Fifth Sunday After Easter
Month of Mary
May 17, 2025
Presider: Nick
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935930592?pwd=qZlKA506MIS9okXQQxBkaKsyhsZJDV.1
Responder: Lucia
Greeting:Lucia
Our first reading recounts Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey. In Revelation, John hears God proclaim a message of comfort, especially for those who mourn. Today’s gospel reflects on the disciples turning their attention toward loving one another.
Nick: The readings today fill us with hope and love. Let’s invoke our Creator God who brings compassion, mercy, and peace into our hearts and spirits.
Holy One, in a world divided, we ask for strength as we commit to unity, for we are your people the world over. We live, grow, and have our very being in you alone. We long to break down the barriers of division among us. Amen.
Gather Your People: Bob Hurd
https://youtu.be/ff3ojS-sYD0?si=GSSMphlLXJhhulMs
In the name of God our Creator, source of all being, our brother Jesus, and Wisdom Sophia.
R: Amen.
May the presence of our Brother Jesus, the love of God, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit be with you.
R: And also, with you.
Forgiveness Rite:
Nick: We ask for the grace to continually acknowledge our need to grow in goodness, peace, and caring for ourselves and others.
R: We accept God’s love and forgiveness for the fragility of our human nature.
Karla: We confess to Almighty God and to each other that we love God. Mixed into every thought and word, in every action and inaction, is a belief that God is there, loving us through our faults, through our successes, and through our stillness. Therefore, I ask Blessed Mary, all the Angels and Saints, and each other to pray that none of us ever forgets the love of our gracious God. (adapted by Therese Fisher)
Nick: Opening Prayer:
Let Us Pray:
Make us the vision of your love, O God, for our own time and place; May compassion be the light by which we walk; may the reconciliation be the road we journey; may humility and selflessness be our guides. In our own humble efforts to follow your commandment of love, may others realize your love for them. In our struggles to live your gospel, may the world recognize your presence in their midst.
Relighting the Easter Candle (Juanita lights the Easter Candle.)
Penny: Holy One,
You are the unfaltering
Creator of every light.
We bless this fire in your name,
For you are the light that never fails.
Amen.
I now invite you to light your Easter candle
Penny: As we prepare to celebrate this glorious Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, we open our minds and hearts to hear the Word of God.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 14: 21-27 Kathy N
After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the Good News in the town of Derbe and made numerous disciples, they retraced their steps to Lystra and Iconium first, then to Antioch. They gave their disciples reassurances, and encouraged them to persevere in the faith with this instruction: “We must undergo many trials if we are to enter into the reign of God.” In each church they installed elders and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to Christ in whom they had put their faith.
Then they passed through Pisdia and came to Pamphylia. After preaching the message in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commended to the favor of God for the task they now completed. On their arrival, they called the congregation together and related all that God had helped them accomplish, and how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
The Word of God R: Thanks be to God
Psalm 145: R: I will praise your name forever, my Beloved God. verses:
Adonai, You are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. Adonai, You are good to all and compassionate towards all your works. R:
Let all your works give your thanks, O God and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of Your reign and speak of Your might. R:
A reading from the book of Revelation 21: 1-5 Barbara
I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the earth had disappeared, and there was no longer any sea. And I saw a new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride on their wedding day. I heard a loud voice from the throne cry out: “Now the dwelling of God is among the people; the Almighty will live with them and always be their God. God will wipe away every last tear from their eyes, and death and mourning, crying and pain, will be no more, for the former world has passed away.
'Alleluia!' An Easter praise song
Nick: God is with you.
R: And also, with you.
Nick: A reading from the Gospel according to John 13: 31-33, 34-35
R: Glory to you, O God.
Once Judas had left, Jesus said:” Now has the One to come been glorified, and in this, God has been glorified. If God has been glorified in this One, God will, in turn glorify this One in God’s own glory, and will accomplish it very soon. My children, I will not be with you much longer. I give you a new commandment: Love one another. And you are to love each other the same way I love you. This is how all will know that you are my disciples: that you truly love one another.
The Good News of Salvation! R: Glory and praise to our Savior Jesus Christ!
Homily: Nick
Statement of Faith: Janet and Galen alternate
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery beyond all definition and rational understanding, the heart of all that has ever existed, that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus as a vehicle of divine love, a source of wisdom and truth, and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now, stretched out all around us for those with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it, and hands to make it happen.
SIGN OF PEACE: Cathy W.
Christ Jesus, you said to your friends: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Look not on our failings, but on the faith of your Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kin-dom where you live for ever and ever. Amen.
The peace of Christ be always with you.
R: And also with you.
Let us offer each other a sign of Christ’s peace.
Prayer Intentions: Cathy P.
As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our prayers for the community. Please share your blessings, cares, and concerns starting with the words, “I bring to the table…”
We pray for these and all the unspoken intentions held in the silence of our hearts. Amen.
Rita: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness
We have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands,
It will become for us the bread of life and our Eucharist today
R: Blessed be God forever.
Nick: (While pouring water into wine) By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who himself shares in our humanity.
Pat: Blessed are you God of all creation, through your goodness we have received this wine we offer you: fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink.
R: Blessed be God forever.
Penny: With humble spirits, and loving hearts we ask you, O God, to accept us. May the offerings that we bring to this altar be pleasing to you.
Nick: Pray, brothers and sisters, that this offering of bread and wine be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.
R: May the Lord accept this offering at your hands,
For the praise and glory of God’s name,
For our good, and the good of all God’s holy Church.
Prayer over the gifts: (Extend your hands over the bread and wine.)
Linda: Loving God through faith and baptism we have become a new creation. Accept our offerings of bread and wine gifts from your people especially all those who are suffering.
Preface
Nick: May the Risen Christ be with you! R: And also, with you
Nick: Lift up your hearts and rejoice! R: We lift them up to our God
Nick: Let us give thanks to our God! R: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Rita: Blessed are you, God of Resurrection. We have kept the holy days in oneness with you and one another. We now sit at your table of Grace to be nourished by the holy and everlasting mystery of your sacred meal.
Cathy P: We praise you, God of Mystery. Your word imbues life and breath into the void, and into the entire cosmos. You call us to continue this work of creation. The universe is filled with the splendor of the One who loves so freely, and renews life again and again.
Janet: 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.
Galen: We praise you God of Mercy. In Jesus, we learned that dying to self in Christ, is living in truth with Christ. On the cross Jesus joins the labor of all creation’s yearnings. Yet, death could not confine him. His acceptance of death broke death’s fearful hold.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST:
While muted, please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer:
Judy: God of surprising grace and ever-expanding love, we gather as your Easter people—startled again by the mystery of resurrection, drawn not by certainty, but by the hope that the story is not over. Like those who walked the road to Emmaus, we come burdened, questioning, our hearts aching with the weight of the world.
But you meet us on the way—
in bread broken, in stories retold,
in strangers who become companions.
And so, with all who dare to believe
that death is not the final word—
with those who doubt and those who dance, with saints, seekers, prophets, and poets we sing the song of liberation:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here In this Place
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk
Karla: Eucharistic prayer
Creator God, we see around us the work of your hands, the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power. Sending among us Jesus, your Son, you birth afresh in our world the power of your Holy Spirit, and in the gift of the Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew, amid the variety and wonder of life.
Nick: Epiclesis
We open ourselves to your Spirit present in every moment, who transforms this bread and cup and all of us gathered here. May they become for us the + Body and Blood of Christ, May we become the Body of Christ as we fulfil your command of love.
We remember the night before Jesus died, when he took bread … (everyone hold up your bread)
Gave you thanks for everything he had, gave it to his friends and said:
All: Take this all of you and eat.
This is my body which is given up for you.
When you break bread together, remember me. [PAUSE/BOW]
When supper was ended, he took the cup… (holding up the cup)
Again, he gave you thanks and handing the cup to his friends said:
All: Take this all of you and drink.
This is my blood, the new covenant of God-with-you.
When you drink from this cup, remember me.
Juanita: Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Barbara: As we celebrate this sacred meal, we recall those who have gone before us, and their gifts passed down to us through the ages; and we look forward in hope, knowing that you, our wise and faithful God, will continue to shower us with abundant blessings.
Pat: In the power of this Eucharistic meal, bless us afresh with the gift of the Spirit, that our hearts may be open and receptive as you invite us into the fullness of life. In union with all people living and dead, we unite our thoughts and prayers, asking wisdom and courage; to discern more wisely your call to us in the circumstances of our daily lives;
Lucia: to act more justly and creatively in confronting the pain and suffering of the Earth and its
peoples;
Judy: to risk more courageously, in speaking and living your truth, and allowing your Spirit to
move freely in our lives.
Linda: May we ever be aware and alert to the new things
The Spirit makes possible, as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty, into the fullness of life to which all are called,
participating in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation.
Marita: Embrace us, O Spirit of Christ
with your life-giving power,
that as bread and wine are made one with us,
we may become one with you.
Karla: We thank you that we have gathered here as the Body of Christ;
May we be truly Eucharistic to one another.
Together we pray (lifting cup and plate):
Penny: Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours,
Almighty God, forever and ever.
Invitation to Communion:
Penny: This is Jesus, who loves us as we are. Happy are we who share in this table of love.
Jesus, you make us worthy to receive you, and by your word we are healed.
Communion Song: We Are The Body of Christ
https://youtu.be/6bkWSFuF2Xg?si=eAB3w0cueCru8twN
Prayer after Communion:
Cathy P: Divine Spirit, may we ever be aware and alert to the new things your Spirit makes possible in us, as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty, into the fullness of life to which all are called, participating in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation.
Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify You, at this time and all ways.
Amen.
Cathy W: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
(a Celtic adaptation of the Prayer of Jesus by John Philip Newell)
O Holy One beyond all names,
Eternal Wellspring
May Love rise again in us today
With food for every table
Shelter for every family
And reverence for every life.
Forgive us our failings in love
And free us from all falseness
That the light of our souls may shine
And the strengths of our spirits endure
For Earth and all its people
This day, tonight, and forever.
Amen
BLESSING:
Let us extend our hands and pray together our blessing of each other: Nick
May you meet the Risen One
in the ordinary, the humble, the every day.
May your hearts be filled with wonder
and stirred by the Spirit,
and your tables wide enough for all who hunger.
Go now to tend to the world with tenderness,
to speak truth with courage,
and to follow the Risen One in all things
with hearts open to surprise,
and lives grounded in grace.
Amen.
Dismissal: Karla
Closing Song:Hail Mary: Gentle Woman
https://youtu.be/RERoQ1biLdE?si=VlkOz7S_ow-vi2wO
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