time we share this bread with one another we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as you love us.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live in our lives; as we share communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
Through Jesus we have learned how to live. Through Jesus, we have learned how to love. Through Jesus we have learned how to serve. AMEN
Lynn: Please offer communion to your neighbor with the words: You shine with the love of Christ
Kathie and All:Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
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
Lynn: Please extend your hands in blessing as we pray together:
ALL: May our hearts expand,
May our humble grasp on love reach higher and wider,
May the Presence of Abba God comfort us,
May we be faithful followers of Jesus,
And May we persevere, always willing to see that the other as a mirror of ourselves and of God. Amen.
Julie: Welcome! We are so happy to have you join us today as we celebrate our liturgy together. Today we pray the prayer of Jesus and look at compassionate forgiveness.
Opening Prayer: Let us pray. Holy One, you forgive us every day. Give us the grace to forgive each other and ourselves, each and every day. AMEN
Opening Song: Quiet Place by the Many – video by MT Streck
FIRST READING A Reading from the First Book Samuel 2:1-9
After Hannah, deemed barren, gave birth to Samuel, and just before she dedicated him, in his youth, to the Temple priesthood, she sang this song:
My heart rejoices in God! In God, my strength soars. My mouth derides oppressors;
the humble have triumphed! I delight in God’s deliverance.
There is no holy one like God; there is no rock like our God.
Talk no more so boastfully, let not arrogance issue from your mouths.
For an all-knowing God is God; by this God actions are weighed:
The bows of the mighty are broken, while the vulnerable gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry no longer have to toil.
Those deemed useless will bear many fruits, while those who mistake privilege for merit will languish.
Life and death are in the hands of God; God brings down to Sheol and raises up.
Rich and poor are in God’s hands; God humbles, and also exalts.
God raises the disenfranchised from the dust, those in need from the ash heap,
to seat them in their places of honor,
and make a glorious throne their heritage. For all the Earth belongs to God.
God guards the feet of the faithful. Wickedness will perish;
for not by might does one prevail.
These are the inspired words of an Israelite Poet and Musician and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
PSALM 4
Our Psalm Response is: Transform us in prayer. R: Transform us in prayer.
Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy and hear my prayer. R: Transform us in prayer.
God answers: “In your anger, do not sin. Instead, at night, in the quiet of your room, search your hearts and be silent. Know that I have heard you.” R: Transform us in prayer.
Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say. Give us Yourself, O God, for You fill hearts with joy, more joy than when grain and new wine abound.
R: Transform us in prayer.
In peace, I will lie down and sleep. In You alone, O God, am I safe. You alone are my sanctuary.
R: Transform us in prayer.
SECOND READING A Reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 3:16-23
Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. The temple of God, which you are, is holy.
Let no one be deceived. If any of you consider yourself wise in this age, become a “fool” so as to become wise! The wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God. As it is written:
“God catches the wise in their own ruses,”
and again,
“God knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
So then, don’t boast about human leaders! All things are yours! Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future, - all of it belongs to you! And you belong to the Christ, who belongs to God.
These are the inspired words of the Apostle Paul and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
GOSPEL A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Matthew 6:7-15
Jesus taught the disciples, saying:
When you pray, don't babble like the sanctimonious do. They think they'll be heard because of their many words. Don't pray in that way. God, who conceived you in love, knows what you need before you ask. This is how you should pray:
Our Loving God of the cosmos, holy be Your name. May Your kin-dom come,
the desire of Your heart for the world be done on earth and throughout the heavens.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.
Jesus continued: If you forgive others their transgressions, then Your God will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their transgressions, neither will God forgive you.
These are the inspired words of the gospel writer we call Matthew and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter
Julie: As I’ve mentioned before, I love the Comprehensive Catholic Lectionary produced by the Women’s Ordination Conference. One of the things l love about it is how it provides extensive notes on the readings, which I find so helpful with the less familiar ones. I’d like to share some of those notes to give context to today’s readings.
[The] First Reading from 1 Samuel is the song of Hannah. She sings this ancient song as she gives her only son to the pre- Temple shrine to become a priest. Her son, Samuel, was the answer to her previous grief-stricken prayer asking God to end her barrenness. Hannah’s song is the basis for Mary’s song (The Magnificat) centuries later.
Psalm 4 reads as if it were Hannah’s distressed prayer before she conceived: She prayed into the context of a patriarchal society where women were only “saved” through childbearing. The psalm extols God’s own Self (and not a place) as the (true) sanctuary of the human heart.
The Comprehensive Catholic Lectionary follows the canonical Second Reading which speaks of the body, and the body of believers, as God’s Temple, the Spirit’s dwelling place.
Note that in the entire canonical SMFD Lectionary, the prayer of Jesus (often called the “Our Father” or “Lord’s Prayer”) never appears in any of the three cycles. This is remarkable and unfortunate because the prayer is central to both Christian worship and private prayer. Many Christians are unaware that the prayer appears in only two of the four gospels (“Matthew” and “Luke”) and that, despite similarities, they are different. And BOTH differ from the versions the churches have prayed through the centuries, and English-speaking churches only in recent centuries. Arguably, aspects and the form of the prayer long pre-date the prayer(s) in the two Gospels, and many renditions, including sung renditions and expanded renditions, have existed in the last two millennia. The study of the origins, history, evolution, and iterations of the prayer is rich.
But what do these readings mean to us as followers of Jesus? For me, today, they mean that Abba God loves us with a powerful, transformative love. By living in that love, we become more than ourselves, we become the body of Christ, the communion of saints. And while transformative, this love is also challenging: we are asked to forgive others as we would have the Holy One forgive us. bell hooks writes,
For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?
Can we see the possibility for transformation in those who have wronged us? Can we forgive even when we can’t see that possibility? Can we do that personally? Can we do that as a society?
What did you hear? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you? Please unmute and share your thoughts and insights on today’s readings.
Shared Reflections
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
Julie: As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware of the transformative power of compassionate love. We bring to this table our prayers for the community. Please share your blessings, cares, and concerns starting with the words, “I bring to the table…”
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions held in the silence of our hearts. AMEN.
Julie: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice:
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us as we set our hearts on belonging to you. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all creation.
You know our limitations and our essential goodness and you love us as we are. You beckon us to your compassionate heart and inspire us to see the good in others and forgive their limitations. Acknowledging your presence in each other and in all of creation, we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
Guiding Spirit, when opposing forces in us tug and pull and we are caught in the tension of choices, inspire us to make wise decisions toward what is good.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, and for all our sisters and brothers who have modeled for us a way to live and love in challenging times. Inspired by them, we choose life over death, we choose to be light in dark times.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in 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 them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift the plate and pray:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift the cup and pray:
Then he 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.
(pause)
We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity.
Please receive communion saying: I am the Body of Christ.
Communion Song:At This Table by Idina Menzel video by Denise
Holy One, your transforming energy is within us and we join our hearts with all who are working for a just world. We pray for wise leaders in our religious communities. We pray for courageous and compassionate leaders in our world communities.
We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to your Spirit, for it is through living as he lived that we awaken to your Spirit within,
moving us to glorify you, at this time and all ways.
Amen.
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
Julie: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing:
ALL:May the Fire of Love ignite our hearts and radiate through us.
May the Spirit truth and justice burn within us.
May we continue to be the face of the Holy One, and
