Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Liturgy
Season of Creation September 13, 2025
Liturgy Team: Jeanne Schmitt, Elena Garcia ARCWP, Cathy Alexander,
Maryal Gagnon, Andrea Seabaugh, Anna Davis
I Team: Cheryl Brandi, Jerry Bires, Michael Rigdon
Theme: PEACE WITH CREATION / SEASON OF CREATION 2025
Elena …………..
WELCOME AND GREETING
(Anna) We welcome everyone to our Zoom liturgy at Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community, where all are welcome:
Whoever you are, Wherever you are, Just as you are, you are welcome here.
We ask you to please have bread/crackers and wine/juice near you so that you may conveniently consecrate them for your Communion in the service
(Elena) Welcome everyone! We affirm that we are holy and deserve to be treated with utmost respect in our relationships and encounters with all of creation. In solidarity we embrace all who are living in survival mode, as a consequence of wars and government decisions that attack and destroy homes and lives, while being deprived of basic human needs. They are courageous reflections of the face of God, who show us how to endure and remind us of our responsibility to live with integrity.
We begin this and every liturgy In the name of God our Creator, Jesus our Brother and Holy Spirit Sophia, our Wisdom. All: Alleluia
GATHERING SONG: “What on Earth” by Joyce Johnson Rouse (Earth Mama)
https://youtu.be/hML0C2gSGbA
OPENING PRAYER (Anna)
O Holy One, deepen our kinship, face to face with Creation!
Not just observing, but living and breathing it; mountains that redefine the skyline of centuries, mayflies that flutter, rejoice, and pass on.
God incarnate in this Earth you enrich our awe and wonder as creatures with creatures
who sing out your praise! With a wonderful “YES!” AMEN
RITE OF RECONCILIATION (Jeanne)
Creator of all, we praise you for the gift of life
and for the faith that unites us in care for our common home.
We confess how estranged we have become—
from one another, from your Creation, and from our truest selves.
We acknowledge that our greed and destructive impulses
have fractured our relationships with you, with others, and with the Earth.
Fertile fields have become barren, forests lie desolate, oceans and rivers are polluted.
Thriving communities have become places of suffering, and the earth cries out.
Beloved Christ,
who spoke “Shalom” to frightened hearts, stir us to compassionate action.
Inspire us to work for the end of conflict,
and for the full restoration of broken relationships—
with you, with the ecumenical community,
with the human family, and with all Creation.
Prince of Peace,
through your wounds, teach us to stand in solidarity
with the woundedness of others, of creation, and of the world.
Through your resurrection, make us people of hope—
with a vision of swords turned into ploughshares
and tears transformed into joy.
(Maryal)
O Holy One, Sustainer. Listener. God with us, God with Earth; The Long Time of Trial has come,
and not so long in coming as we sort of hoped. We have been led there. - not by you.
The Day of Mess and Turmoil has arrived.
When once again that ‘Ruler of this World’ [John 12:31] believes they have the upper hand;
The same who lay in wait when you shared wildness with the wildlife and with angels for forty days.
O Holy One, Sustainer. Listener. Do hear this: We’re up to our eyes in today;
knowing with certainty that much about tomorrow will be worse.
As justice trampled makes seas rise, makes glaciers melt...All the rest of it. Things you know and we pretend we don’t.
~So how; blessed by beauty and mystery;
how, when we eat and breathe kinship, do we still worship idols of greed?
~We called you “endless” – so we worship endless growth. -as if Earth were single-use.
~We called you “powerful” – so we bow down before corporations knowingly scheming the end of life’s beauty; no longer bothering to lie to look green.
~ We betray and eradicate, partners in covenant: trampling human and otherwise.
~ We bring money’s tyrants the “good news” they cherish while stones scream in the face of our silence.
And even conceding the agencies as human, we transition without justice, we collude to hit hardest and first the most fragile, as seas rise, fires burn, ice-caps melt, and crops fail. And knowing that much of tomorrow will be worse, we have flaunted small steps
which should have been first steps; preached crisis as distant, pretended we’ll fix it with nails
as we crucify Earth whom we are.
ENOUGH!
Come On People Now by The Young Bloods (STOP AT 2:04)
https://youtu.be/nBJYxPN8qIA?si=-paqwxZuV2-WVRWF
(Andrea)
Friends...we are forgiven before we have fixed things.
We can be healers before we are fit.
And though we know with honest certainty there’s worse to come
It’s Jesus who says: “do not fear tomorrow -you’re up to your eyes in today!” [Matt 6:25]
And Jesus who says: “you’re forgiven, you’re free...” [e.g. Luke 7:48] ...to Change.
For God will be with you on hard paths ahead;
protesting with Francis, and Patrick and Brigid, Columba, and creatures who taught them.
Sustainer, Beloved, and Wild-Wind of life, show us our place and purpose; set us free to heal.
Let It Be So: AMEN
GLORIA (Anna)
Glory to God,
who has made a covenant
with all living creatures,
and has promised
never to forsake the creation She loves!
“Glory To The Lamb” by Fernando Ortega (STOP AT 2:00)
https://youtu.be/9gaFm-MpxBw?si=zUiZyNsGTRmHtXN9
LITURGY OF THE WORD
(Elena) This reading is the scripture theme for Season of Creation 2025. It describes a desolate, fragmented world and the hope for its transformation through the outpouring of the Spirit and the restoration of justice.
(Maryal) Reading: Is 32: 14-18
Once the palace has been abandoned and the noisy city deserted Ophel and Keep become caverns forever,
The playground of wild asses and the pasture of flocks.
Once more there will be poured on us the spirit from above;
then shall the wilderness be fertile land
and fertile land become forest.
In the wilderness justice will come to live
and integrity in the fertile land;
integrity will bring peace,
justice give lasting security.
My people will live in a peaceful home,
in safe houses,
in quiet dwellings
---the forest shall be beaten down and the city laid low.
Happy will be you, sowing by every stream,
letting ox and donkey roam free.
This is a passage found in Isaiah in The Jerusalem Bible and we respond by saying: So be it and So it is!
🎵 🎶 Alle, Alle, Alléluia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID5UGWcS6Ws
(Elena) This reading is found in Matthew Fox’s “Creativity.” It is meant to awaken us to creation’s call to release our creative powers, a gift bestowed on all humankind, and thus choose to work as one to assure our survival and sustainability as a species.
READING: (Andrea) Where does our hope lie? Where shall we ground ourselves for continuing on and changing our ways radically? Can we be confident that creativity is the key to our survival and sustainability as a species? Creativity is who we are, creativity can redeem and save our species. I agree with Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes that, “All women and men are born gifted.” All we need to do is release this creativity, get out of its way, as M.C. Richards used to say. Estes also believes that “ a woman’s creative ability is her most valuable asset. I believe this is true of men as well. It is the most valuable asset of our species. What are we waiting for? Let us remove the obstacles, let go of the guilt, and get moving. We have nothing to lose but our pessimism and cynicism, as Otto Rank warned us, “pessimism comes with the repression of creativity.” Creativity is not in short supply. There is an abundance of it, plenty to go around. It has always been this way. From the original fireball to the birth of the atoms, galaxies, supernovas, stars, sun, planets, earth and her marvelous creatures. We humans are latecomers to the creative universe, but we are powerfully endowed with creativity. Some of my hope comes from the realization of how perilous our situation is on this planet. As more and more people get out of denial and the addictions denial puts us in and come to realize the danger that our unsustainable species is in, there will be action and there will be grounds for hope. This sounds paradoxical, and it is: Our very despair is a cause of hope, for despair often results in breakdown, and breakdown results in breakthrough. Our systems are breaking down today—all of them. And we feel it. All our professions, all our religions, all our politics and economic and educational establishments need reinventing. They all lack feminine energy, wisdom energy. They lack cosmology and creativity. This gives hope –that the Divine can and will return in a more balanced form to our species. She will return through a coming alive of our love of life and a response to the pain so omnipresent on our planet. This response will precipitate an outbreak of creativity. If we can use justice and compassion as contours to contain and to critique the use of creativity, then what we give birth to will serve other generations and other species instead of destroy them. Then the Spirit will be at work once again, creating and recreating with humankind.
(Maryal) Let us not deceive ourselves or live in a silly illusion about our creativity. Creativity is a choice. (In theological terms , it is grace and works operating together. It is an option to live a life with grace.) Creativity is not a particular gift given to certain people only. It is a personal choice and a cultural choice. An individual choice and a family, professional, and a social choice, and at this time in our history it is a species choice. We chose whether to let creativity flow or not—in our educational systems, our media, our politics, our economics, our religions, our very psyches. In theological terms , it is a matter of letting the Spirit in, the Christ in, the Buddha nature in. I believe Sri Aurobindo had this in mind when he predicted a ‘coming dawn” for the resurrection of poetry itself---provided we tap into a “larger cosmic vision” that would and could release the “Divine possibilities” of our species. Perhaps Hildegard of Bingen, put it best when she said: God has gifted creation with everything that is necessary….. Humankind, full of all creative possibilities, is God’s work. Humankind is called to co-create…….. God gave to humankind the talent to create with all the world………….. It is true that we are a species that can say “NO” to our potential. We can choose not to develop our potential, our creativity and that of our children. We can choose to turn our creativity over to others and to institutions that appear more imposing than ourselves. Yes, we can use our creativity for demonic purposes----even to deny our powers of creation is to serve demonic powers that will willingly fill the gap. Yes, we can resist evolution—even our own. And our bad deeds will shame. And our species will end, bringing down much beauty with it. But I do believe that humankind can opt instead for the “Good deeds that glorify.” We must. The Spirit of Creativity is expecting us to do so. Creation is waiting for our response. These are inspired words shared by Matthew Fox and we respond with a hearty AMEN! ALLELUIA!
Homily Starter and Community sharing
PROFESSION OF FAITH (Jeanne) Today we trust Love who is God; before, and after, but above all, with us; Maker, Re-maker of life, and life’s limits. Striving to sustain; to make new. Today we trust: God: with Earth working God: with birth emerging God: with justice by choice:-Giving sea, soil, skies voice! God: with predators, with prey -with the light of each day! God: with life’s harmonies, seen and unseen; God: breathed praise by all creatures; God: welcomed in shade of the trees. (All) We trust God with us, urgently now.
Today we trust: Jesus our Friend
Incarnate in Earth; Who shares life with creatures; shares their home with angels;
Who is tested, prevailing;
Who knows of their frailness through flesh, blood, and birth and dependence on care.
(All) We trust God with us, urgently now.
Today we trust:
Jesus: who warns and heals, Jesus: repurposing Scripture;
Jesus: Welcomed with branches, then nailed to the Tree.
Jesus: Abandoned to Death: who was cradled by Earth.
The third Day Christ rose: repurposed for Life, and is with us as surely as Sky;
We trust God, who is Spirit; Reshaping perceptions.
Breath of life; Inspiration of healing and forgiveness:
Wild Wind of beginnings; beyond our control,
and unruled by our violence, yet harnessed for justice. (All) We trust God with us, urgently now.
INTERCESSORY PRAYERS: (Anna) Response: “May we grow in hope and strive to make Peace with Creation” ~God of the land, the sea, the sky
Creator of all that is seen and unseen.
Open our hearts to the rhythm of Creation in the swells of the ocean, the movements of air and wind, the breath of all living things.
Open our eyes to the fragile beauty of the biodiversity of which we are a part. Open our ears to the sounds of life around us. Open our minds to the awareness of our deep relationship with all your Creation. Creator God, (All) “May we grow in hope and strive to make Peace with Creation” ~God of Light, Life and Love: Help us to seek and find your presence in all Creation.
Help us to understand the roots of the ecological crisis and give us the wisdom to live resiliently in harmony with your Creation. Keep us firm in the faith that the gift of life in all its fullness is for all Creation. Help us to maintain hope that your reign of love is manifested in our common love for you, for ourselves, and for our neighbor - both human and non-human. Creator God, (All) “May we grow in hope and strive to make Peace with Creation”
~God of truth and justice: Fill us with your spirit of compassion so we may live and act with and in solidarity with Creation.
Guide us in paths of righteousness that help us to tread softly on the land and sail gently on the sea.
Give us wisdom and courage to recognize our role in the evil of systemic exploitation and extraction and to speak truth to power.
Give us strength of heart and arm to be agents of the ecological conversion the world so desperately needs. Creator God, All: “May we grow in hope and strive to make Peace with Creation” (Rev. James Bagwan, Pacific Conference of Churches) THE FIRSTFRUITS OF HOPE 3
Whom or what else shall we lift up in prayer? …………… Response: Hear our prayer. (Joan M) Prayer book requests….. Response: Hear our prayer)
(Anna and All) “May we grow in hope and strive to make Peace with Creation”
OFFERTORY (Cathy) O Holy One, we bring you our gifts from creation, bread of the grain and wine of the grapes. We recognize that they are holy in you, their Creator. And we know that they will make us holy, one with you and one with each other.
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY: “Here in this Place” by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk?si=xAc1gOkkEdxoz3sv
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
(Jeanne)
Throughout all ages, as mountains dance and trees applaud the cries of birth are also loud
for all to hear and tend.
Your Sabbath and Jubilee insist: “Refreshment and rest for all Creation”.
But we made exceptions. Your People sought milk and honey, yet injustice laid lands waste.
Your prophets: priests and farmers call us to account.
Yet your loving signs of warning fall often by the wayside.
And greed and pride insist on harmful choices knowingly embraced.
Yet still comes Christ Jesus, friend of wildlife, beloved of the poor scolding the seas
teaching with trees, and God’s wildness in Wind.
When with Christ we shoulder the cross of healing; we shudder at the disaster
of truth denied by power,
And yet...
Risen and present through food and faith
Christ calls us afresh to care for a damaged world.
Holy Holy Holy God of power, shared sky and soil’s abundant glory:
Hosanna: help us God! Hosanna: heal Creation!
Extend your hands over the bread and wine for the epiclesis
(Andrea and All) 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.
(Elena)The disciples, women and men, were gathered together with Jesus for the Seder meal.
Anticipating the likelihood of betrayal, arrest and pain, Jesus wanted more than anything to be with his friends, to share a meal, exchange stories and create memories.
On that night before he died, while gathered with the people closest to him, Jesus once again, showed us how to love one another, by leaving his place at the table and washing their feet, like the least of household servants.
(Together we lift our plate of bread as we pray)
(Jeanne and All ) 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) (Together we lift our cup of wine as we pray )
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.
(Elena) This is the bread of life and the 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.
(Cathy & All) 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.
(Elena) Like Jesus, we are inspired and come before this altar with open hands and open hearts. We will live a life rooted in compassion, as it is living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways.
Let us share the Body of Christ with the Body of Christ! All are welcome. All: AMEN
Receive the Bread and Cup before you and as we share let us proclaim
“You are the face of Jesus in this world.”
Communion Song and Reflection: (STOP AT !:30)
What Shall I Give? by Sara Thomsen
https://youtu.be/UUTs9qa5h3g
THE PRAYER OF JESUS (Anna)
We pray our common prayer that Christ taught us:
(Anna and All) Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echoes through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
May your beloved community of peace nd freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and forever. Amen.
Adapted from The New Zealand Book of Prayer | He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa.
This version of the Lord’s prayer was influenced by Maori theologians
A Prayer for Our Earth. Pope Francis in Laudato Si’
(Maryal)
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
And in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace,
that we may live as brothers and sisters,
harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and
forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain
At the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey towards
your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray,
in our struggle for justice, love and peace. All: Amen
Sharing of Peace. (Elena)
If we are in Christ, we are becoming a new creation.
We see the Holy One around us. We see the Holy One within us.
We give thanks to you, our Creator.
Let us show the caring nature you have instilled within us by greeting each other
as a sign of your peace, love, forgiveness and grace.
May your peace, O Creator, be with us always!
All: Namaste 🙏🏿 Namaste 🙏🏼 Namaste 🙏🏻
Adapted from Celebrating Creation: Honoring Indigenous People, Kelly Sherman-Conroy, ELCA
Introductions Thanksgiving and Announcements.
Final Blessing. (Andrea
O Holy One you who established the dance of creation,
Who marveled at the lilies of the field,
Who transforms chaos to order,
Lead us to protect creation, and to listen to the voice of all creatures that reflect Your glory.
Adapted from the CTBI Eco-Congregation Programme
Final 🎵 “Turn Turn Turn” The Byrds
https://youtu.be/pKP4cfU28vM?si=aXCYP5HQTLFVzAOw
