Theme: The Feast Goes on because Love goes on!
Welcome and Gathering:
Presider: Jim
Welcome, dear friends, to our celebration of Eucharist.
In today’s readings, Isaiah promises the feast of abundance; Paul reminds us that even when life does not feel abundant, Divine Love sustains us; and Jesus tells us that rejection and negativity cannot stop the feast. God keeps looking for people who are ready to celebrate!
There is a message here for our own lives. We do not have to give our precious energy to every negative word, every criticism, or every hurtful encounter. Sometimes the most life-giving response is to bless what we can, shake the dust from our sandals, and keep walking toward the people and places where love and joy are waiting for us.
Let us rejoice and be glad because the feast goes on because love goes on!
Opening Song: We Come To Your Feast Michael Joncas, Video by Michelle Sherliza
(Cut at 2:32 approximately)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sbNXbnO1Ig&t=26s
Transformation Rite:
Presider: Bridget Mary
Loving God, you invite us to release whatever keeps us from living fully in love and joy.
All: Transform our hearts in your love.
Presider: Jesus, our brother, when negativity, resentment, or hurt weighs us down, help us shake the dust from our sandals and walk in peace.
All: Transform our wounds into wisdom and compassion.
Presider: Holy Spirit, free us from whatever separates us from one another and awaken us to the joy of your presence within and among us.
All: Transform us into your love for one another.
Presider and All: May we forgive ourselves and one another, make peace where we can, and move forward in freedom and joy.
All: Amen.
Glory to God by Marty Haugen - video by Bridget Mary Meehan and Mary Theresa Streck
https://youtu.be/udjH7EON5IY
Opening Prayer:
Presider: Jim
God of boundless love and irrepressible joy,
You invite us again and again to the great feast of your kin-dom, where every person is welcomed, every life is precious, and everyone has a place at the table.
Give us the wisdom to know when to engage and when to let go. Free us from wasting our energy chasing negativity, resentment, and hurt.
When harsh words wound us, help us shake the dust from our sandals.
When hatred surrounds us, help us choose love.
When violence threatens to overwhelm us, make us courageous peacemakers.
And when joy appears before us, give us the grace to join the dance!
May our lives become signs of your great wedding feast, where love has the final word and joy cannot be stopped.
We pray in the name of Jesus, our brother, who invites everyone to the banquet of Divine Love.
All: Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: Jane S.
— Isaiah 25:6–10a
(Inclusive Liturgical Adaptation/ Priests for Equality Translation)
On this mountain,
the Holy One of all creation
will prepare for all peoples
a magnificent feast,
a banquet of abundant food
and the finest wine.
On this mountain,
God will remove the veil
that covers all peoples,
the shroud that hangs over every nation.
Death will be swallowed up forever.
The Holy One
will wipe away the tears from every face
and remove the disgrace
that burdens God's people throughout the earth.
For the Holy One has spoken.
On that day the people will say:
“Look! This is our God,
the One for whom we have waited,
the One who comes to save us.
This is the Holy One
for whom we have hoped.
Let us rejoice!
Let us be glad!
Let us celebrate God's saving love!”
For the loving presence of God
will rest upon this mountain.
Reader: These are the inspired words attributed to the prophet Isaiah.
All: Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 23 Sung by Bobby McFerrin (Video begins at 11 seconds)
https://youtu.be/000AuO_lBJk
Second Reading — Cheryl
Philippians 4:12–14, 19–20
(Inclusive Liturgical Adaptation/ Priests for Equality Translation)
I know what it is to have little,
and I know what it is to have plenty.
I have learned how to live through every circumstance—
with abundance and with need,
with a full table and an empty one,
in times of joy and in times of struggle.
I have discovered the secret:
I can face whatever comes
through Christ who gives me strength.
And still, it was good of you
to stand beside me and share my struggles.
And my God will provide all that you truly need
from the abundance of Divine Love
revealed to us in Christ Jesus.
To our God,
Source of all life and love,
be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
Reader: These are the inspired words attributed to Paul.
All: Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation: sung
Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
Gospel — Jim
Matthew 22:1–10
(Inclusive Version adapted from NRSVue)
Presider: The Holy One is within you.
All: And also within you.
Presider: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.
All: Glory to you, O God.
Jesus spoke to the people once again in parables:
“The kin-dom of heaven may be compared to a ruler who prepared a great wedding feast for a beloved child.
When everything was ready, messengers were sent to those who had already been invited, saying, ‘Come! The wedding feast is ready!’
But they refused to come.
Other messengers were sent with the invitation:
‘Tell everyone who has been invited: The banquet is prepared. Everything is ready. Come and celebrate at the wedding feast!’
But some ignored the invitation and went about their daily lives, one to the fields and another to business.
Others responded with hostility. They seized the messengers, mistreated them, and even killed them.
The ruler was furious and responded to their violence with still more violence, sending troops against them and destroying their city.
Then the ruler said to the messengers:
‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were first invited would not come.
So go out now into the streets and crossroads.
Invite everyone you find to the wedding feast.’
And so the messengers went everywhere.
They gathered everyone they encountered—people considered good and people considered bad, insiders and outsiders alike.
And soon the wedding hall was filled with guests.
The feast went on.
The invitation had become wider than anyone could have imagined.”
Presider: This is the Good News of Jesus.
All: Glory and praise to you, Jesus the Christ.
Homily: Bridget Mary
Jesus tells us that the kin-dom of heaven is like a wedding feast.
That image has special meaning for me right now because my niece Katie and her fiancé, Adam, are planning their wedding. I recently wrote them a prayer and suggested that they call on Mary, Mother of Jesus, as their heavenly wedding planner!
After all, Mary knows something about weddings. At Cana, when the wine runs out, Mary sees what is happening before almost anyone else does—and she knows where to turn. So I told Katie and Adam that when one venue is too big, another too small, one too expensive, and another already booked, perhaps Mary will whisper: “Don’t worry. We handled Cana. We can handle this!”
Anyone who has planned a wedding knows that something will probably not go according to plan. But the wedding is not ultimately about everything going perfectly. It is about love. Two people choose one another, families and friends gather around them, a table is prepared, and everyone is invited to share their joy.
And that is where this little family story opens the door to today’s Gospel.
At Cana, the wine runs out and the feast is threatened by embarrassment.
In today’s Gospel, something much more serious threatens the feast. Invitations are rejected. Negativity enters the story. Hostility escalates into violence. Everything seems to be falling apart.
But notice what God does.
God does not cancel the wedding feast.
God does not allow rejection to determine what happens next.
Instead, the doors are thrown open wider: “Go out into the streets and invite everyone you find.”
That may be the heart of the Gospel for us today.
What others reject, God keeps offering.
What hatred tries to destroy, God answers by widening the invitation.
When some refuse to come to the table, God makes the table bigger.
We cannot control how other people respond to us. We cannot prevent every criticism, rejection, hurtful word, or negative encounter. But we can decide whether we will allow those things to steal the joy God has placed within us.
As S. James Meyer reminds us, we do not have to spend our precious energy chasing negativity. Sometimes we need to shake the dust from our sandals and move toward those who share joy.
That does not mean ignoring injustice or remaining silent before hatred or violence. Jesus certainly did neither. It means refusing to let someone else’s negativity become the controlling energy of our lives.
Sometimes the Spirit may simply be saying:
Shake off the dust.
Keep walking.
Open another door.
Pull out another chair.
Invite somebody else in.
The music is still playing.
Dance for joy!
The feast goes on because Love goes on.
Shared Homily: Dialogue Questions:
Where in your life have things not gone according to plan, but grace—or even unexpected joy—showed up anyway?
What negativity or hurt might we as individuals, communities or a nation be ready to “shake from your sandals” and leave behind?
And how can we help make God's wedding feast wider and more welcoming for those who have been excluded from the table?
Community Statement of Faith
Prayer Leader: Jane S
All:
We believe in the Holy One,
the Divine Presence
in whom we live and move and have our being.
We believe in Jesus,
brother, teacher, prophet and Christ,
who welcomed everyone to the table
and revealed the face of Divine Love
in healing, compassion and justice.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
Sophia Wisdom,
breathing within creation,
speaking through our lives
and calling us into ever-widening circles of love.
We believe that we are one
in the Communion of Saints,
one with Earth and all creation,
and one with all people
who work for justice and peace.
We believe that every person
is a beloved image of the Holy One.
We believe in forgiveness,
healing, transformation
and life that death cannot destroy.
We believe that God's table
has room for everyone.
Amen.
Prayers of the Community
Prayer Leader: Cheryl
At the table of Divine Love, there is room for every longing, every wound, every hope, and every prayer. Trusting in the Holy One whose feast of love cannot be stopped, we bring our prayers for our world and one another.
Response: Loving God, lead us into your feast of joy.
For our world, wounded by war, violence, hatred, and division: may peacemakers refuse to surrender to despair and continue building pathways of reconciliation, justice, and healing.
All: Loving God, lead us into your feast of joy.
For those carrying anger, resentment, disappointment, or the wounds of painful relationships: may we know when reconciliation is possible, when boundaries are necessary, and when it is time to shake the dust from our sandals and move forward in peace.
All: Loving God, lead us into your feast of joy.
For those whose lives bring us laughter, companionship, encouragement, and hope: may we treasure these joyful companions on our journey and become such companions for others.
All: Loving God, lead us into your feast of joy.
For those who are sick, grieving, lonely, anxious, or discouraged: may they experience Divine Love embracing them through caring hearts and helping hands.
All: Loving God, lead us into your feast of joy.
And for what else shall we pray?
[Community members share their prayers.]
(Joan M. shares MMOJ intention book)
All: Holy One, may we be instruments of your love.
Prayer Leader: Cheryl
Loving God, you know our needs before we speak them. May we become answers to one another's prayers and signs of your healing love in our world.
All: Amen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Preparation of the Gifts
Presider: Bridget Mary
Blessed are you, Holy One of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread, fruit of Earth and work of human hands. It will become for us the Bread of Life.
Bridget Mary and All: Blessed be God forever.
Presider: Jim
Blessed are you, Holy One of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our cup of joy.
Cheryl and All: Blessed be God forever.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Presider: Jim
Let us gather around this table of extravagant love.
Cheryl and All: We come with grateful hearts.
Presider: Jim
Let us open our hearts to the Holy One.
Cheryl and All: We open them to Divine Love.
Presider: Jim
Let us give thanks for the banquet of love.
Cheryl and All: It is right to give thanks and praise.
Preface:
Cheryl: Source of Life, we give you thanks because from the beginning you have invited creation into a communion of abundance with you.
You spread before us the banquet of Earth: fertile soil and flowing seas, fields and forests, the beautiful diversity of all creatures and the entire human family.
Jane: Through prophets and wisdom seekers, mystics and saints, courageous women and men, you have continually called your people toward justice, compassion and peace. And so, with Miriam and Moses, Mary and Joseph, Mary Magdalene, and all the angels and saints, we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy: by Karen Drucker
https://youtu.be/orKBBIj5LZA
Eucharistic Prayer
Presider: Jim
Holy Mystery, Source of Life and Love, you have invited us to a feast that began long before we arrived and will continue long after we are gone.
You spread your table throughout creation—in the beauty of Earth, in friendships that nourish us, in strangers who become companions, in laughter that renews us, and in courageous people who keep choosing love when hatred and negativity would be easier.
Prayer Leader: Cheryl
Again and again, through prophets, wisdom figures, saints, mystics, justice seekers, and ordinary people, you have called us into your great circle of love.
And when some have tried to make that circle smaller, your Spirit keeps making it wider.
You sent Jesus among us to reveal what your kin-dom looks like.
Prayer Leader: Jane
Jesus welcomed those others rejected. He ate with those labelled sinners. He touched those declared untouchable. He called women to be his disciples. He blessed children. And he gathered people around tables where grace was abundant and everyone was beloved.
Epiclesis/Invocation of the Holy Spirit
(All extend hands over bread and wine).
Presider Bridget Mary and All:
Loving God, send your Spirit upon us and upon this bread and wine.
May we recognize the living presence of Christ here among us and within us.
Consecration Prayer
Presider Bridget Mary and All
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered his friends around a table.
He took bread into his hands, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, and shared it with them, saying:
Take and eat of this, all of you.
This is my body,
given for you.
Whenever you do this,
remember me.
Presider: Jim and All:
Then Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and shared it with everyone, saying:
Take and drink from this, all of you.
This is the cup of my life poured out in love for you.
Whenever you share this cup,
remember me.
Memorial Acclamation
Prayer Leader Cheryl and All:
Christ has died in all who have suffered.
Christ is risen in all who choose love.
Christ will come again whenever the alienated become reconciled, and strangers become friends.
Prayer Leader: Jane
May this Eucharist strengthen us to confront injustice without becoming consumed by hatred, to forgive without surrendering healthy boundaries, and to know when it is time to shake the dust from our sandals and continue the journey. When negativity surrounds us, help us choose joy. When hatred confronts us, help us choose love. When someone has been excluded, help us pull out another chair. And choose to join the dance!
Presider Bridget Mary
We remember all our beloved ones who have gone before us into the fullness of Divine Love. We remember Mary of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles, and the courageous women and men throughout history who refused to allow exclusion, oppression, or violence to silence the Spirit within them.
Presider: Jim
In communion with them and with all creation, we proclaim:
Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor are yours,
Loving God,
forever and ever.
Great Amen by Linda Lee Miller
https://youtu.be/Dy76fpfkNsg
Communion Rite:
Prayer of Jesus
Prayer Leader: Jane and All:
Let us pray together in the words Jesus taught us.
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
(Miriam Therese Winter)
All pray the Our Father/Our Mother together.
Sign of Peace:
Prayer Leader: Cheryl
Presider: Jesus' peace breaks down walls and creates communion. Let us share with one another a sign of Christ's peace.
All: Peace be with you.
Breaking of the Bread Litany
Prayer Leader: Cheryl
Loving God, you invite all to the feast of abundant love.
All: We come with joy.
Presider: Jesus, Bread of Life, you welcome everyone to the table.
All: We make room for all.
Presider: Holy Spirit, you make us one in love.
All: Grant us peace and fill us with joy.
Invitation to Communion
Presider: Bridget Mary
(Presider holds up the bread and cup.)
This is Jesus' table.
This is the banquet Isaiah dreamed about.
This is the feast of Divine Love.
Everyone is invited.
Everyone is welcome.
Everyone is beloved.
All: We are the Body of Christ.
Communion is shared.
Communion Song
I Am Willing by Holly Near
https://youtu.be/_XXYhhh-5sg
Prayer After Communion
Presider: Jim
Let us pray.
Holy One,
you have fed us at the table of love.
May the bread we have broken
nourish us.
May the cup we have shared
fill us with joy.
May the welcome we have experienced here
become the welcome we offer others.
Send us forth to widen the circle,
make room at the table,
heal divisions
and live the Gospel of extravagant love.
All: Amen.
Presider: Bridget Mary
Prayers of Gratitude, Introductions and Announcements
Final Blessing
(Presiders and Community extend hands)
Presider: Jim
May the Holy One who prepares a feast for all peoples bless us.
Cheryl and All: Amen.
May Jesus, who welcomed outsiders and strangers, inspire us to widen every circle.
Cheryl and All: Amen.
May Sophia, Holy Wisdom, give us courage to challenge every barrier that divides us.
Cheryl and All: Amen.
And may we bless one another as we go forth:
Cheryl and All:
May we live as the Body of Christ,
creating God's banquet of justice,
healing, equality and joy
wherever we go.
Amen.
Sending Forth:
Presider: Bridget Mary
Our Eucharist is ended. Our service begins. Let us go forth and invite everyone to the feast!
All: Thanks be to God! We will live the Good News!
Closing Song
The House that Love is Building by Sarah Hart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM69BAgvuXw
