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At the Table of Embracing Love, we encounter extravagant love forgiveness and healing.
GATHERING SONG AND GREETING
Presider: In the name of God, our Creator
and
of Jesus our brother and of the Holy Spirit, our wisdom. ALL: Amen.
 |
| Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP (left) and Pat MacMillan (right) Co-Presiders, Mindy Lou Simmons at piano, Photos by Alicia Bartol-Thomas |
Presider: We gather at the table
of embracing love with hearts open to forgiveness, healing in the liberating
presence of the Spirit among us.
ALL: The love of God is in our hearts and forgives
completely.
PENITENTIAL RITE
Presider: O God, may we see your face in sex
workers and all who are abused and exploited.
ALL: May we open our hearts, like Mary, to God’s
mothering love. Presider: Jesus the Christ, may we see the divine
reality in victims especially in women who have been abused and
exploited. ALL: May we like Mary, champion
the oppressed and stand with our sisters who are abused and exploited. Presider: O Wisdom
Sophia,
may we work in solidarity for a liberating empowerment
and justice for sexual workers. ALL:
May we, like Mary, live a connectedness and friendship with others. Presider:
May the God of love, forgive us our lack of trust in your Spirit Sophia
moving with us, in us, and through us, leading us to guidance, courage, healing
and empowerment.
ALL: Amen.
ALL: Glory to God, glory, O praise the name of our God, 3x
(sung)
Presider: Loving God, We give thanks for your infinite
love and tender forgiveness always working in our world. We cry out today for justice for all who are
victimized by sexual violence and exploitation. May we work for their liberation and do all we
can to advance their well-being ALL:
Amen.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: 2 Samuel 12:7-10,13
Responsorial
Psalm: Ubi Caritas (sung)
Second
Reading: Galatians
2:16:19-21
Gospel
Acclamation: ALLELUIA! (sung)
Reader: A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 7:36-8:3
ALL: Glory to you O God.
Reader:
The good news of Jesus, the Christ!
ALL: Glory and praise to you, Jesus the Christ!
Meditation: Bridget Mary "Simon, can you see?" by Diarmuid O'Murchu, Inclusivity,pp. 150-151.
Meditation: Bridget Mary "Simon, can you see?" by Diarmuid O'Murchu, Inclusivity,pp. 150-151.
Simon, Can You See?
By Diarmuid O’Murchu
Can you see this person standing here, a woman of full truth
With the elegance of womanhood, richly feminine imbued?
With the beauty of her passion, erotic to the core
And the birthing-power within her inviting to explore!
Simon, can you see? Can you see? Can you see?
Can you see the tears of centuries of patriarchal woe
And the courage it must take her for integrity of soul?
Can you see the waves of flowing hair with which she wiped my feet
And the kisses of her intimacy, making healing so replete?
Simon, can you see?…
Simon, can you see?…
Can you see her hospitality, her warmth, her embrace;
Her ability for birthing as a mother to each race?
A living icon of the ages, the Goddess we long have known,
Maligned and desecrated by the dogmas YOU have sown!
Simon, can you see?…
Can you see her jar of ointment, anointing to empower
Those excluded by oppression, overwhelmed and weighed down?
Can you see her gracious pouring out, abundant as of yore
While you stand there in judgment, a pontificating bore!
Simon, can you see?…
Her eyes though filled with weeping tears are contemplating clear.
She can see right through the lot of us, our judgments and our fear. Remember Holy Wisdom—she embodies it anew
And she radiates sheer goodness for creation to imbue!
She has known the ups and downs of life, the sinful and the free.
She has known the ups and downs of life, the sinful and the free.
And forgiven much, she's loving much—for empowering liberty.
The system can't contain her and the freedom she proclaims,
She's a living revelation where love and justice reigns.
Simon, can you see?…
Long after we have run our course and echoes fade in time
Her name will be invoked afresh in Scripture and in rhyme.
And the alabaster jar she holds will replenish many souls,
And where the Gospel is proclaimed, her fame will be disclosed.
And, then, Simon, you might see; I hope you will see!
From Inclusivity by Diarmuid O’Murchu, p. 150
HOMILY STARTER by Pat MacMillan
In today’s gospel, we read of a woman
who was deeply ashamed of the life she was leading. We feel her pain and her shame as we read how
she washes Jesus’ feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair then kisses
them over and over again. In the middle
of a dinner party, she is publicly humbling herself. She appears to be a broken woman. Surely, she is heartbroken over the life she
is living. But perhaps her public display is saying something more. Perhaps she is purposely showing the people
at this party the indignities of her life and saying, “Look, look what you have
done to me?”
In her time, not unlike today in many
countries around the world, women are considered
made to serve men. When those men die,
divorce or sell them, these women and children are left destitute. There are no social programs to help them. To add more pain to their plight the
societies they live in turn against them.
Religions founded by male prophets (that’s
pretty much every religion in the world) has put women in this submissive place
in almost every society in the world.
The gospels have become word and the
word has been carved into every institution in our country – families, schools,
businesses, military, politics, the executive, legislative and judicial branch. Many families still want their sons to be
educated over their daughters. Many
countries around the world don’t educate girls or stop educating them after
elementary school. Women are not allowed
to work or own property. Daughters are
being sold into slavery. Florida is 3rd
in the nation for human trafficking. In Saudi Arabi, Afghanistan and other
middle eastern and Asian countries fathers still sell their daughters into
marriages with older men or into slavery.
But we have laws to protect our daughters - but do they? Just this week, our judicial
system failed a young rape victim. Because the judge was concerned more for the
rapist than the women who was raped.
Only 1/3 of rapes are reported in this country and 97% of rapist receive
no punishment.
To this day, we still hear women
being criticized for working and not staying home with their families. Even though, as Elizabeth Warren tells us, that’s
not a choice anymore, both parents working is a necessity. Strong, independent, professional women are
not held in high esteem – they scare people. Look at Hillary Clinton’s
unfavorable rating – she is not nurturing, friendly enough! Although people who know her say very
different things, it’s what the system is saying that gets heard.
As Americans we consider ourselves
quite progressive, yet we’ve never elected a female president. Let’s see what
the rest of the world has done! (Read names) Do we have a systemic
problem? It’s interesting to note, that
even our highly educated first ladies aren’t allowed to hold professional
careers while their husbands serve. They
are expected to take care of their families and do charity work. I wonder what Bill is going to do?
Yes, religions have put us here but we,
we the people are the church. How will
we raise women up, free them to be whatever they chose to be, allow them to be
independent and ensure they are treated fairly within all our systems?
Profession of Faith: ALL: We
believe in God who is creator and nurturer of all. We believe in Jesus, the
Christ, who is our love, our hope, and our light. We believe in the Holy
Spirit, the breath of Wisdom Sophia, who energizes and guides us to build
caring communities and to challenge exploitation and injustices. We believe that God loves us passionately and
forgives us everything. We believe that
we are radiant images of God who calls us to live fully, love tenderly, and
serve generously. We believe in the
communion of saints our heavenly friends, who support us on life’s journey. We believe in the partnership and equality of
women and men in our church and world. We
believe that all are one in the Heart of God. We believe that women’s liberation is human
liberation. Here we dwell in loving
relationships. Here we live our
prophetic call of Gospel equality.
GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
Presider: Aware that God, like a fierce mother bear,
who protects her young, is a defender of the oppressed and pursuer of justice,
we now bring the women and men in our lives, in our church and world, before
you. Response: Loving
God, hear our prayer.
Presider: For those who have been abused, we pray for
empowerment. R. Presider: For those who have
confronted their abusers, we pray for courage.
R. Presider: For those who have been sexually exploited,
we pray for healing. R.
Presider: For the men and
women who are working in the sex industry, we pray for their
well being. R. Presider: In your name we
pray that we can do all things by the power of your Spirit working in us. ALL:
Amen
 |
| Bob and Pat Ferkenhoff and Mary Al Gagnon brought up the gifts |
PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS
Presider: Blessed are you, O God, Creator of all. Through your divine providence we have this
bread to offer, it will become for us the Bread of Life. ALL:
Blessed be God forever.
Presider: Blessed are you, O God, Creator of all. Through your divine providence we have this
wine to offer, it will become our spiritual drink.
ALL: Blessed be God forever.
Presider: Nurturing
God, we are united in this sacrament by the love of Jesus Christ in communion
with all who work for liberating empowerment of the
exploited and abused in our world.. Like
the unnamed woman in the Gospel, may we celebrate
the passionate love of a God who forgives completely. We ask this through Wisdom Sophia, Jesus, our
brother, and the Holy Spirit. ALL:
Amen.
Presider: God dwells in you. ALL: And also works through you. Presider: Lift up your hearts and love
deeply ALL: We lift them up to God. Presider: Let us give thanks to
the Creator of all. ALL: It is our joy to
give God thanks and praise.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
Presider: Holy One, it is right that we give you thanks
and praise at this table of embracing love. Your empowering presence is
revealed in the friendship meals where Jesus dined with tax collectors, lepers,
sinners, and women. Here no distinctions
are made between the sinner and the righteous. All are accepted, loved and
forgiven.
Love
of the Ages, Jesus treated women and men as beloved and equal disciples. As we gather around this table, we once again
recall Jesus’ encounter with the woman of questionable character whose
passionate love reflected a God who forgives everything.
In
joyful thanksgiving for your extravagant affection to all of us, we join with
the angels and saints in an unending hymn of praise:
ALL: (sing) We are holy, holy, holy (Music by Karen Drucker)
Presider: Through sacred meals, Jesus taught his
disciples how to love and forgive, heal and empower. Jesus was deeply moved by
the ministry of a broken woman in Luke’s Gospel who washed his feet with her
tears and anointed them with oil. He
praised her great love and said that those who love much are forgiven much. At this friendship meal, Healing Spirit, we
come as we are with our failures, trusting that your love flows through us as
we give and receive forgiveness.
ALL: As we come together in
memory, Jesus we pray that Your Spirit will come upon these gifts of bread and
wine and upon us, that we may become the body and blood of Christ blessed,
broken and shared. (pause as
bread is lifted)
ALL: We remember how, on the
night before he died, Jesus was at table with those he loved. He took bread and blessed you, God of all
creation. He broke the bread shared it
with his friends and said, “Take this, all of you and eat it. This is my body
which will be given for you.” (pause as wine is lifted)
Presider: Then Jesus took the cup of blessing, spoke the
grace, and offered them the wine:
ALL: “Take and drink the covenant renewed in my blood,
for you and for everyone. When you do
this, you remember me.”
MEMORIAL
ACCLAMATION
ALL:
The Body of Christ is
blessed, broken and shared every time we forgive.
The Body of Christ is blessed, broken and shared every time we ask
for forgiveness.
The Body of Christ is blessed, broken and shared every time we
serve others.
Presider: Heart of Love, we celebrate this feast in
memory of Jesus, our brother. We cherish the memory of the loving
woman
who ministered to Jesus. She reminds us
that we too are the face of God, through whom the Spirit speaks
to end abuse and exploitation of victims in the sex industry.
Creator
of the Universe, your love flows through all beings to heal our earth. As we ask forgiveness of the Earth for
environmental destruction, your sacred energy transforms the cosmic Body of
Christ. (Pause now to pray for forgiveness aloud or in the silence of your
heart)
Presider: Energizing Spirit, one with the cloud of
witnesses who have gone before us, we labor for justice and equality. As your
hands and feet serving a suffering and violent world, we are instruments of
your peace and empowerment.
ALL: Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, All glory and honor is yours, loving God forever
and ever.
Great Amen.
We
pray with Jesus: Our Father and Mother….
Sign of
Peace
Let us offer one another a sign of peace
LITANY OF THE BREAKING OF BREAD
Presider: Loving God, we will give and receive
forgiveness, ALL: Namaste
Loving
God, we will be instruments of healing,
ALL: Namaste
Loving
God, we will be the face of God’s compassion,
ALL: Namaste
COMMUNION
There
is room at the table for everyone. Let
us share the Body of Christ with the Body of Christ.
Communion
Song
Blessing
Song
ALL: May the blessing of peace be upon you.
May peace be all you
know.
May the blessing of
peace be upon you.
May it follow wherever
you go.
Shalom, salaam,
shaanti, pacem May peace prevail on earth 2x
(continue with joy,
love, light) ©
Jan Phillips 2012
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Presider: Nourished at this open table where all are
welcome, may we share abundant love and forgiveness with everyone. Go, now and live the Gospel of Jesus!!
FINAL
BLESSING
We
love, forgive and bless one another in the name of God, our Creator, Jesus our
brother, and the Holy Spirit, our Wisdom.
___________
Bridget Mary
Meehan, www.arcwp.org
www.marymotherofjesus.org
After liturgy some members of MMOJ shared a meal together.
www.marymotherofjesus.org
After liturgy some members of MMOJ shared a meal together.
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