https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 828 9114 2477
Passcode: 238695
Mary Theresa: Welcome to the Mary Mother of Jesus liturgy for Holy Family Sunday. We celebrate not just one holy family but also our entire human family. Our opening song is a chant for our human family.
Opening Song: Circle Chant
Opening Prayer
Joan P.: Holy One, you send us your spirit as we seek to embrace a revolutionary kind of love that flows from the heart, free from limitations and conventions; a love and understanding that opens wide the doors of humanity and allows all people to see themselves as part of a holy human family.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading
Joan C.: The first reading is from Paul’s letter to the Colossians:
Col 3:12-17
Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as the Holy One’s chosen, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Holy One has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of our brother Jesus,
giving thanks through him.
These are the inspired words of the Apostle, Paul, and we affirm them with, Amen.
Psalm Response: More Light by Christopher Gundy
Second Reading
Jane: The second reading is: Who Is the Sage Warrior? By Valerie Kaur from her book: Sage Warrior
The sage is someone who loves deeply. You cultivate wonder for others and the earth and wake to Oneness. You befriend the body—parts of the world, and parts of yourself. You practice pleasure through music, meditation, movement, and more as channels for awakening. You build sovereign space where you can find refuge and rest in wisdom within you. The warrior is someone who fights for humanity, including your own. You access your agency and activate power. In the face of injustice, you harness rage and refuse to surrender your humanity. You join others to grieve together and alchemize pain into energy and action. You choose courage in the face of crisis. In doing so, you become victory. You embrace rebirth. The warrior fights; the sage loves. It’s a path of Revolutionary Love. I believe Revolutionary Love is the call of our times.
These are the inspired words of Valerie Kaur and we affirm them with, Amen.
Third Reading
Mary Al: The third reading is: Practicing Revolutionary Love by Brian McLaren
Revolutionary love means loving as God would love: infinitely, graciously, extravagantly. To put it in more mystical terms, it means loving with God, letting divine love fill me and flow through me, without discrimination or limit, as an expression of the heart of the lover, not the merit of the beloved, including the correctness of the beloved’s beliefs.…
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn’t teach a list of beliefs to be memorized and recited. Instead, he teaches a way of life that culminates in a call to revolutionary love. This revolutionary love goes far beyond conventional love, the love that distinguishes between us and them, brother and other, or friend and enemy (Matthew 5:43). Instead, we need to love as God loves, with non-discriminatory love that includes even the enemy.…
These are the inspired words of Brian McLaren and we affirm them with, Amen.
Alleluia: Misa Delgado Book1
https://youtu.be/uilfwfd-U_g
Gospel
Joan P.: A reading from the Gospel of Luke
Lk 2:41-52
Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast
of Passover, and when he was twelve years old,
they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were astounded
at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him,
they were astonished,
and his mother said to him,
“Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And he said to them,
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Abba’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them;
and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace.
These are the inspired words of Luke and we affirm them with, Amen.
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.
Prayers of the Community
Mary Theresa: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your concerns beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
Mary Theresa: We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Joan P.: Let us pray our Eucharistic prayer with open hearts and hands:
Holy One, from the beginning of time, you have formed families of love, binding us together in your image and calling us to reflect your justice and peace. We give you thanks for the Holy Family—Mary, Joseph, and Jesus—whose story teaches us to embrace radical love, to widen our understanding of family, and to labor for a world where all may thrive. With prophets and peacemakers and saints and seekers, we join with all revolutionary lovers to praise you as we sing:
Here In This Place by Christopher Grundy
Mary Theresa: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son, Jesus, who showed us the way of revolutionary love. Born into a world of empire and struggle, he proclaimed the coming of your kingdom—a kingdom of justice, mercy, and boundless compassion.
Presider: Please extend your hands in blessing.
Mary Theresa and All: We call upon your Spirit, present in us at this Eucharistic table. We are grateful for the bread and wine that remind us of our call to be the light of Christ to the world.
We thank you for Jesus, who knew what it was like to be an outsider in occupied and foreign lands. May his presence prompt us to bring gospel kindness and understanding to the divisions and conflicts of our time.
All: On the night before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his friends. He reminded them of what he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift plate
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. Do this in memory of me.
All lift the cup
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)
Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace.
Please receive communion with the words: We are family.
Communion Song /Meditation: Blue Boat Home, Peter Mayer
https://youtu.be/WhsXl1_rEwI?si=N4i2V5SndApbyoDa
Prayer after Communion
Joan P.: Holy One, your transforming grace inspires us to follow our consciences and bring comfort to wherever people are in need. We pray for wisdom, patience and persistence to make a difference in our world.
We resolve to love as Jesus loved, to discern the better angels of our nature with hearts open to You, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify You at this time and all ways. AMEN.
Mary Theresa: 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
Joan P.: Announcements and Gratitudes
BLESSING
Joan P.: Please extend your hands in blessing.
Joan and All: With wisdom and courage of the sage warrior, let us all go out into the world to grieve together, act against injustice, and love deeply and inclusively.
May we bless one another with the infinite love shown to us in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And, may we be a blessing in our time. Amen.
Closing Song: Everyday People - Playing for Change
References:
1. John Dominic Crossan, God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now.
2. Valerie Kaur, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love.
3. Lectionary Readings for Cycle C, Feast of the Holy Family (Luke 2:41–52).
