Celebrating the 5th Sunday of Easter”
“Jesus’ Commandment: Love one another as I have loved you”
and
“The Wisdom and Love of St Catherine of Siena”
April 27, 2024
Presiders: Jim Brandi and Katy Zatsick ARCWP
Readers: Mary Al Gagnon, Jeanne Schmitt, Jane Shugrue
IT: Cheryl Brandi
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https://zoom.us/j/93473708926?pwd=VHFKZGJ5N3ljbzZtVU1qQVRZY1lodz09
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Welcome and Gathering
Katy: : Welcome to our Zoom liturgy at Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community that embraces diversity, works for justice, equality and the empowerment of all people.
Please remember to keep yourself muted except when reading or sharing and then remute.
Let us now take a few minutes to collect ourselves as we prepare to open our minds and our hearts to our knowledge that we are One, brought together to Loveourselves and Sophia Creator’s world through Her Love; our love for the Holy One, Sophia’s Love for our neighbors, Her Love for ourselves, and Sophia’s Love for Her Blue planet.
. Let us begin our liturgy by expressing
Holy Mystery’s Sophia’s Fire within our souls and expressed through Love
Opening Song:
Ilia Delio OSF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG_CIHDM4SY
Opening Prayer
(adapted from St Catherine’s prayers)
Katy and All: In your nature, eternal Godhead, I shall come to know my nature. And what is my nature, Boundless Love? It is fire, because you are nothing but a fire of love. And you have given humankind a share in this nature, for by the fire of love you created us. And so, with all other people and every created thing; you made them out of love…O eternal trinity, my sweet love! You, Light, give us light. You, Wisdom, give us wisdom. You, Supreme strength, strengthen us. Today, eternal God, let our cloud be dissipated so that we may perfectly know and follow your Truth in truth, with a free and simple heart. God of Love, come to our assistance. May your will be done.
Gloria: Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/w7ykbXZUCOw
Katy First Reading: Wisdom, love and fruit of the vine of St Catherine of Siena
(Feast Day April 29, anniversary of Catherine’s death)
Catherine was the 23rd child of her family, born in 1347. Within a year of her birth great turmoil took over Italy-the plague, amid continuing economic and military problems.
Catherine renounced marriage and became a member of the 3rd Order of Dominicans. She lived and ministered from a room in her parents’ home. When the plague swept through Siena, Catherine had no hesitation in caring for the victims working as a nurse. She dug graves for those who died of the plague and then buried them properly herself. Catherine accompanied prisoners who were condemned to death to the place of their execution; waiting with them and praying with the condemned until their deaths. Catherine was also a popular spiritual advisor because she could read the thoughts and secrets of persons.
Catherine sought to bring a spirit of reconciliation to the divisions of her time. The RCC was in turmoil because of the Western Schism as the Pope had moved to Avignon France. The Popes lived in Avignon from 1309 till 1377 when Catherine’s letters, her persistence and standing in the church convinced Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome.
Catherine dictated, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, four treatises called “The Dialogues.” She also wrote nearly 400 hundred letters and prayers. Catherine’s most famous quote is “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”
All: May the life of St Catherine challenge us to live the Love who is Jesus in our time and place.
Response to the reading
“Because We Love God” by Kathy Sherman, CSJ From her album
“A Language of the Heart”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WDE7STVX_Y
Please sing: “Because we love God; Because we Love God; Because we love God; We are who we are and we do what we do, Because we love God.
Jane S: Second Reading 1 John 18-24
My children, our love must not be simply words or mere talk—it must be true love, which shows itself in action and truth. Thus, then is how we’ll know we belong to the truth; this is how we will be confident in God’s presence, even if our consciences condemn us. We know that God is Greater than our consciences and that God knows everything. And if our consciences do not condemn us, my friends, then we have confidence before God, and we will receive whatever we ask from God’s hand—because we keep the commandments and do what is pleasing in God’s sight. The commandments are these: that we believe in the name of God’s Own Jesus Christ, and that we love one another as we were told to do. Those who keep these commandments live in God and God lives in them. We know that God lives in us by the Spirit given to us All: We give thanks to live the Love who is God in our time and place.
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
Jim B: Gospel from John 15:1-12
And Jesus spoke: I am the true vine and my Abba is the vine grower who cuts off every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, but prunes the fruitful ones to increase their yield. You’ve been pruned already, thanks to the word that I have spoken to you.
Live on in me as I do in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself apart from the vine, neither can you bear fruit apart from me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who live in me and I in them will bear abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…If you live on in me, and my words live on in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Amma will be glorified if you bear much fruit and thus prove to be my disciples.
As my Abba has loved me, so have I loved you. Live on in my love. And you will live on in my love if you keep my commandments, just as I live on in Amma God’s love and have kept God’s Commandments…This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. All: We give thanks to live the Love who is God in our time and place.
Communal Sharing: Reflection questions
Do you read commonalities in Catherine’s times and ours? What actions to respond?
How do you best express Love for self, family, friends, communities in our time and place?
When do/did you feel/experience the Love of God?
Do the readings/songs inspire actions for you in your daily living?
What affirms your life/faith or challenges you in the readings?
This We Believe
Jeanne S and All We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the Creative Energy of Love of all that has ever existed,
exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, the vine from which we grow and flourish,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe we are called to walk with Jesus
as a follower living his divine love,
Jesus is our source of wisdom and truth, and we live
as daughter and sons of God bringing love, justice andpeace into 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 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.
All of humanity lives and moves and have our being in the Oneness of Loving reality.
Prayers of and for the Community
Mary Al: Let us pray for our personal, community, country, world’s needs;
Our response is: All: We are the branches of your vine, may we respond in love
We pray for all the systems of planet earth that she and all her life may continue to evolve as your Love Energy calls from the future. R
We pray for all species of life on your blue planet especially human consciousness in relationship with Beloved Creator to the 7th generation. R
We pray for peace in the Middle East especially Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. R
We pray for all who will vote this year to choose officials who will govern for the Common Good of all. R.
Joan Meehan we pray for the intentions in the community prayer book. R
And, for what else should we pray?
Mary Al: Holy Mystery may we your beloved branches of your vine of Loving creation respond to the needs of our sisters and brothers in words, justice and peace making, kindness and acts of solidarity. Amen
Presentation of the Bread and Wine
Jane S: Holy Mystery, your MMOJ Community is your Bread for the World. Through Your divine providence we have this bread, to bless, to share as your Love, the Bread of Life. All: Blessed are You, Holy One, forever.
Jeanne S: Blessed are You, Holy Mystery through Your divine providence your MMOJ community is your Love aswine to share, our spiritual drink. All: Blessed are You, Holy One, forever.
Jane S Let us lift up our hearts.
Jane and All: We lift up our every thought, word and action of kindness and compassion of Jesus our Way to the Holy One, living in us and loving through us.
Communal Transformation Rite
Jim B: As we gather at this table of abundant love and gracious care in memory of Jesus, we pause now to remember the times we did not treat others with kindness and compassion. Take a few moments to recall one missed opportunity, one broken or damaged relationship. (Pause briefly)
Hold your hands over your heart and remember the power of divine love within you to forgive and heal self and others. Now imagine this person or situation in the light of love and abundant grace as we pray for forgiveness. (Pause briefly.)
Jim and All: I love you, I am sorry, please forgive me, I thank you.
COMMUNION RITE Eucharistic Prayer
Jeanne S and All:
We celebrate the divine presence within and all around.
Welcoming One in you, with you and through your endless outpouring of grace, we are blessed with joy amidst the wrongs and suffering of our world. We are blessed when we break bread together and cry out for justice.
Generous Giver, you give us loving companions on our journey who minister for humanity’s healing and well-being and for the flourishing of all creation. With thankful hearts, in the company of all holy women and men, your liberating Spirit rises up within us, works through us and we sing:
All: Holy, Holy, Holy (adapted from Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker)
https://youtu.be/orKBBIj5LZA
Mary Al: Conscious of the Oneness we share and the inequity that exists in our world, we pray that we may serve others with generous hearts especially those in need of tender, loving care and the basic necessities of life. The bread we break and the cup we share are symbols of the love we are invited to share at every table and in every encounter.
(Please extend Your hands in blessing and pray together)
Katy and All: As we bless this bread and wine, we are ever aware of Sophia Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table. We remember our brother Jesus whose life and teachings lifts us from ignorance and frees us to love tenderly, walk humbly and do justice.
Jim and All: (hold bread in hand)
On the night before he died, Jesus came to table with his family and the women and men he loved and we gathered here. Jesus took bread blessed and broke it, saying, “Take, eat, this is my body. Do this in memory of me.”
(pause)
Jane S and All: (hold cup in hands)
After supper, Jesus poured a cup of wine and shared it with his family, disciples, and friends and we gathered here, saying, “This is the cup of the covenant of my love. As often as you drink of it, remember me.”
Mary Al and All:
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died in all those who have passed away fromwar, poverty and unmet human needs.
Christ is rising in all those working for the well-being of humanity, dismantling institutional sexism, racism and all that divides us.
Christ comes each day in our ministry bringing love, solidarity, prayers and actions for a renewed world with justice and equity for all.
Jeanne S: Embracing Presence, we remember all the companions who have gone before us: Mary Mother of Jesus, St Catherine of Siena, and all holy women and men who are rising up in loving service to those in need. We pause now to remember our family and loved ones who have gone before us especially those whose lives were witnesses to selfless love in generous service….(pause)
Jim and All: (Presiders and all hold up bread and wine)
For it is through living as Jesus lived, and loving as he loved, that we awaken to Your Spirit empowering us to work for the flourishing of life for all people and for planet Earth.
All: Great Amen (Sung) Linda Lee Miller
https://youtu.be/Dy76fpfkNsg
The Prayer of Jesus
Katy and All: Let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father, Holy Mother, Creator of the Cosmos, Source of Life, You are in my mind, in my garden, in my cup of wine and loaf of bread.
Blessed be your names: Mother, Allah, Goddess, Beloved, Great Spirit, Radiant One, Yahweh, HaShem, Sophia Your presence has come, your will is done
on earth as it is in the cosmos. May we give each other strength, mercy,
tenderness, and joy and forgive each other's failures, silence, pettiness, and forgetfulness
as we ask to be forgiven by those we've hurt.
Lead us home to ourselves and each other, to clarity, to oneness and
deliver us from the darkness of our ignorance and fear.
So, we pray and so we receive. Amen
(Author unknown, HaShem means “the Name”)
Sign of Peace:
Jim Brandi: Jesus said to his disciples and to us, “My peace I leave you. My peace I give you.” Let us now extend a sign of peace to one another as we say, “Namaste, Namaste, Namaste.”
Jane S: Let us pray the Litany for the Breaking of the Bread:
Jane S and All: 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 compassion and kindness to all life of Earth;
We will do so.
(Jim lifts the bread, Katy lifts the wine)
Jim and All: This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Blessed are we who are called to Christ’s table. Jesus, your Love makes us worthy to receive you and to become the Body of Christ for others
Katy and All: May we live as the Body of Christ’s kindness and compassion in the world, serving all in need, especially those living on the margins and suffering in any way.
Communion Song
Where did Jesus Go? By Sara Thomsen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biPM_MTQVgI
Photos by Denise Hackert Stoner ARCWP
Reflection after Communion
Mary Al: Holy Mystery? Are you not, as Hildegard of Bingen put it,
The life of our life, the life of all creatures,
The very connectedness between all creatures
A burning fire who sparks, ignites, inflames and kindles hearts
A guide through the mist, a balm for wounds, a shining serenity
An overflowing fountain that spreads refreshment on all sides?
Holy God, are you not life itself, movement, color, radiance…
Is it not your power that re-kindles the greening of springtime
In our nature and our souls
(from She Who Is, William Cleary, #16 “Hildegards Vision”)
Words of Thanksgiving
Introductions, Announcements,
Closing
Katy, Jim Let us raise our hands in blessings for each other
All: May our lives radiate the love of the Holy One.
May we live justice and equality as the People of God and for our world.
May we be humble as children in receiving the reign of our Divine Mother.
May we demonstrate through our words and actions that we are all God has called us to be. In our time may we be a blessing and the Face of God to all whom we meet.
Thanks be to God. Let it be so! Alleluia!
Closing Song
“There is a Holy Fire” Kathy Sherman CSJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucjthuXWOVM
Please sing chorus: There is a holy Fire, there is a Holy Fire,
There is a fire burning strong and bright in the Heart of the People of God
If you would like to add your intercession to our MMOJ Community Prayers book,
Please send an email to Joan Meehan@ jmeehan515@aol.com
If you would like to invite another person to attend our liturgy, please refer them to
www.marymotherofJesus.net where the day’s liturgy is found. Zoom instructions are also included there.
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Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community
5342 Clark Road #3079
Sarasota, FL 34233
