Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community
Liturgy for July 5, 2025
Presiders: Dotty Shugrue, ARCWP, Joan Pesce
Leaders/Readers: Suzanne Bires, Anna Davis,
Mary Al Gagnon, Andrea Seabaugh
IT: Jerry Bires, Cheryl Brandi, Michael Rigdon
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82949161283?pwd=xl2pLJCaETRV1byZqFBRbPjbQcNRYT.1
Meeting ID: 829 4916 1283
Passcode: 437144
Theme: “I Am free with the Freedom of God”
Dotty: Welcome to our Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Liturgy our “Church Without Walls.” Today we celebrate The Fourth of July.
Whoever you are.
Wherever you are. Just as you are.
You are welcome at our table
let us pray…
Opening Song: This Song Will Find You EXACTLY WHEN YOU NEED IT 💙 "I Will Fight For Me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsZgNSYnHZw&list=RDCsZgNSYnHZw&start_radio=1
Dotty: Opening Prayer:
Holy One, you are within, around and among us.
Today we dare to listen to you, truly understand what you are saying to us, not what we think you said about living in the Love of the Divine, or what we want you to say;but the word you spoke. Open our hearts and minds as we collectively listen and share the Good News!
Maryal: Rite of Transformation:
Our world is surrounded by the forsaken, the mistreated, the sexually abused, the poor, the unloved, the deserted and so many more abuses of human life. The ministry of Jesus calls us to find our way to service our broken humanity.
Response: Transform us, O Holy One!
Liturgy of the Word
Joan P. The First Reading: “I Am Free with the Freedom of Divine Spirit,” a reflection from the Writings of Rev. Ernest Holmes
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ made us free.” Galatians 5:1
We all wish to be free, but at the same time we should realize that liberty is not license. To say that we are free with the freedom of God does not mean that we are free to do that which contradicts the Divine nature. We are free only in that freedom that God is—the freedom to be alive, to enjoy living, to enter into the activities of everyday living with enthusiasm and interest. We are free to love and be loved. We are free to give full and complete expression to every capacity we possess, provided this freedom harms no one and hurts no thing. Therefore, we always pray, “Thy will be done,” but within this Will we know there is scope enough for self-expression, to express life to its fullest.
Today, I know that I am free with the freedom of God, which is the Divine Presence in the universe, in all life and manifest this freedom in joy. I think of it with deep gratitude to the Giver of all life and with a deep inward sense of my union with the Whole. In my own will and imagination, I see myself free, complete and perfect. I move to the center of my being, which is God, and affirm that God’s freedom is my freedom. And include my own physical body in this freedom as well as every activity in which I am engaged. I expand my consciousness and invite new experiences, knowing that they shall be created for me by the same Power that makes everything. I enter into this freedom with complete abandonment, with the feeling that all things are working out well, and with the deep and sincere desire
to live so that my freedom shall be imparted to others, that we all may feel that we are in partnership with the Infinite.
These are the inspired words of Rev. Ernest Holmes, and the community responds: Let it be so!
Responsorial Psalm:
Spirit of the Living God by Dena Dean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhhQACwrEFM
Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me
Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me.
Melt me mold me
Fill me use me
Spirit of the Living God
Fall fresh on me.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia by W. Clifford Pett
https://youtu.be/WYJajwW9Zhc?si=jYBsRQLkEGSULE93
Maryal: Gospel: A reading from the Gospel of Matthew 10:36-42. (The Message, Eugene Peterson)
“Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public no
“Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.
“What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. God pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.
“Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?
“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.
“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.
“We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do, accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I have called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.”
These are the inspired words of the apostle known as Mark, and the community responds: So Be It!
Dotty: Homily Starter and Shared Reflections
Suzanne: 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.
Andrea: Prayers of the Community
As we prepare for the sacred meal, 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….”
Our response: Holy One, together we can overcome the brutality within our country.
Sacred Spirit, we bring to the table and we remember all those who are taken from work, from colleges and schools from their homes and forced to leave our country, those who indeed have Visas and who pay taxes on their earnings:
Response: Holy One, together we can overcome the brutality within our country.
We remember our immigrants, families, women and children who are denied entrance into our country, who are returned to Mexico or sent to other countries, who are put away in prison without the benefit of our systems of justice.:
Our response: Holy One, together we can overcome the brutality within our country.
We remember our veterans who are losing their benefits after serving our country with honor.
Response: Holy One, together we can overcome the brutality within our country.
We remember all women who have lost their right to make medical decisions with their doctor because of unjust laws promulgated by our country.
.
Response: Holy One, together we can overcome the brutality within our country.
We remember the tragedy of our countries lack of leaders, members of our government, elected by our citizens who are concerned about politics and themselves and clearly not about those who elected them, who demonstrate a complete lack of understanding the needs of the people they serve and a complete and utter failure to follow our constitution.
Response: Holy One, together we can overcome the brutality within our country.
We remember all our government officials on every level who have turned their backs on the American people for their own selfish desires, who are unfaithful to the Constitution they swore to uphold.
Holy One, together we can overcome the brutality within our country.
And for what else shall we pray?
Andrea: Gracious and loving Spirit, we place our trust in your faithful love and presence within us and our entire universe. We turn to your Presence in one another to be a source of strength during these very difficult times. We know and believe that the message of Jesus lives in us. We count on your sacred Energy to lift us up during these difficult times, and we pledge to lift one another in love and support.
All: Let it be So
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Joan: O Heart of Love, Your Spirit moves through the love within us, expanding in widening circles to embrace the needs of our world. United with all women and men who are confront today with action and with conviction the structures of oppression in our times. With deep and true faith, with our unique vision and compassion, we sing:
Holy… (Words and music by Karen Drucker)
https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI
We are holy, holy, holy.
We are holy, holy, holy.
We are holy, holy, holy.
We are whole.
Spirit Divine, Come to Me,
Healing Love, healing Me.
Open my heart, allow me to see,
Beauty and love, lives in me.
You are holy, holy, holy.
You are holy, holy, holy.
You are holy, holy, holy.
You are whole.
Anna: Sacred Spirit, You, are always with us. We are grateful for Your constant loving and unconditional presence. You give us life, and we live and breathe with your Spirit. You raise our consciousness to the blindness around us. We believe the Gospel message of Jesus and we embrace his calling to us, to be faithful.
Dotty: In blessing the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, they become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to 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, he bent down and washed their feet.
(Together we lift our plate of bread as we pray)
When Jesus 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 the Bread of Life
Whenever you remember me like this
I am among you. (pause)
Jesus then raised his cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered the wine saying:
Take and drink of the covenant made new again through my life in you.
Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you.
This is the bread of life and cup of blessing.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives; as we share communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
Joan: Please join in praying the prayer for the breaking of the bread:
Ever Present Sacred Spirit, you call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice.
We will live justly.
Ever Present Sacred Spirit, you call us to be Your presence in the world.
We will love tenderly.
Ever Present Sacred Spirit, you call us to speak truth to power.
We will walk with integrity
Receive the Bread and Cup before you as we share this bread and share it with the words:
“You are the face of Jesus in this world.”
Communion Song and Reflection: I Am the One, Janis Ian
https://youtu.be/83CKYR9uyFI
Anna: Let us pray the prayer of Jesus:
O Holy One, who is 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 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
(Author: Miriam Therese Winter)
Joan P. We are called to do everything Jesus did, to be the living presence of a love that lives justly, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates laughter, of a light that illumines right choices and confronts us darkness.
So, we trust you to continue to share with us your own Spirit, the Spirit that filled Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, his loving and healing, all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. Amen
Before we leave our “squares” Let us offer one another comfort, support and a week of peace during these particular time of suffering in our and in our world, and particularly in our Country’s during this time of several threats to our democracy. Let us never faulty in our convictions that justice will be served and peace will return. Let us send one another from this space with deep peace:
Namaste, Namaste, Namaste
Dotty: Introductions, Prayers of Gratitude, and Announcements
Dotty: Let us raise our hands and bless each other with the words:
May you be blessed with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships.
May you seek truth boldly and love deeply within your heart.
May you continue to be the face of the Holy One to all you meet.
May your name be a blessing in our time.
Closing Song: Cedarmont Kids - America, The Beautiful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d84zb95e_IY
America the Beautiful
O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet Whose stern impassioned stress, A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country love And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years, Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!
Oh beautiful for halcyon skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the enameled plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, Till souls wax fair as earth and air And music-hearted sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet Whose stern impassioned stress, A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought By pilgrims foot and knee!
Oh beautiful, for glory-tale Of liberating strife, When once and twice for man’s avail Men lavished precious life! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, till selfish gain no longer strain The banner of the free!
O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years, Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, till nobler men keep once again Thy whiter jubilee!
If you would like to add an intercession to our MMOJ Community Prayer book, please send an email to jmeehan515@aol.com
If you would like to invite another person to attend our liturgy please refer them to www.marymotherofJesus.org where the day’s liturgy is found. Zoom instructions are also included there.
