Voice 1: Spirit! Power and Passion of our being, press upon our hearts your profound love. Move through the fragments of our days; enable us to sense your fiery Presence consecrating our most insignificant moments.
Voice 2: Spirit! Source of Vision, Perceptive Guide, permeate the moments of our choices when falsehood and truth both call to us. Turn us toward the way of goodness, so that we will always lean toward your love.
Voice 1: Spirit! Blessing for the heart grown weary, encircle us with your loving energy, empower us with your active gentleness. Deepen within us a faith in your dynamism which strengthens the weak and the tired.
Voice 2: Spirit! Breath of Life, Touch of Mystery, you are the ribbon of inner connection, uniting us with the groaning of all creation. Because of you, our lives gathers into a oneness. Keep us attentive to this interdependence. Fill our beings with constant compassion and a deep hope that knows no bounds.
Voice 1: Spirit! Dwelling Place, Sanctuary of Silence, you are the home for which we deeply yearn. You are the resting place for which we long. We find both comfort and challenge in you. May we keep our whole selves open to the transforming power of your indwelling, that we may ever know the blessings of your tremendous companionship.Amen.
Prayers for Our World
From May I Have This Dance? An Invitation to Faithful Prayer Throughout the Year by Joyce Rupp
Voice 1: When we come face to face with the challenge of self-giving, when we are asked to go the extra mile, to take the risk of reaching out to another, to offer forgiveness to the heart that rejects us…
All: Spirit of God, You fill us with the energy of your love.
Voice 2: When our world seems bleak, when we walk with sadness written on our soul, when we have days during which everything goes wrong…
All: Spirit of God, You stir the energy of your joy within us.
Voice 1: When anxiety and concern take over our spirit, when restlessness or boredom holds sway over us, when our world cries out in distress and turmoil…
All: Spirit of God, You deepen in us the energy of your peace.
Voice 2: On those days when we hurry too much, during those times when our anger flares because our pet agendas aren’t met, when we stop giving people our acceptance and understanding…
All: Spirit of God, You create in us the energy of your kindness.
Voice 1: As we face the shadow of our inner world or peer into the darkness of our outer world, as we struggle to believe in our own gifts and blessings…
All: Spirit of God, You, strengthen in us the energy of your goodness.
Voice 2: In those difficult times when fear threatens to drown our trust in you, during those experiences of growth when we are tempted to doubt all the ways we have known you…
All: Spirit of God, You renew in us the energy of trusting you.
Voice 1: When harshness or abruptness dominates our moods, when we feel challenged by the power of another, when we use the things of this good earth…
All: Spirit of God, You bless us with the energy of your gentleness.
Voice 2: As we walk on the edges of life and death, as we struggle with the disciplines of spiritual growth, as we yearn to be faithful amid the many changes of inner and outer growth…
All: Spirit of God, You move us with the energy of your guidance.
Voice 1: Spirit of God, you are the stirrings in our hearts. You urge us to get going. You prompt us to follow. You encourage us not to give up. You call us to open our minds and our hearts to receive your energizing, transforming radiance. May we be receptive so that we will follow your loving movement within our lives. We trust in your powerful presence within us.
(pause for prayers for our community)
MT: Spirit of God, you are always within, around and among us.
Deb: Invitation to quiet as we prepare for this Celebration
Welcome (Lindy):Today, the 7th Sunday of Easter, is celebrated as the Feast of the Ascension in many Congregations.Here we will look again at Jesus remindinghisfollowersofthevalueoflovingfirstthemselves,thenloving each other, and eventually loving all of creation.
First Reading (Judy):AReadingfromthebookknownasActs1:1-11
The first account which I drew up, Theophilus, dealt with all that Jesus did and taught from the very first, down to that day on which he was taken up to heaven, afterhehad,bythehelpoftheholySpirit,giveninstructionstotheambassadors whom he had chosen.
With abundant proofs, he showed himself to them, still living, after his death; appearing to them from time to time during forty days, and speaking of all that related to the realm of God. And once, when he had gathered them together, he charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the fulfillment of the Father’spromise—“thatpromise,”hesaid,“ofwhichyouhaveheardmespeak; for, while John baptized with water, you will be baptized with the holy Spirit before many days have passed.”
So, when they had met together, they asked Jesus this question: “Master, is this thetimewhenyouintendtoreestablishthekingdomforIsrael?”Hisanswerwas: “Itisnotforyoutoknowtimesorhours,fortheFatherhasreservedtheseforhis own decision; but you will receive power, when the holy Spirit will have descended on you, and will be witnesses for me not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
No sooner had Jesus said this than he was caught up before their eyes, and a cloudreceivedhimfromtheirsight.Whiletheywerestillgazingupintothesky, as he went, suddenly two men, clothed in white, stood beside them, and said:
“PeopleofGalilee,whyareyoustandingherelookingupintothesky?Thissame Jesus,whohasbeentakenfromyouintotheheavens,willcomeinthesameway in which you have seen him go into the heavens.”
TheelevenfollowerswenttoGalilee,tothemountainwhereJesustoldthemto meet him; and, when they saw him, they bowed to the ground before him;
although some hesitated. Then Jesus came up, and spoke to them, saying: “All authority in heaven and on the earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make followers of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son,andthe HolySpirit,andteachingthemtolaytoheartallthecommandsthatI have givenyou; and, remember, I myself am with you every day until the close of the age.”
This is Ascension Sunday celebrated in many Christian traditions around theworld.ItmarksanendtotheEasterseasoninmanyways,afinalword of Jesus’s presence on this earth, and a time when we as his disciples are left to carry the torch of his teachings.
ScholarsoftheJesusSeminarareinagreementthatthewritingsregarding the story of Jesus’s ascension are not factually based, but most likely a series of stories that the ministers of the day wanted to emphasize. Each story is slightly different and would support the intention of the preachers of the time.
But the words that we hear, that Jesus will be with us, even until the close of the age, are words that we somehow believe and know are true. As practitionersfollowingtheWayofJesus,wetakecomfortinfeelingthathe is with us here in his very presence. Our liturgy celebrates his being with us when we remember him in the Eucharist. Our life is an exercise in imitating his Way and his teachings.
So,whatisthePromiseofAscensionforus?Dowehopetobetransported into heaven, or to be transported beyond our human selves here on this earth?Do all our thoughts and actions direct us to concentrate on the afterlife and what we might gain in heaven? We have been given an example of love and sacrifice that we might experience the life that Jesus has modeled for us.
Keepinginmindthatanythingcanhappen,howdoweidentifywiththe early Christians and the challenges that they faced in developing and supporting new Christian communities?
Thankyouforsharingyourwordsofwisdom.Letusnowshareour statement of faith
StatementofFaith (Sandy)
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery beyond all definition and rational understanding, the heart of all that has ever existed, that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus as a vehicle of divine love, a source of wisdom and truth, and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One, the life that is our innermost life, the breath moving in our being, the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now, stretched out all around us for those with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it, and hands to make it happen.
Intentions
As we prepare for the sacred meal we bring to this table our blessings, caresandconcerns.Pleasefeelfreetovoiceyourconcernsbeginningwith the words “I bring to the table….”
Deb:Weareapriestlypeople.Weareanointed.Withopenhandsletus pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
All:ONurturing,MotheringOne,Youarealwayswithus.Wearegrateful for Your constant loving and unconditional presence. At times we forget that You are holding us, attending to us. We fall and You pick us up. You send strangers, friends and family to our aid. We are never without Your Light and Spirit.
We experience great joy and we experience great pain and suffering. You arewithusinthejoyandthepainandsuffering.WhenweexperienceYour presence we long to sing our hymn of praise:
All: Creator and Lover of all beings, we cannot grow in the darkness of this world without Your Light. Our desire to be in Your light is a gift from You.HelpuskeepourheartsandmindsopentoYouthroughourloveand care for each other and all creation
Pleaseextendyourhandsinblessing
All:ThisbreadandwineisasignofYournourishmentandasignofYour great love. Your Spirit is upon us and we belong to You and one another.
WethankyouforJesus,simpleservant,liftingupthelowly,revealingyou as God-With-Us, revealing us as one with you, and all creation.
Onthenightbeforehedied,Jesusgatheredforthesupperwiththepeople closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet. Once again he showed us how to love one another.
(Allliftthe bread)
All: Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the breadandofferedittothemsaying“ Take and eat, wheneveryouremembermelikethis, I am among you.”
(Allliftthecup)
ALL:Thenhetookthecupofblessing,spokethegrace,andoffereditto them saying:
Takeanddrinkofthecovenant
Madenewagainthroughmylifeinyou. Whenever you remember me like this,I am among you.
Bread and wine are transformed by Your Spirit and we are transformed whenweopenourselvestoYourSpirit.Everytimewesharethisbreadand wine we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as You love us.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives: as we sharecommunion,wewillbecomecommunion,bothLove’snourishment and Love’s challenge.
Pleasereceivethebreadandcupwiththewords:With lovewecan change the world.
LovingSourceofourbeing,youcallustolivetheGospelofpeaceand justice. We live justly, we love tenderly, we walk with integrity in Your Presence Amen.
Lindy:Letuspraytogethertheprayerof Jesus:
ALL:O Holy One, who is within, around, and among us, we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom comes. Your will be done, unfolding from thedepthswithinus.Eachdayyougiveusallthatweneed.Youremindus 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.
ALL:MaywehearJesuscalling.Maywedoourparttobringjusticeinto the world. Where there is justice there is peace. May our gathering ignite us to love more fully.And like Jesus may we be a shining light and a blessing for all. Amen.
