Vigilant and Faithful Servants
August 23, 2025
Responder: Lucia
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935930592?pwd=qZlKA506MIS9okXQQxBkaKsyhsZJDV.1
Let There Be Peace on Earth
https://youtu.be/_AMvzan3EKM?si=pGuKi20pvE3S1RwE
Juanita:
In the name of God our Creator, Jesus our Brother and the Holy Spirit. R: Amen.
Penny:
The grace and peace of our Gentle God,
and our brother Jesus, the Christ be with you.
R: And also, with you.
Expressions of Gratitude:
Juanita: We ask for the grace to continually acknowledge our need to grow in goodness, peace, and caring for ourselves and others.
Penny: 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.
Juanita: 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.
Penny: God, you promise us eternal hope, raising us up, calling us to new life in you. Let there be peace on Earth.
R: Lead us to acts of heartfelt compassion for others.
Penny: 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
Juanita: Opening Prayer:
Creator God, show us the way through the door of humility that we may live lives of integrity and purpose; entrust to us the keys of justice and compassion that unlock for us and for all the door to your reign; welcome us to your table in heaven as we welcome you, in the poor and forgotten, at our tables.
May the scriptures we read today become living bread.
May your spirit empower them to shape us in Jesus’ likeness.
First Reading: Kathy
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah: 66: 18-21
"I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They will come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, and Lud — famous as archers - Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. And they will declare my glory among the nations.
As an offering to YHWH, they will bring all of your sisters and brothers on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and camels, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem," says Yaweh, "like Israelites bringing oblations in clean vessels to the Temple of the YaHWH. And of some of them I will make priests and Levites," says YHWH.
The Word of God. R. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm 117 Teresa
Response: Go out to the whole world and tell the Good News.
Praise Our God, all you nations! / Extol Our God, all you peoples.
For God's love is strong, / God's faithfulness is eternal.
R: Go out to the whole world and tell the Good News.
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 John
You have forgotten the encouraging words addressed to you as daughters and sons.
"My children, when Our God corrects you, do not treat it lightly, and do not get discouraged when you are reprimanded. For God disciplines the ones God loves and punishes all whom God acknowledges as daughters and sons."
At the time it is administered, any discipline seems a cause for grief, not joy, but later it bears fruit in peace and justice for those formed by it. So hold up your drooping hands and steady your trembling knees.
Make straight the path you tread, that your halting limbs will not be dislocated, but healed.
The Word of God. R. Thanks be to God!
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 13:22-30 Juanita
Jesus went through cities and towns teaching, all the while making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked, "Will only a few people be saved?"
Jesus replied: "Try to come in through the narrow door. Many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not succeed. Once the head of the household gets up and locks the door, you may find yourselves standing outside, knocking and saying, 'Please open the door! It is us!' but the answer will come, I do not know you or where you come from. Then you will begin to say, But we ate and drank in your company. You taught in our streets.
But you will be told, I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Get away from me, you evildoers!'
"There will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Sarah and Abraham, Rebecca and Isaac, Leah and Rachel and Jacob and all the prophets, safe in the kin-dom of God, and you yourselves rejected. People will come from the East and the West, from the North and the South, and will take their places at the feast in the kin-dom of God.
Some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.
The Good News of Salvation R: Glory and Praise to our Savior Jesus the Christ
Homily: Juanita/Penny
Statement of Faith: Barbara alternate with Linda
Barbara: We believe in God, the creator of the universe whose divinity infuses all that exists, making everything everywhere sacred.
Linda: 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.
Barbara: 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.
Linda: 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. Barbara: 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: Gina
As we prepare for the sacred meal we bring to this table our prayerful intentions. Please feel free to voice your concerns beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We pray for these and all unspoken prayers in our hearts. Amen.
SIGN OF PEACE: Judy
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.
Offertory:
Our table is set, let us now offer our gifts to God.
Offering of the Gifts:
Kathy N: Blessed are you, 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.
R: Blessed be God forever.
Juanita: By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who shared himself in our humanity.
Pattie: 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.
All: Blessed be God forever.
Karen:With humble spirit and loving hearts may you, O God, accept us and may the offering that we bring to this table be pleasing to you.
Prayer over the Gifts
Penny: God, take our hands; take our lives,
Take these simple gifts we bring, that we might share in a common desire to help prepare the feast for all your people. We ask this through Jesus the Christ. Amen
(adapted from All Desires Known – Janet Morley p. 137)
Eucharistic Prayer:
Juanita: God is with you. R: And also with you.
Juanita: Lift up your hearts. R: We lift our hearts to God and to one another.
Juanita: Let us give thanks to our God. R: It is good to give God thanks and praise.
Penny: Holy One, through your all-inclusive spirit of kinship, you call us into a vision of a Beloved Community.
We gather 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.
Jay Cee: God, you are the source of life and goodness. You fill your creatures with every blessing. You lead your people throughout the world to the transforming vision of your love. May we be strengthened to build communities of justice, peace, and inclusivity in our church and in our world. For this we are always grateful and we place our hope and trust in you.
Barbara: Therefore, with people of all faiths
in every part of the world, we join with all of heaven as we proclaim:
Holy: Kevin Keilhttps://youtu.be/aQ7_z45lw4g?si=X5Hu1c56AYvUV47C
Janet: As a community, we gather in the power of your Spirit, refreshing wind, luminous wildfire and living breath. We seek to live “rich in God” as Jesus taught us to do. May we ever remain Spirit-filled people, seeking the light, striving to be courageous and prophetic and ever observant of your design for us.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
Penny: We are grateful for the bread and wine and those who carefully tended the grapes and wheat that remind us of our call to be Your Presence in the world.
We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us. We invoke your Spirit anew upon these simple gifts of bread and wine, that they that they may become for us the + Body and Blood of Christ.
Barbara: On the night before he faced the betrayal of friends and his death, Jesus sat at supper with companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them over their years together. To fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and humbly washed their feet.
All lift plates
Juanita: 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 and eat, This is my Body, go and love one another.
All lift cups
Penny: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
ALL: Take and drink. This is the covenant of my blood
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
Please share the bread with the words, You are rich in God.
Those who wish to share the wine, are welcome to come to the friendship table to do so.
Penny:
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
Penny: 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.
Juanita: 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: Taste and See | Catholic Communion Hymn
https://youtu.be/b4EsaIBMp9c?si=m3PRQrEiMK4Aj-St
Prayer After Communion:
Kathy N: In union with all peoples living and crossed over into eternal love, we unite our thoughts and prayers, asking for wisdom in the circumstances of our daily lives. We seek to act justly and courageously in alleviating the suffering that desecrates the Earth and its peoples; to take risks in being proactive on behalf of the poor and marginalized; and to love all people with generosity of heart. We promise to resist the labels of “illegal”, “alien” or “undocumented”. We strive to accord each person the dignity and divinity you, Holy One, have designed for all of us, regardless of our circumstances in life.
Holy One, your transforming light works through us. We strive to live compassionate lives; it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, refreshing us and leading us to dwell in Your house all the days of our lives. Amen.
Cathy P.: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy One, you are 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. - Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
Blessing: Penny
Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
May the Divine bless us with discomfort at easy answers, social media half-truths and superficial relationships.
May our Pilgrim God nudge us toward new places, new adventures and new friends so that we may share the refreshment of our ever-surprising God of love.
AMEN
Dismissal: Galen
Closing Song:
Though the Mountains May Fall by Dan Schutte
https://youtu.be/M5LcgpGzEqc?si=iP6-X6-RRyw13h1q
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