Dear Friends,

As we build the Beloved Community, we pray for you every day that you might continue to bring it about in your little corner of the world.

Today's Meditation is a prayer poem by Jan Richardson: "Table Blessing."

As we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in the church, in healthcare, in the workplace--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 it is 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 find peace, healing, hope and the infusion of joy in your life!

With our love and care,
Jean and Ron

MEDITATION: Table Blessing Jan Richardson

To your table
you bid us come.
You have set the places,
you have poured the wine,
and there is always room,
you say,
for one more.

And so we come.
From the streets
and from the alleys
we come.

From the deserts
and from the hills
we come.

From the ravages of poverty
and from the palaces of privilege
we come.

Running,
limping,
carried,
we come.

We are bloodied with our wars,
we are wearied with our wounds,
we carry our dead within us,
and we reckon with their ghosts.

We hold the seeds of healing,
we dream of a new creation,
we know the things
that make for peace,
and we struggle to give them wings.

And yet, to your table
we come.
Hungering for your bread,
we come;
thirsting for your wine,
we come;
singing your song
in every language,
speaking your name
in every tongue,
in conflict and in communion,
in discord and in desire,
we come,
O God of Wisdom,
we come
Prayer © Jan L. Richardson from In Wisdom’s Path: Discovering the Sacred in Every Season.

ORDER OF SERVICE
20th Sunday in Ordinary time
August18, 2024

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

GATHERING SONG: Wisdom Wisdom
Wisdom, Wisdom be attentive Wisdom, Wisdom be attentive Wisdom Wisdom Open our Hearts Wisdom Wisdom Open our Hearts
1 In our conflicts and chaos Open our Hearts
In our struggles and strong will Open our Hearts
In our pride and our passion Open our Hearts
Oh, Wisdom, Wisdom Open our Hearts

2 In all our doubting Open our Hearts
In all our choosing Open our Hearts
In all our searching Open our hearts Oh, Wisdom, Wisdom Open our Hearts
3 When we're tired and closed minded Open our Heart
When we think we're the wiser Open our Hearts
When we can't hear you calling Open our Hearts
Oh, Wisdom, Wisdom Open our Hearts
Wisdom, Wisdom be attentive Wisdom, Wisdom be attentive
Wisdom Wisdom Open our Hearts Wisdom Wisdom Open our Hearts

OPENING PRAYER: Table Blessing Jan Richardson
To your table
you bid us come.
You have set the places,
you have poured the wine,
and there is always room,
you say,
for one more.
And so we come.
From the streets
and from the alleys
we come.
From the deserts
and from the hills
we come.
From the ravages of poverty
and from the palaces of privilege
we come.
Running,
limping,
carried,
we come.
We are bloodied with our wars,
we are wearied with our wounds,
we carry our dead within us,
and we reckon with their ghosts.
We hold the seeds of healing,
we dream of a new creation,
we know the things
that make for peace,
and we struggle to give them wings.
And yet, to your table
we come.
Hungering for your bread,
we come;
thirsting for your wine,
we come;
singing your song
in every language,
speaking your name
in every tongue,
in conflict and in communion,
in discord and in desire,
we come,
O God of Wisdom,
we come
Prayer © Jan L. Richardson from In Wisdom’s Path: Discovering the Sacred in Every Season.
FIRST READING: Wisdom of Proverbs 9: 1-6

RESPONSORIAL SONG Taste and See
Refrain:
Taste and see, taste and see
the goodness of our God. Oh, taste and see, taste and see
the goodness of our God, of our God

Glorify our God with me.
Together let us all praise God's name.
I called our God, who answered me;
from all my troubles I was set free. Refrain

Worship our God, all you people.
You’ll want for nothing if you ask.
Taste and see that our God is good;
in God we need put all our trust. Refrain


SECOND READING: Book of Revelation: 10: 5-11

ALLELUIA


GOSPEL: John 6:

RECORDING BEGINS

HOMILY: followed by Sharing
\
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

OFFERING OF BREAD AND WINE

PREFACE TO THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
Side 1: We praise and thank you Gracious God for your faithfulness to us. You are the music of our souls, You are the poetry of our hearts. You come to us and give us peace.
Side 2: We praise you for things, trees and mountains, plants and animals, oceans and stars. We praise you for people who come into our lives and challenge us to grow and to become more fully human.
Side 1: We praise you for our imaginations, for the ability to dream and to conceive a world where all people live in harmony and the courage to work to bring it about.
Side 2: So, most holy and living God, God ever-near, we look to you with hope. We hear you sending us to spread your peace to all people and to our earth. And so, with all creation, we say:
ALL: Holy, holy, holy, God, Spirit of love and of peace Heaven and earth are full of your glory Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of our God. Hosanna in the highest!



EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
PRESIDER: The table we share is adorned with the gifts of creation, bread and wine, gifts given for all to share in equality and justice, a table where all are welcome.
As a Christian People, we celebrate the open table proclaimed by Jesus our friend, a table of abundant life and inclusive love.

We thank you for Your Spirit of Life and Love among us. We are grateful that Your Spirit sets us free to discover your presence within us and in our world. therefore, we ask that You send Your Holy Spirit afresh upon us and upon our gifts, that they may become for us, and we, for all the world + the Body and Blood of Jesus the Christ.

ALL: On the night before he died, while at supper with his friends, Jesus took the bread & blessed it and praising You, our God, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying: "Take this all of you and eat it. This is my body which is given for you"

ALL: When supper was ended, he took the cup, again he gave you thanks and praise, gave it to his disciples, saying:
"Take this all of you & drink; This is the cup of my Blood, the Blood of the new & everlasting covenant .
It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me."

Mystery of Faith:
ALL: When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death and Resurrection, O Christ, until you come again.

PRESIDER: O God through Jesus, You entrusted this pledge of love to us. We celebrate the memory of his life, his teaching, his spirit and bring You the gift you have given us, the possibility of reconciliation, justice, and peace. Take away all that divides us and enable us to be accepting of all. Keep us in communion with one another and with all people throughout the world. Let Your Spirit make us ambassadors of unity, models of equity and instruments of your peace.

Then in Your presence, we shall give You Glory with all creation and with Jesus through whom Your goodness flows.
ALL: Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, may all glory and honor be Yours, all-loving God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER OF JESUS
Presider: Together we pray: Aramaic Prayer that Jesus Prayed
ALL: O Birthing Father- Mother of the Cosmos
Focus your light within us - make it useful.
Create your reign of unity now
through our fiery hearts and willing hands
Help us love beyond our ideals
and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures.
Animate the earth within us: we then
feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all.
Untangle the knots within
so that we can mend our hearts' simple ties to each other.
Don't let surface things delude us,
But free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.
Out of you, the astonishing fire,
Returning light and sound to the cosmos.
May it be so!

SIGN OF PEACE

BREAKING OF THE BREAD:
Jesus left us in this sacrament his body and blood. Now we are called to become the body of Christ and through his mercy, we are what we receive. Just as we see that the bread is one loaf, so may we be one body by loving one another, by having one faith, one hope, and undivided charity. Thus, too, the wine existed in many clusters of grapes, and now it is one. It is one in this cup after the crushing of the grapes in the wine press. And now, we in the name of Christ, have come to drink of the cup of Jesus. There we are on the table, and there we are in the cup, for we are one with Jesus. We receive together, and we drink together because we live together. Adapted from a prayer of St. Augustine in Bread Blessed and Broken, by John Mossi


PRESIDER: This is the Bread of our lives, the Lamb of God who takes away the brokenness of the world. How blessed are we who are called to this table.
ALL: Jesus, You make me worthy to receive You, and by Your Word, I am healed.

COMMUNION SONG: Bread for the World

Refrain: Bread for the world A world of hunger
Wine for all peoples People who thirst
May we who eat Be bread for others
May we who drink Pour out our love

Lord Jesus Christ You are the bread of life
Broken to reach and heal the wounds
Of human pain
Where we divide your people
You are waiting there On bended knee
To wash our feet with endless care Refrain
Lord Jesus Christ You are the wine of peace
Poured into hearts once broken
And where dryness sleeps
Where we are tired and weary You are waiting there
To be the way which beckons us beyond despair Refrain
.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
“The Heart of Eternal Love” (adapted from Out of the Ordinary, Joyce Rupp)
Heart of Love,
Source of all kindness,
Teacher of the ways of goodness,
you are hidden in the pockets of daily life,
waiting to be discovered.

Heart of Compassion,
the Healing One weeping
for a world burdened and bent,
you are the heart we bring
to the wounded, worn and weary.

Heart of Comfort,
Sheltering Wings of love,
Refuge for sad and lonely ones,
you embrace all who bear loss,
gathering their tears with care..

Heart of Deepest Peace,
Center of tranquility,
Resting Place at the core of our being,
you are waiting always for our return
to this sacred home.
CLOSING BLESSING:
We are the Body of Christ, hands to heal, hearts to love, feet to meet people where they are, arms to gather the lost, tongue to proclaim the truth—God’s ministry on earth.

SENDING FORTH SONG: I Got Hope Stan Doherty
Refrain: I got love, I got life, in a world redeemed by Christ.
I want to live my life each day in a simple Gospel For I got hope.

1. Hope is a gift from God to those who believe.
Hope gives us quiet strength to do the will of God. Refrain

2. Hope walks beside us when we march for what is right.
Hope lights a pathway in the cold dark night. Refrain

3. Hope brings us water when we travel foreign sands.
Hope brings us manna when we travel barren lands. Refrain

4. Hope is the anchor that holds us through the storm.
Through wind, wave, and current, we old safe with God. Refrain

All music used with permission. One License #A716013