Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 2, 2025

Parable of the Rich Fool

Responder: Janet

Presider: Penny

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

Greeting:

Song: All You Works of God : Marty   Haugen

 

https://youtu.be/vCTyaOcB4xk?si=TeOIdX3lSbOrUaHq

Responses: Janet

Presider: 

In the name of God our Creator, Jesus our Brother and the Holy Spirit. R: Amen.

Presider:  

The grace and peace of our Gentle God, 

and our brother Jesus, the Christ be with you.

R: And also, with you.

Expression of Gratitude:

Presider:  God, you created us in your likeness, living among us, naming us as your own.

R: Strengthen us to bring honor and glory to your name.

Presider:  God, you sustain us in our daily lives, offering your love and grace, guiding us as your children.
R:  Lead us to transformation and action. 

Presider:  God, you promise us eternal hope, raising us up, calling us to new life in you.

 R: Lead us to acts of heartfelt compassion for others.

Presider:  Loving God, whose glory it is always to be merciful, may your Word take root in us and bring forth an openness of heart in all our words and deeds. Amen

Opening Prayer:

God of every good thing, instill in us a spirit of poverty- not an austere hatred for the things of the world but an appreciation for the many gifts you have given us and a commitment to use what you have given us to establish your reign of compassion and forgiveness, of justice and peace. Fill our homes with joy and love; fill our barns with an unending capacity for generosity and kindness to all who come to our table.

Judy: 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.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

Judy: A Reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2: 21-23

“Utterly futile,” says the Preacher, “empty and futile! Everything is futile!”  So it is that one who has labored wisely, skillfully and successfully must leave what is one’s own to someone who has not toiled for it at all.  This too is futile and a great injustice; for what do we gain for all our toil and stress under the sun?  Our days are filled with work, pain and grief, and even at night our hearts are restless.  This too is futility.

The Word of Our God    R: Thanks be to God

Psalm 90, R.: If today you hear God’s voice harden not your hearts.

Kathy N. Verses: When our days on earth are ended, You welcome us to Your Heart, to the City of Light, where time is eternal and days are not numbered.

You gather those who love You as friends returning from a long journey, giving rest to their souls.  You anoint them with the balm of understanding, healing wounds of the past.

For our days on Earth are as a mystery, a searching for You, a yearning for the great Mystery to make itself known. ( Psalms For Praying - Nan Merrill)

Marita: A Reading from the letter of Paul to the Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11

Since you have brought back to true life in company with Christ, set your heart on what pertains to higher realms, where Christ is, seated at God’s righthand.  Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth.  After all, you have died, and now your life is hidden with Christ in God.  But when Christ, who is your life, is revealed, you too will be revealed in all your glory with Christ.

Put to death everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires, and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god.  When you have done it put aside your old self with its past deeds and put on a new self, one that grows in knowledge between Greek and Jew, as it is formed anew in the image of its Creator; and in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, or between foreigner and Scythian, slave and free.  There is only Christ, who is everything in all of you. 

The Word of God      R: Thanks be to God

Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia Misa Delgado Book1 by Lester Delgado

https://youtu.be/uilfwfd-U_g

Penny: A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 12: 13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of the inheritance.”  Jesus replied, “Friend, who has set me up as your judge or arbiter?”  Then he said to the crowd, “ avoid greed in all forms, for your life in not made more secure by what you own, even when you have more than you need.”

Jesus then told them a parable in these words: “There was a rich farmer who had a good harvest.  “What will I do? The farmer mused.  I have no place to store my harvest.  I know!  I will pull down my grain bins and build larger ones.  All my grain and goods will go there.  Then I’ll say to myself: You have blessings in reserve for many years to come.  Relax! Eat, drink, and be merry!  But God said to the farmer, “You fool!  This very night your life will be required of you.  To whom will all this piled up wealth of yours go” This is the way it works with people who accumulate riches for themselves but are not rich in God.”

The Good News of Salvation!   R: Glory and praise to our Savior Jesus Christ!

Homily: Gerry

 

Statement of Faith:

Chrys: We believe in God, the creator of the universe whose divinity infuses all that exists, making everything everywhere sacred.                                                         We believe in Jesus, the Christ who leads us to the fullness of humanity.  Through him we become a new people, called beyond the consequences of our brokenness.

  

Cathy W: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Wisdom who keeps the Christ-vision present to all who are searching for meaning and wholeness in their lives – and the Sustainer who heals and energizes us when our spirits may grow weary in our journeys. 

 

Galen: We say: Amen to courage, to hope, and to truth.                                       

We say: Amen to the partnership and equality of all people of different genders, races, and faiths.                                                                                                                             

We believe in a world of justice and peace for everyone, everywhere, with no exceptions.  In all of this, we surely believe.  Amen.

Prayers of the Community

Nick: 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. 

With trust in our connection to the Holy One, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your intentions with, I bring to the table… Answering each petition with Gracious God hear our prayer.

Closing: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions especially all those who are suffering from the violence of wars, greed, and power. Amen

Presider:  Peace Offering
Let us extend this Peace of Christ to each other
 by holding our hands over our hearts for a moment.
Feel the hope and love that resides there. (pause)
Now send it out - to those gathered here, (pause) 
and to the wider world in need of
so much peace and so much hope. Amen 

Please bless each other with God’s unconditional love.

Offering of the Bread and Wine:

Chrys: 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.

Kathy N: 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 the cup of life.

R:  Blessed be God forever.

Galen: 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.

Eucharistic Prayer:

Presider: God is with you.  R: And also, with you.

Presider: Lift up your hearts.   R: We lift our hearts to God and to one another.

Presider: Let us give thanks to our God.  R: It is right to give God thanks and praise.

Presider: 

Holy One, Through your all-inclusive spirit of kinship, 

you call us into a vision of a Beloved Community. We gathered together to give you thanks and praise, You are the one God, living and true, from the beginning of all time and throughout all eternity. 

Therefore, with people of all faith in every part of the world we join with all of heaven as we sing:

Holy, Holy, Holy– Karen Drucker shortened

 

https://youtu.be/nTewBnxBy30?si=i5AwQo0JUhVI-_ze

Juanita: 

 Holy One, we acknowledge your greatness, your wisdom and your power. You have formed us in your likeness, and knit us in our mother’s womb. You call us to serve you and one another. You have entrusted to us the gift of your creation: this precious earth with all its amazing life forms. 

In each, and every being you place upon the earth, your covenant is revealed.

Presider: We extend our hands over our bread and wine in unity with the Spirit Loving God. Pour out your Spirit upon this bread and wine, so that these gifts may become the + Body and + Blood of Jesus. We celebrate this great mystery and everlasting covenant which Jesus left to us.

Presider:  As we lift our bread, we remember that, on the night before he died, Jesus took bread and gave God thanks and praise.  He broke the bread and gave it to his friends saying:   
Presider and All:
 “Take and eat, this is my Body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

 Presider:  As we lift our cup we remember how, after supper Jesus lifted the cup of wine.  He blessed and praised God, and shared the cup with his friends saying: 

Presider and All: “This is the cup of the Covenant of my Love poured out for you.  As often as you drink of it, remember me.

Presider: Let us proclaim the Mystery of our Faith.

      Presider and All:  Christ of the Cosmos, you are the Love in whom we believe, the Wisdom in whom we trust, and the Compassion that calls us to Justice.

Judy:  We thank you for the fullness of your grace, that never ceases. Send your Spirit sweeping through all human institutions. Transform our structures and traditions to create a world responsive to your vision so that we might complete the work of Jesus. Inspire us to confront patriarchal systems that discriminate against women and all those who are alienated. Inspire us to dismantle white privilege and truly live in ways where all people are treated equal, as they are in your sight.

Marita:  Inspire all leaders throughout the world to model compassion, justice, peace, and love.  Guide our Pope Leo XIV ,our Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, our presiders, and all members of our community to seek you with sincere hearts.  May each of us be aware of our own moments of leadership so that we might embrace the challenges of these times and provide moral leadership to build the Beloved kin-dom of peace for all Creation.

Gerry: Remember those who have gone before us into eternal life, and whose hearts are known to you alone.  We especially remember those who have given their lives working for justice and for the needs of people who suffer. In your presence, we speak the names of those we admire and love who have died: (pause, say their names out loud) 

We know in faith that these individuals are now free by your mercy, and we anticipate the day when we will be together with them again.  

Presider: 

     Holy One, we are your beloved. We unite with all creation through Jesus the Christ, in whom all perfect goodness is revealed.

Presider and All:

Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God of all! 

May glory and honor be yours, forever and ever. AMEN 

Communion Rite

Presider: Bread and wine is transformed by Your Spirit and we are transformed when we open ourselves to Your Spirit. Every time we share this bread and wine we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as You love us.

Janet: We share this bread and cup to proclaim the gospel of justice and peace. Share the bread with the words: You are a messenger of light

Communion Song: WE COME TO YOUR FEAST Michael Joncas

https://youtu.be/_sbNXbnO1Ig?si=EZJu-9KiG8rOhuIq

Prayer After Communion

Janet Holy One, we know you as the voice of kindness within. We recognize you as the Source of our hope, our faith and our love. We are grateful for the gift of your Spirit, always adding beauty and balance to a fragile and needy world. 

Like Jesus, standing where he stood, 

and for what he stood

and with whom he stood, 

we stand united in your Spirit. Amen.

Prayer of Jesus:

Cathy W: O Holy One, who is within, around, and among us, 

we celebrate your many names. 

Your wisdom come. Your will be done, 

unfolding from the depths within us. 

Each day you give us all that we need. 

You remind us of our limits, and we let go.

You support us in our power, and we act with courage. 

For you are the dwelling place within us, 

the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, 

now and forever. Amen.                              -- Miriam Therese Winter

 

BLESSING: Juanita

Please raise your hands as we bless each other. 

May the Presence of the Creator God comfort us, 

May we be faithful disciples of Jesus,

May our hearts expand, reaching higher and further for a spacious and generous love,

And may we always be willing to see the other as a mirror of God in our lives. Amen.

Presider:  As we leave this Liturgy and are sent forth, let us be open to the call of Christ for each of us in this coming week.  R] Thanks be to God

Dismissal: 

Closing Song:
World Peace Prayer - Worship Music Video (with Lyrics)

https://youtu.be/K3w4k-An3ZQ?si=JDNe4znuIKSB9Yro