Dear Friends,

 We pray you are safe and well.

Today's Meditation is The Rite of Communal Reconciliation that we used with our Spirit of Life Community yesterday. The community asked that we design such a rite once during Advent and once during Lent. We wanted to share it with you. Blessings on your reflection as you meditate with it.

 We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in healthcare, in the workplace, in the Church--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.

In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that in God’s economy of abundance, when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.

We hope and pray that you and your loved ones experience genuine peace of mind and heart, and remain in good health during this challenging time.

In this time of Lenten Pilgrimage may you find peace, healing, hope, and the infusion of joy in your life!

With our love and care,

Ron & Jean

MEDITATION 304: RITE OF COMMUNAL RECONCILIATION

Presider: In today’s First Reading we hear the words: “God is rich in mercy and loves us so much…We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do the good things that God created us to do from the beginning.” As we celebrate this rite of communal reconciliation, we remember that reconciliation is about mending the bonds we break and the disruption we cause when we refuse to allow the Spirit of Graciousness and Generosity to be expressed in what we think, do and say.

Side One: We acknowledge here in prayer our constant connectedness with God, with all human beings and with all that exists. We acknowledge the pain and hurt that come when we act as if we were disconnected.

Side Two: We acknowledge our responsibility for this disconnectedness and profess our readiness to heal, to mend and to work for reconciliation.

Side One: God, creatively active for billions of years in this emerging universe, comes to expression in us.

Side Two: In us, God can be generous, loving, creative, happy, delighted, sad and disappointed as nowhere else.

ALL: God loves in us; God cares through us; God laughs in us; God cries in us as nowhere else. We are privileged to know this connectedness with God. We are privileged to give God human expression.

QUIET REFLECTION:

Am I growing in seeing how my white privilege affects others?

How do my prejudgments influence how I treat others?

Is there anyone whom I find it difficult to listen to? How could I listen better?

Are there any ways I could relate better to those who are different from me?

Is there anyone who is hungry for food or compassion that I could minister to?

Is there any way that I could take better care of the earth?

Are there any situations in which I am violent in my thoughts, words or actions?

Is there any way I could work more to change structures or systems that oppress the poor or deny access to immigrants?

Is there anyone from whom or to whom I need to seek/offer forgiveness?

Communal Confession:

(All) Gracious God, we come to you aware of ways in which we have heard and responded to your call in our lives and aware of ways in which we have not listened well to what you ask of us. In our humanness, we sometimes fall short or turn away from your grace. We ask your forgiveness for what we have done wrongfully or left undone and we ask your help in doing better. Keep us mindful of seeing ourselves and others with your loving gaze and open our hearts to more fully embrace your loving mercy. We make our prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen

Words of Absolution:

(Presiders) Loving and merciful God, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we have been shown how to live with integrity and with a thirst for justice. Through your Holy Spirit we have a deepening awareness of our connection to you and to one another. May our awareness lead us to choose wisely in all our interactions and relationships, making God evident to our world. Through the ministry of the Church, may we be freed from any brokenness that limits our capacity to act with love; and may we experience God’s healing pardon and peace.

ALL: We open our minds and hearts to the presence of God in us. May God-in-us find generous and courageous expression in our words and actions as we undertake to make the reign of God evident in our world.