Zoom Link:
https://zoom.us/j/93473708926?pwd=VHFKZGJ5N3ljbzZtVU1qQVRZY1lodz09
Meeting ID: 934 7370 8926
Welcome and Theme
Mary Theresa: Each year from September 1 to October 4, the Christian family unites for a worldwide celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. It is a special season where we celebrate The Holy One as Creator, and acknowledge Creation as the divine continuing act that summons us as collaborators to love and care for the gift of all that is created. As followers of Jesus from around the globe, we share a common call to care for Creation. Our well-being is interwoven with the well-being of the Earth. We rejoice in this opportunity to safeguard our common home and all beings who share it with us. This year, the theme for the Season is “Living Water.” from Season of Creation 2026 Guide
The theme for this liturgy focuses on us as “Becoming Living Water.” We gather not only to pray for the waters of Earth but to become people through whom God's compassion, justice, healing, and hope flow freely.
Transformation Rite
Pat: Water remembers. It remembers creation's first morning.
It remembers every child who has searched for clean water.
It remembers polluted rivers, melting glaciers, rising seas,
and communities longing for justice.
Today we remember that we belong to one another and ask forgiveness when
we have consumed more than we have shared,
when convenience has replaced compassion,
when we have ignored the cries of Earth and the cries of the poor,
when fear has stopped the flow of generosity.
Bob: Let us pray together:
May the waters of mercy cleanse our hearts.
May Christ awaken within us the spring of living water.
May the Holy Spirit flow through us,
making us healers of creation,
makers of peace,
and companions of all who thirst.
We choose to become Living Water.
Amen.
Gathering Song and Opening Prayer: For Her Speak – song by MaMuse and video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
https://youtu.be/Ms2Ar-yrMjA?si=oNsebllm5MLHf3Ig
Opening Prayer
Joan: Holy One, teach us to remember that we are not separate from the waters of Earth. We are water. We are Earth. We are Spirit-breathed beings within one sacred, living community. May this gathering awaken us to the truth that your love is always flowing—through creation, through our relationships, through our acts of justice, and through our willingness to become Living Water.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A reading from the Prophet Ezekiel
47:9 and 12
Bob: Every living creature that wanders upon the face of the earth will be drawn to the river and will find refreshment there. There will be an abundance of fish, for
wherever these waters flow and everything they touch will be renewed.
Fruit trees of every kind will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will never wither and their fruit will never fail. They will produce fresh fruit, for they will be nourished by the waters flowing from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be food, and their leaves will be medicine.
And the community affirms the words of the prophet Ezekiel with, Amen.
Second Reading: A Reading on Water and Justice
(created by AI based on the Season of Creation 2026 theme of Living Water)
Pat: Water is the Holy One's gift, meant to sustain every living being. Yet across our world, access to clean, life-giving water is too often shaped by wealth, power, race, and politics rather than by justice and compassion.
Communities from Flint, Michigan, to Bangladesh, from Nigeria to Palestine, have experienced poisoned water, drought, floods, pollution, and unequal access to this sacred resource. Indigenous lands have been scarred by extraction industries. Rivers have been diverted, aquifers depleted, and clean water transformed into a commodity for profit while many struggle simply to survive.
Climate change deepens these injustices. Rising seas, prolonged droughts, and devastating floods displace millions of people and threaten the future of countless communities. Those who have contributed least to the climate crisis often bear its greatest burdens.
As people of faith, we are called to see water not as a privilege for the few, but as a sacred trust entrusted to all. The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor flow together, reminding us that care for creation and the pursuit of justice are inseparable.
May we become Living Water, faithful stewards of Earth's waters, protectors of every community's right to clean and abundant water, and bearers of hope as we work for a world where justice flows like a river and life is shared by all.
The Community responds to these words with, Amen.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia Misa Delgado Book1
https://youtu.be/uilfwfd-U_g
Gospel: A reading from the Book of Genesis
Gen. 2:4-7
Joan: This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Holy One made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Holy One had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Holy One formed humans from the dust of the ground and breathed into their nostrils the breath of life, and the humans became living beings.
We affirm the words of our ancestors with, Amen.
Homily Starter: Mary Theresa
Becoming Living Water
There is something wonderfully ordinary about water and we take it for granted. We turn on a faucet, and water flows. We drink it without thinking. We bathe in it. We cook with it. We water our gardens. And yet, without water, none of us would be here.
There is something about water that speaks to us at a level deeper than words.
We can live for a time without many things, but we cannot live without water. Water gives life. It nourishes, cleanses, refreshes, restores, and connects. It moves through clouds and rivers, through oceans and soil, through plants, animals, and human bodies. And, as the opening of our liturgy reminds us, we are not separate from the waters of Earth. We are water. We are Earth. We are Spirit-breathed beings within one sacred, living community.
That is a profound theological statement. It means that creation is not something "out there" that we have been given permission to use. Creation is the community of which we are a part.
The river is our relative. The tree is our relative. The ocean is our relative. The person on the other side of the world who is searching for clean water is our relative.
And perhaps this is what it means to say that we are called to become Living Water. We are not simply being asked to conserve water, although that matters. We are not simply being asked to protect rivers and oceans, although that matters. We are being invited to become people through whom the life of Holy One can flow—people through whom compassion, justice, healing, generosity, and hope flow freely.
What did you hear in today’s liturgy? What speaks to you?
Community Statement of Faith
Bob: Let us together pray 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.
Prayers of the World Community
Pat: Let us now pray for our world community. The response is:
Loving God, you hear our prayer.
For the Church throughout the world, that it may become a more welcoming and inclusive community where all are valued equally, we pray.
For those who are poor, unhoused, hungry, lonely, or excluded, that they may experience dignity, justice, and compassionate care, we pray.
For women whose gifts and leadership continue to renew the Church, that their voices may be fully heard and honored, we pray.
For immigrants, refugees, and all who seek safety and belonging, that they may be welcomed with compassion and respect, we pray.
For our Mary Mother of Jesus Community and all inclusive faith communities, that we may embody Jesus' vision of radical hospitality, we pray.
For those who are sick, grieving, or struggling with life's burdens, that they may experience healing and hope, we pray.
For the intentions we hold in the silence of our hearts (pause), we pray.
Loving God, receive these prayers and transform us into instruments of your welcoming love.
Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Mary Theresa: With open hands and open hearts, let us pray together:
Holy Mystery, before there were mountains, before rivers carved valleys, before rain nourished forests, your Spirit danced upon the waters. From your love emerged stars, oceans, whales, birds, trees, and all living creatures—woven together in one sacred community. Therefore, with rivers and rain, with salmon and herons, with clouds and oceans, with saints and ancestors, and with all creation we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Peter Mayer
https://youtu.be/A4kiEGVb3E8
Bob: Please extend your hands in blessing.
Bob: Spirit of Living Water, flow upon these gifts of bread and wine and flow within us. May this bread become courage. May this wine become compassion. May this meal strengthen us to become living water for a thirsty world.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, who as Living Water crossed boundaries, welcomed strangers, restored dignity. washed dusty feet, stilled storms, and taught us that abundant life belongs to everyone.
On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at the supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within 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.
(pause)
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.
(pause)
Pat: Remembering Jesus' life of radical love,
his inclusive table fellowship,
his justice-seeking heart,
his death and resurrection,
and his enduring presence among us today,
we offer ourselves as living water for the world.
In gratitude, we remember all who have gone before us in faith,
whose lives revealed your compassion and hospitality.
Like Jesus, in all openness, we will be filled with your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
For it is through learning to live as he lived,
And why he lived,
And for whom he lived,
That we awaken to your Spirit within,
Moving us to worship you truly,
O Holy One,
At this time and all time and in all ways.
And we say yes to You!
Great Amen: (sung)
https://youtu.be/Dy76fpfkNsg?si=4MOweNisqCqVwM6b
Communion Rite
Joan: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus
Celtic version by John Philip Newell
Holy One, beyond all names
Eternal Wellspring
May love rise again in us today
With food for every table
Shelter for every family
And reverence for every life.
Forgive us our failings in love
And free us from all falseness
That the light of our souls may shine
And the strength of our spirits endure
For Earth and all its people
This day, tonight and forever.
Amen.
Sign of Peace
Mary Theresa: Jesus said to his disciples, “My peace I leave You. My peace I give You.” Let us share a sign of peace with each other.
Mary Theresa: Please join in praying the Litany for the Breaking of the Bread
Holy One, you call us to speak truth to power; we will do so.
Holy One, you call us to live the Gospel of healing and justice; we will do so.
Holy One, you call us to be Your presence in the world; we will do so.
Presider lifts bread and cup
Mary Theresa: This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Blessed are we who are called to Christ’s table.
Mary Theresa and All: We are the Body and Blood of Christ for the world.
Mary Theresa: Please receive Communion.
Communion Song: Mother Earth By Karliene
https://youtu.be/caIo1UGSDgw?si=Hfhd-nzR0GMpeuW6
Prayer After Communion
Bob: Let us pray our prayer after Communion.
Loving Source of All, we remember today those without clean water, those displaced by flood, those suffering drought, defending rivers, protecting oceans, those whose voices have been silenced, and all who long for peace. May our lives become Living Water and the answer to our prayers. Amen.
Pat: Prayers of Thanksgiving, Introductions, Announcements
Joan: Please join in praying our blessing.
May the Holy One whose Spirit hovered over the waters, bless you and become within you a spring that never runs dry—refreshing the weary, welcoming the stranger, healing creation, and bringing hope wherever you go. May your name be a blessing in our time. Amen.
Closing Song: Somos el Barco
https://youtu.be/gjyjRNGYdUA?si=bO8bR5vMPaoQEPRy
