Magdala Catholic Community: Feast of the Ascension

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935930592?pwd=qZlKA506MIS9okXQQxBkaKsyhsZJDV.1

https://youtu.be/iRWndPtiQGc?si=Fw4kUb58Pi9LeKlN

Responses: Lucia

Nick: We begin in the name of our Creative God, our brother Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The God of new life is with each of you. R] And also with you

Kyrie

Gracious God, you bring pardon and peace to your people. God have mercy. R] God have mercy.

Brother Jesus, you send the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and hearts, Christ have mercy R] Christ, have mercy.

Gracious God, you call us by name and show us the way to you,

God have mercy R] God have mercy

Opening Prayer

Gracious God, make us worthy and effective witnesses of the Gospel you have entrusted to us. Illuminate our works of compassion and ministries of care with the light of Easter hope. May your grace enable us to trust in our own abilities to reveal your constant love in the midst of our families, neighborhoods and communities. We pray this in Jesus’ name. R] Amen

The beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (Judy)

In my earlier account, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught, from the beginning until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions to the ones he had chosen.

After the Passion, Jesus appeared alive to the disciples, confirmed through many convincing words, over the course of forty days, and spoke to them about the reign of God.

On one occasion, Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem, “Wait, rather, for what God has promised, of which you have heard me speak,” Jesus said. “John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” While meeting together they asked, “Has the time come, Rabbi? Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or dates that God has decided. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down upon you; then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and even to the ends of the Earth.

Having said this, Jesus was lifted up in a cloud before their eyes and taken from their sight. They were still gazing up into the heavens when two messengers dressed in white stood beside them. “You Galileans - why are you standing here looking up at the skies? Jesus, who has been taken from you will return, in the same way you watched him go into heaven.”

The Word of God. R] Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm

R] Our God ascends to the heavens with shouts of joy! Verses: Therese

1. All you people clap your hands, raise a shout to God. For the Most High is awe inspiring, glorious over the whole Earth. R]

2. God has ascended with a shout with trumpet peals. Sing praise to God, sing praise to God! R]

3. For God is Most High over all the Earth, sing praise to God, sing praise. God rules over the nations, God sits upon a holy throne. R]

I pray that the God of our Savior Jesus, the Christ, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, to bring you to a rich knowledge of the Creator.

A reading from the letter to the Ephesians (Kathy N)

I pray that God will enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see the hope this call holds for you - the promised glories that God’s holy people will inherit, and the infinitely great power that is exercised for us who believe. You can tell this from the strength of God’s power at work in Jesus, the power used to raise Christ from the dead and to set the Christ at God’s right hand, far above ever sovereignty, authority, power or dominion, and above any other name that can be named - not only in this age but also in the age to come.

God has put all things under Christ’s feet and made the Christ, as the ruler of everything, the head of the church, and the church is Christ’s body; it is the fullness of the One who fills all of creation.

The Word of God. R] Thanks be to God!

Alleluia https://youtu.be/gFKE1i0JRLE?si=A2DaCPBkV07bw9Ox

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke

In the Messiah's name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of all this.

"Take note: I am sending forth what Abba God has promised to you. Remain here in the city until you are clothed with the power from on high."

Then Jesus took them to the outskirts of Bethany, and with upraised hands blessed the disciples. While blessing them, the savior left them and was carried up to heaven. The disciples worshiped the risen Christ and returned to Jerusalem full of joy. 5 They were found in the Temple constantly, speaking the praises of God.

The Good News of Salvation! R] Glory and praise to our Lord, Jesus the Christ!

Juanita: Jesus the Christ, you said to your disciples, “My peace I leave you. My peace I give you.” We ask you to look on the faith of those gathered here. Give us your peace, and spread your peace throughout the world, always and forever.

May the peace of Christ be always with you. R] And also with you

Introduction to petitions

Jay Cee: With great faith in God’s great desire to work with us in the building of God’s reign on Earth we bring our prayers: For what or whom shall we pray?

Conclusion of petitions

Patti: Most loving God, please hear and answer the prayers we have brought before you, as well as those which remain in our hearts, unspoken. We also pray for those who have no one else to pray for them, and we do this in Jesus’ name. R] Amen

Offering of Gifts

Cathy P: Blessed are you, God of all creation! Through your goodness we have this bread to offer. Fruit of the Earth, work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.

R] Blessed be God forever

Cathy W: Blessed are you, God of all creation! Through your goodness we have this wine to offer. Fruit of the vine, work of human hands, it will become for us the cup of life.

R] Blessed be God forever

Linda: Pray sisters and brothers that our gifts please our loving God.

R] May God accept this offering from our hands for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our Good and the good of all God’s holy people.

Presider: Our God is with you! R] And also with you

Presider: Lift up your hearts! R] We lift them up to the Lord

Presider: Let us give thanks to our God R] It is right and just

Janet: Blessed are you, God of Resurrection. We have kept the holy days in oneness with you and one another. We now surround your table of Grace to be nourished by the holy and everlasting mystery of your sacred meal.

Galen: We praise you, God of fecundity. Your word imbues life and breath into the void, and into the entire cosmos. You call us to continue in this work of creation. The universe is filled with the splendor of the One who loves so freely and renews life again and again

Karla We praise you God of Life. We thank you for the perpetual ages of gathering stars and shifting earth, of life ever evolving, of the creatures with whom we share this world, and the richness they reveal. We meet these miracles with waking eyes of wonder.

Penny: So with everything that we see and sense around us, with visible and invisible energies that pulse with life, we join in the song that vibrates throughout the whole of creation:

Holy holy holy https://youtu.be/GWUnl3YT-ms?si=vYfRITl2qnHdqlHd

Janet: Blessed are you, Holy One, Source of all creation. through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We give thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.

Galen: We open our awareness to the goodness of all creation, and we remember our responsibility to serve. You invite us to build the Earth into a community of love rooted in justice. You place confidence in us, for You made us and know we are good.

Patti: We thank You for Jesus, simple servant, who lifted up the lowly, revealing You as God-With-Us, and revealing us as one with You and all creation. Jesus lived among us to show us who we are and challenged us to know you. He taught us the strength of compassionate love.

JayCee: Great Creating Spirit from whom all life comes forth here we gather again with bread and with wine seeking your presence, longing once more to be nourished, hungering for unity on Earth and peace among the nations.

Penny: We are grateful for your Spirit at our table and for this bread and wine which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world. Come Holy Spirit. Be intensified in these our gifts of bread and wine, so they may become for us and for the entire world the Body and Blood of Jesus the Christ.

Nick: On the night before he died, he sat at a table with friends and relived with them his work, his teaching and his wisdom of the universe. Then he went among them as servant, washing their feet, touching their hearts.

When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying: 

All: “Take this, all of you, and eat, for this is my body.

Nick: At the end of the meal, he lifted the cup, praised you for your goodness, and shared the cup with these words:

All: “Take this, all of you, and drink: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. Do this in memory of me.”

Marita: We praise you, God of Miracles. Raised to new life, Jesus appears to the women who held vigil at the tomb. In the days that follow, he appears to his friends along the road, and at the lakeside. In the breaking of the bread, he reveals himself among us. In each new day, in our comings and our goings, he is with us. When we lie down and when we rise at dawn, he calls us to take up his work and walk in truth and compassion with him.

Gerry: We praise you, God of New Life. May we ever rejoice in the grace of your resurrection that binds all races, all religions, all cultures as one. We pray that our eyes may be opened to the wondrous beauty of our world. May we do our part that the promise of our spiritual transformation, echoing from the dawn of all time, be completed in us.

Judy: We praise you, God of New Life. May we ever rejoice in the grace of your resurrection that binds all races, all religions, all cultures as one. We pray that our eyes may be opened to the wondrous beauty of our world. May we do our part that the promise of our spiritual transformation, echoing from the dawn of all time, be completed in us.

All: Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, O God, forever and ever AMEN.

Rita: Our Beloved who is everywhere, be Holy your name. Let your sovereign counsel be known. Let your will be done on Earth as it is throughout the universe. And forgive us our offenses even as we have forgiven our offenders. Do not let us enter temptation but deliver us from the evil one.

Linda: From you is born all ruling will, the power and the life to serve fully and faithfully, the song that beautifies all. From age to age it renews. R] Amen

Nick: Behold, this is the Lamb of God who invites us to this table to provide food for our journey, to enable us to speak with authority, and to carry the good news wherever we go!

R] Jesus, you make us worthy to receive you, blessed are we who are called to the table of our God!

Communion song: Anthem Tom Conery

https://youtu.be/HP2gwC5TGFs?si=VO5j50ww2He8cqAT

Closing prayer

May we always realize your presence in our midst, O Risen God, as we struggle to go forth and do the work you have entrusted to us: to teach others your Gospel of justice and forgiveness by the example of our lives. May we reveal to the world your compassion in our midst, to be architects of your peace, bringing all nations and peoples under your commandment of love. R] Amen

Nick: Final Blessing: R] Amen

Dismissal:

Karla: R] Thanks be to God, alleluia!

Send down the fire