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Saturday, September 16, 2017

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Giving Thanks and Praise to our God on the 24th Week of Ordinary Time Co-Presiders: Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP and Sally Brochu, ARCWP Music Ministers: Mindy Lou Simmons and Russ Banner Lectors: Cheryl Brandi and Mary Al Gagnon

Members of Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community celebrate the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick at Liturgy. Janet Blakeley ARCWP will have surgery on Tuesday
Sally Brochu ARCWP and Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP co-presided at liturgy
 Theme:  Thanks and Praise to our God

Welcome
Moment of Silence

GATHERING SONG :  #638  Morning Has Broken“ - verses 1-3
Presider:  In the name of God, our Creator, of Christ, our Liberator, and of the Holy Spirit, our Wisdom. 
ALL:  Amen.
Presider:  My sisters and brothers, God is with you! 
ALL:  And also with you.
Presider:  Let us pray.  Loving Creator God, you who birthed the cosmos, every living thing and each and every one of us, help us to notice your presence. Transform and change our hearts and help us love as you love. It is in loving as you love, that we can affect change on our society and our world.  Amen.

PENITENTIAL RITE

Presider:  Creator God, to whom all hearts are open, no desires unknown, and from whom no secrets can be hidden, cleanse our hearts by the inspiration of Holy Wisdom. 
ALL:  We take your Word into our minds and hearts. Open them to new understanding.
Presider:  We ask for the grace to continually acknowledge our need to grow in goodness and caring for ourselves, for others and for our earth, and all the while to be Jesus for others, and to meet Jesus in others.
 ALL:  We accept your love and understanding of the frailty of our human nature.  
Presider:  We join with you, Jesus the Christ, believing that the strength and insight of the Holy Spirit will lead us to a deeper dedication to justice, equality and peace in our world.
ALL:   Amen

 (All raise hands extended in prayer)
Presider: Let us pray to the God of unchanging love.
ALL:  Oh God, make us quick to see where and when we block your loving Spirit and thereby slow  down the progress of creation to its completion in you. And when we find it hard to forgive, help our egos to step aside and allow your Spirit to flow and bring about a change of heart.  Amen.

Glory to God
Presider: Let us give Glory to our Loving God, in song.
All: Glory to God, glory, O praise God, alleluia, glory to God, glory, O praise the name of our God. x3
Mary Al Gagnon proclaims the Reading

LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading:   Hebrew 12; 26-28 Response: Thanks be to God.
Responsorial  Psalm 103:
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 9: 11-12   Response: Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation - ALLELUIA
Gospel: John 14:10   Response: Glory and praise to Jesus, the Christ.
ALLELUIA (sung)

SHARED HOMILY:  Let us begin with our Prayers of Gratitude

PROFESSION OF FAITH
 ALL: We believe in God, the Creator of the Universe, the fountain of life, flowing through every being. We believe in Jesus, the Christ, who reflects the face of God and the fullness of humanity. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God in the cosmos, who calls us to love and serve without counting the cost. We believe in our global communion with all circles of life. Amen to loving actions on behalf of justice, healing, compassion and equality for all in our world. Amen

GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
Presider:  We are people of faith.  We believe in the power of prayer. Some of us struggle to understand why there is so much suffering in our world, often caused by one person's inhumanity to another and by acts of nature. Yet, we believe that we send blessings to those who are struggling and who need to experience hope, to those who are grieving and need to be comforted in their loss, to those who are facing medical challenges that they be granted hope and healing. We bring the needs of people throughout our world to our gracious God.
After each intercession, the response is:  Loving God, hear our prayer.
For what else shall we pray?

Presider: Healing God, you faithfully listen to our prayers. Strengthen us as we strive to respond to the needs of your people and work for justice and positive change in our world. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, the Christ, Amen.

OFFERTORY
Song: #633  “Stand By Me”  -  both verses














                                                           
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS
Presider:  Blessed are you, gracious God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made.  It will become for us the bread of life. 
ALL:  Blessed be God forever. 

Presider: Blessed are you, gracious God of all creation, through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.  It will become our spiritual drink. 
ALL:  Blessed be God forever. 

Presider:  Pray my friends that as we celebrate this breaking of bread and blessing of wine we accept more fully the mission of our Church by actively living our response to God’s call. 
ALL:  May our gracious God accept these gifts for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our good, and for the good of all our Church. 

Presider:  God is always with you.  ALL:  And also with you. 
Presider:  Together, we lift up our hearts.  ALL:  Together, we lift them up to God. 
Presider:  Together, we give thanks to our gracious God.  ALL:  Indeed it is right to constantly give thanks and praise. 

                                                            EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
(Please join us around our inclusive table of love and nourishment, where all are welcome)
Presider: Creator God, we praise you who created this expansive and magnificent universe and all that exists and lives within it. Help us become more deeply aware that you created us, too, all of us, with no exceptions with something of your own life within us.   We are prone to not notice your presence, and sometimes not notice your presence in others, but your great love reassures us that we are worthy and lovable in your eyes.   Come now into our hearts and into this circle as we prepare this table, your table, which feeds us for this journey of life and sustains us each day.   Let us become what we eat.
ALL: “We are holy, holy, holy, we are whole.  You re holy.....I am holy.... We are holy.....

Voice 1:  Gracious God, source and sustenance of life, redeeming presence to the pain and brokenness of our world, Holy Spirit who enlivens all that exists, we beseech your healing power to come upon us and all for whom we pray today.  We join together with our community, with all creation everywhere, with all those living or dead who have touched our hearts and made us better people. (Names of our loved ones…………)

Voice 2:  We ask you to enliven anew in our hearts the empowering grace of your abundant Spirit, who infuses for us these gifts of bread and wine with the transforming energy of life, to nourish and sustain us in all times and especially in times of need.
 
(Please extend hands as we recite the consecration together.)
ALL:  Before he was given up to death, a death he freely accepted, Jesus took bread and gave you thanks.  He broke the bread and gave it to his disciples and said:  Take this, all of you, and eat it; this is my body which will be given up for you.

ALL:  When supper was ended, Jesus took the cup.  Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said; Take this all of you, and drink it;  this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.  It will be shed for you and for all.  Do this in memory of me.

Presider:  Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
ALL:  Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

Voice 3:  As we gather around this Eucharistic table, we recall God’s blessing and love from ages past, and we celebrate anew the gift we share among us at this Eucharistic feast. May the Spirit of life and wholeness, who transforms the gifts we present, transform us too, that we may be refreshed in our inner being and be empowered to bring mercy, love and healing to those whose lives we touch and who are Jesus to us.

Voice 4:  Remember gracious God, your Church throughout the world.   We pray with Bridget Mary, our Bishop, and Francis, our Pope, that we may be readied to love all those you love, and welcome them into our midst.  

Voice 5: Grant that, in union with all peoples living and dead, we may strive to create a world where suffering and pain are diminished, where hatred and violence are erased, where justice and peace are restored, and where all people can live without fear, in health and wholeness. May we all be united in acclaiming the God of Life, whose abundance is offered to each and to all, ‘til the Kin-dom arrives in the fullness of time. 

ALL:  Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is Yours, gracious God, forever and ever.     Amen (sung). 

THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Presider:  Let us join hands and raise our voices as we sing the Prayer that Jesus taught us:
ALL:  Our Father and Mother…….
Presider:  Deliver us, God, from every evil and grant us peace in our day.  In your mercy keep us holy in your sight and protect us from all anxiety and fear.  We watch and wait, discerning signs that you are always with us.
ALL:    Amen.

THE SIGN OF PEACE
ALL: “Peace” (sing response  #528): X2
“Peace I leave you, my friends, peace the world cannot give.
Peace I leave you, my friends, so that your joy be ever full.” 

Presider: Let us offer each other a sign of peace.

LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD
Presider: Loving God,
ALL:  You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.
Presider: Loving God,
ALL:  You call us to be the presence of Jesus in the world. We will love tenderly.
Presider:  Loving God,
ALL:  You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your presence.
Presiders:  This is Jesus, who through the power of the Spirit, liberates, heals and transforms our world.  All are invited to partake of this sacred banquet of love.   ALL:  We are the Body of Christ. 


COMMUNION
Communion: Instrumental by Mindy
After Communion:  “God Is” by Mindy Simmons
              
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Presider:  May wonder, gratitude and thanksgiving fill us, and may compassion replace the numbness we experience in our hearts from having seen too much hatred and injustice. Lift the veils from our faces so that your wonderful beauty may be allowed to shine out from us.

             Introductions - Announcements
CONCLUDING RITE
Presider:  May God be with you.  ALL:  And also with you. 
Presider:  Let us call upon our gracious God as we share blessings with each other.  We bless one another and pledge to live the Gospel of Christ.  ALL:  Amen.

BLESSING
( Please extend hands in mutual blessing)
ALL:  May our gracious God, bless us all gathered here, in the name of God our Creator, in the name of Jesus our strength, in the name of the Holy Spirit our Wisdom, as we minister to one another in love, for we are the Body of Christ and the face of God to the world.   Amen.  

CLOSING HYMN: #628  “We Are Called” - all verses
DISMISSAL
Presider:  Go in the peace of Christ.  Let our Spirit-filled service continue! 

ALL:  Thanks be to God.



MMOJ Community enjoyed a meal together after the liturgy

St. Andrew UCC sustained minor damage from storm. Power is still not fully restored.

"The Future of the Catholic Church Depends on Strong Women" by Kimberly K. Seidel , Resistance and Persistence are the story of my life as a woman priest!

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/kim-seidel-future-of-catholic-church-depends-on-strong-women/article_5ad8d138-1e46-5c14-8e7f-5c223aee2910.html

My comment: Resistance and persistence are the story of my life, especially as a woman priest with the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests in the struggle for equality for women in our church. www.arcwp.org We are creating the church of the future now in grassroots, inclusive communities  where all are welcome and where women are equals as we celebrate liturgies and work to transform our beloved church into a more loving and just community. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org



"Catholicism has a feminist potential, and we need strong women to stay to make this possible for our daughters and future generations. Pope Francis has opened the door to discussions of women deacons, which may hopefully open the door further to women priests.
Let’s keep these possibilities alive and look beyond the Church’s patriarchal man-made teachings. It’s there we’ll find a tradition of love, inclusion, liberation and social justice. It’s one that welcomes everyone to the table. This is the tradition that Gina and so many others, including me, continue to practice. Feminist resistance and persistence are urgently needed to carry the Church into the future. "

COLOMBIA. MEDELLIN. TRIBUTE TO MONSEÑOR GERARDO VALENCIA CANO, IN HIS CENTENARY CHRISTMAS. Olga Lucia Álvarez Benjumea ARCWP *

https://evangelizadorasdelosapostoles.wordpress.com/2017/09/15/colombia-medellin-homenaje-a-monsenor-gerardo-valencia-cano-en-su-centenario-natalicio-olga-lucia-alvarez-benjumea-arcwp/

We have met (September 15/17) to celebrate the memory of our Brother, Gerardo Valencia Cano, with his daughters, in the House USEMI, some of his brother priests, seminarians of his Congregation Xaverian Missionaries, family members and friends.
We greet each other with the friends of yesteryear, we introduce ourselves and we begin to share beautiful memories lived, next to who was our friend and trainer.
She accompanied us, Sofia Toro, who delighted us by reminding us of the beginnings of UFEMI-USEMI, as a founding lay missionary, with Maria Eugenia Posada, Liliam Yepes, Astrid Yarce. We remember Teresa Guevara, Maria Loaiza and Margarita Franco, initiators of the project in the Vaupés, with Monsignor. An event worthy of remembrance, since it begins with what would be the future of the laity within the Church, 15 years before, of the Second Vatican Council.
With his prophetic vision, he encouraged the laity to come from the Church, living their Baptism in fullness.
What was his pedagogy? His spirituality, his testimony, his approach to the people, his life delivered to the service of anyone who needed it.
GRAPHIC REPORT ON THE MEETING AND EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION.  
Sofia Toro, begins the meeting with his presentation and shares his experience with our founder and trainer as lay missionaries in the service of the Church.
Ferdinand Peña, shares his experience as a layman, formed by Monsignor in Buenaventura.La attention of the present is captivated by rich and spontaneous narrative.
Jenny Valencia, Monsignor's niece, gives us her presentation and shares some of her uncle's letters, which reflect her commitment and unreserved commitment to the marginalized and impoverished.
Father Isaías, companion and friend of Monsignor, as a driver defying the waves of the Pacific and the mangroves and rivers, delights us with travel and anecdotes full of pedagogy and missionary pastoral in the spirit of Gerardo.
After the meeting, we began to share the Eucharist.
Astrid Yarce, missionary USEMI, is about to receive the Eucharist.
With Fr. Hernando Pinilla, sharing the Eucharist.

Photographs: Jenny Valencia and Olga Lucia Alvarez

* Roman Catholic presbyter.