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https://zoom.us/j/93473708926?pwd=VHFKZGJ5N3ljbzZtVU1qQVRZY1lodz09
Meeting ID: 934 7370 8926
Theme: Life calls us to listen and respond.
Welcome and Gathering
(Maryal)
Welcome 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 at this table. (Integral Christianity by Paul Smith)
At certain times in the liturgy we invite sharing from the community, as at The Prayers of the Community and The Shared Homily. If you feel drawn to share, you must unmute your microphone, speak, and re-mute yourself. Even though your microphone is muted, wherever you are, please respond where the liturgy is marked “All,” and feel free to sing your heart out! Please have bread and wine/juice in front of you during the Liturgy.
Let us now take a few moments to collect ourselves as we prepare to focus our minds and our hearts on our knowledge that we are all one, brought together at this time to transform ourselves and our world through love; love for our Holy One, love for our neighbors, love for ourselves, and love for our planet. Let us begin our liturgy by expressing this love through song.
Gathering Song: Anthem by Tom Conry
REFRAIN
We are called, we are chosen, we are Christ for one another.
We are promised to tomorrow, while we are for him today.
We are sign, we are wonder, we are sower we are seed.
We are harvest, we are hunger. We are question, we are creed.
VERSE
Then where can we stand justified? In what can we believe?
In no one else but Christ who suffered, nothing more than Christ who rose.
Who was justice for the poor. Who was rage against the night. Who was hope for peaceful people. Who was light. Repeat REFRAIN
OPENING PRAYER
(Elena): O loving God of many names, you share your divinity with all of creation. You call us to heal the wounds of hatred and violence, discrimination and oppression in our world. You call us to see goodness and beauty everywhere and to live in harmony with all of creation. You call us to live life to the fullest and to journey into your heart of compassion always striving to unite our will to yours. In communion with Jesus, our brother and with the power of Holy Spirit Sophia, grant us the strength to respond with joy to your call and to trust in your providence to be able to overcome all adversity. All: AMEN. llc dc
COMMUNAL RECONCILIATION RITE
(Maryal):
Let us pause for a moment to reflect, on a time when in hindsight we wish we had been less judgmental, more patient, more compassionate, more present, kinder and forgiving. Now imagine this person(s) or situation in the light of healing love as we ask for forgiveness and reconciliation.
(PAUSE for Reflection)
Please place your hand over your heart and say the “Ho’oponopono Prayer.”
All: I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.
Gloria: Glory to God
by Marty Haugen - video by Bridget Mary Meehan and Mary Theresa Streck
THE SIGN OF PEACE
(Elena) It is fitting that, having asked for Divine and mutual forgiveness, we now extend an expression of Peace to each other.
(Elena): Grant us Your peace, O Loving God, that following the example of Jesus and with the strength of the Spirit, we may be eager to spread your light and peace to everyone, everywhere, with no exceptions.
All: May the peace of our gracious and loving God be always with us. AMEN
(Elena) Let us turn to each other and with praying hands offer one another a sign of peace. NAMASTE 3x
GLORIA: Glory to God
by Marty Haugen - video by Bridget Mary Meehan and Mary Theresa Streck
(
Maryal) Glory to the Spirit of Life, to the Holy One who surrounds us, who lives within us, whose Sacred Word is shared by us in our world.
All: Glory to the Spirit of Life, who offers us peace; peace in our hearts, peace in our thoughts, peace with one another as we reach out to one another and ask for blessing
(Maryal) Glory to the Spirit of Life, who cares for the health workers, postal workers, store clerks, garbage collectors and all who serve our special needs in numerous ways.
All: Glory to the Spirit of Life, who sent Jesus who teaches us how to live the Gospels, who brings hope and healing to all those in need.
(Maryal): O Holy One, you are one with us. We are strong in our faith and will live life in hope and faithfulness to you, to be Church committed to the message of the Gospels. We depend upon the ever-present Spirit Sophia Wisdom to walk with us as we journey in the present and rejoice in the life before us.
All: Glory to the Spirit of Life, Amen
LITURGY OF THE WORD (Cathy)
First Reading: Romans 8: 31-39
So what do you think? With God on our side, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing Godself to the worst by sending God’s own Son, is there anything else God wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us - who was raised to life for us!- is in the presence of God this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not anger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing---- not a thing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
(Cathy) This is a contemporary reading of The Epistle to the Romans as found in “The Message” by Eugene Peterson, and our response is AMEN
Psalm 145 (Maryal)
Response: MY SOUL YEARNS FOR YOU, ETERNAL FLAME OF LOVE
~
Each generation must learn anew the efficacy of silence, the wisdom of turning inward, that your Light might be their guide to holiness, and your Love nurture them toward wholeness
Response: MY SOUL YEARNS FOR YOU, ETERNAL FLAME OF LOVE
~
Yet, many there are who turn from you in fear, denying their birthright.
Their denial will lead them further into alienation; loneliness will companion them.
Response: MY SOUL YEARNS FOR YOU, ETERNAL FLAME OF LOVE
~
Gratitude and quiet joy overflow as I recall the abundant blessings of your grace!
Lift up your hearts, all you who choose the path of Life! My heart is Lifted up!
Response: MY SOUL YEARNS FOR YOU, ETERNAL FLAME OF LOVE.
Gospel Acclamation: (Alleluia) Jan Phillips
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:13-21
(Jane) When Jesus heard of the death of his cousin John the Baptizer, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself. But unsuccessfully someone saw him and the word got around. Soon a lot of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake where he was.
When he saw them coming he was overcome with pity and he healed their sick.
Toward evening the disciples approached him. “We’re out in the country and it’s getting late. Dismiss the people so they can go to the villages and get some supper”.
But Jesus said, “There is no need to dismiss them. You give them supper”
“All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish,” they said.
Jesus said, “Bring them here.” Then he had the people sit on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer , blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples . The disciples gave the food to the congregation. They all ate their fill. They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand were fed.
As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone into the night.
This is a contemporary reading from Matthew found in “The Message” by Eugene Peterson.
And we respond: So Be It !
Repeat Gospel Acclamation
Shared Homily Starter:
COMMUNAL STATEMENT OF FAITH
(Maryal) Creed
We believe in you O God, Creator of the universe, whose divinity infuses all that exists, making everything sacred. Jesus, we believe in You, messenger of the Divine Word, the bringer of healing and the heart of Compassion. We believe in you Holy Spirit, the breath of our innermost life, and the Sustainer who heals and energizes us when our spirits grow weary in our journeys.
We believe that You are here with us today in this gathering, calling us to be a loving and just people. We believe the poor have a priority in your plans and we are called to do our best to serve them in your name. We believe you are offering us freedom and grace to become our true selves, so that we can turn from false, worldly securities and look to you for our true identity as your children. We believe that as You were anointed by God to do God’s Will, through our baptism, we too are called to be a sign of God’s Kingdom on earth by listening and responding to the needs of our sisters and brothers.
We believe that we are called to follow Jesus as a vehicle of God's love, a source of God's wisdom and truth, and an instrument of God's peace in the world.
We believe that God's 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
(Jane):
As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns, as we ask you to give us the courage to approach our still point and your call to listen and respond, we pray.
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We ask you to give us words to be a source of comfort to one another. For those who are dying, for those who have transitioned and for their grieving loved one.
HEAR OUR PRAYER.
In the midst of our own anxiety we ask you to give us the courage to support one another as you showed us today in your example of responding to the needs of the multitude before you while engaging those close to you to do likewise. For all who are suffering from the effects of inflation, for our government and financial institutions and those who lead them, we pray. HEAR OUR PRAYER.
In the midst of our struggle to ensure a healthy future for all who live on this planet, we ask you to give us the hope that surpasses our current understanding. For health care workers, spiritual leaders and our faith communities, for artists and poets, for prophets and teachers, for political leaders, we pray. HEAR OUR PRAYER.
~
We pray for all who continue to be impacted from the natural disasters in our world. We pray for the people in all war-torn countries in our hurting world, most especially the children, that they may live in peace without fear and that goodness and sanity will fill the hearts and minds of those that would cause them harm.
HEAR OUR PRAYER
In the midst of our growing awareness that all life on earth is connected, we ask for the heart to respect and cherish all life. That all peoples recognize that we are all your children we pray. HEAR OUR PRAYER.
(Joan M) MMOJ Prayer book intentions …………….
(Jane): For what else shall we pray?
(Unmute your microphone. Speak your concern when there is an opening. Re-mute your microphone.) Respond to each petition with: HEAR OUR PRAYER
.
(Jane): We pray for these and all the unspoken concerns we hold in the silence of our hearts. AMEN
PRESENTATION OF GIFTS
(Please set out your own bread and wine.)
(Elena) Blessed are you, God of all life. Through your goodness we have bread, wine, all creation, these prayers of the heart, and our own lives to offer. Through this sacred meal may we become your new creation as we awaken to your call to listen and respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters.
All: Blessed be God forever.
(Elena) God is within you, blessing the world through you.
All: And within you.
(Maryal) O Holy One, we lift up our hearts to You, You who gently invite us to enter into a deeper relationship with you that will affect how we live our lives and make decisions. This transformation seems to come through difficulties and pain, yet you are here with us always. Come Holy Spirit, be with us and with all who have gone before us, as we lift up our hearts in praise and sing:
All: We are holy, holy, holy (Karen Drucker)
(
Maryal) Our Holiness is your Holiness within us. Help us to seize opportunities to reveal it to the world.
Extend hands over the bread and wine as we pray:
ALL: Pour out Your Spirit anew upon this bread and wine and upon us as we become more deeply the Christ Presence in our world. On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for the Seder supper with the men and women he loved. He washed their feet. For this they would remember him.
(Elena) Please lift the bread as we pray the Prayers of Consecration:
All: When he returned to his place, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat of the Bread of Life, my body, given to strengthen you. Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you. (pause)
(Elena) Please lift the cup as we pray:
All: Jesus then raised a cup of blessing, spoke the grace 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. (pause)
Presider 2: Let us share this bread and cup, and welcome everyone to the Banquet as we live the gospel of justice and peace in our world.
All: We are called to do everything Jesus did, to be the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates laughter, of a light that illumines right choices and confronts the darkness of every injustice and inequity.
All: 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 that all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. Amen
(Cathy) Let us pray as Jesus taught us: All: Our Father and Mother who are in heaven, whose presence is with us always, and whose spirit dwells within. Hallowed be your name. May your kingdom come, and may your will be done, in our lives, and on earth, just as it is in heaven. Thank you for giving us this day, all that we need for sustenance, nourishment and growth. Forgive us, forgive us when we turn away from your love, when we trespass against you and those you put in our lives. Help us to forgive those who turn away from love and who trespass against us. Keep us from yielding to temptation. Direct us away from anything or anyone that would distract us from your will, your highest good for our lives. Deliver us and protect us from all that is evil. For all glory and power is yours Almighty God just as it was in the beginning, it is now and always shall be, world without end.
All SING: AMEN (LINDA LEE MILLER)
https://youtu.be/Dy76fpfkNsg
(Jane) Please join in the prayer for the breaking of the bread.
All: O God of Courage, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.
O God of Compassion, You call us to be your presence in the world. We will love tenderly.
O God of Truth, You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your presence.
(All hold up the bread and wine.)
(Maryal) This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Through it we are nourished and we nourish each other.
All: Through him, we have learned how to live.
Through him, we have learned how to love.
Through him, we have learned how to serve. AMEN.
LINDA LEE Sanctuary:
God prepare me to be a sanctuary,
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving,
I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.
God prepare me to be a sanctuary,
Acting boldly in your name.
Seeking justice where there’s hurting
Offering hope where, there is pain.
God prepare me to be a sanctuary. Pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.
(Elena) Please now receive Communion with the words “ I am (You are) the Body of Christ” and “I am (You are) the Blood of Christ” The music that follows provides us with the opportunity to remain silent and listen to the words or to sing along as the Spirit moves us.
COMMUNION MUSIC
“I am the One within you”
I am the infinite presence.
I am the one in all.
I am the truth in beauty,
The answer to Spirit’s call.
I am the one within you.
I am the one you seek.
Within your heart there is a doorway.
The arms of love await you...with these golden wings take flight.
(Sung through twice)
BLESSING
(Elena) LET US RAISE OUR HANDS AND BLESS EACH OTHER.
All: 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.
(Maryal) Prayers of Thanksgiving, Introductions, Announcements:
CLOSING PRAYER
(Maryal and All) O Holy One we believe that Jesus, your Incarnate Word lives in you and in us. Strengthen our faith, hope and love that your reign will be proclaimed in our lives and the presence of your Spirit be manifested in our thoughts words and actions. We ask this through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. AMEN
CLOSING SONG “The Greatest Thing”- Linda Lee - words & music by Mark Pendergast
1.The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you.
The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you.
I want to know you more. I want to know you more.
The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you.
2. .... is loving you.
3. ... is serving you.
4. ... is sharing you.
5. ... is seeing you.
6. ... is being you.
If you would like to add your intercession to our MMOJ Community Prayers 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.