Thursday, October 2, 2025

Seasons 4

 

 

A painting of a person in a brown robe

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Seasons of Creation 

Feast Of St. Francis of Assisi

 

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

 

Responses: Pat

Presider: Rev. Penny Donovan

October 4, 2025

 

We begin our liturgy today with the inspired words of Albert Schweitzer:

 

Pat: All Spiritual life meets us within natural life. Reverence for life, therefore, is applied to natural life and spiritual life alike.  In the parable of Jesus, the shepherd saves not merely the soul of the lost sheep but the whole animal.  The stronger the reverence for natural life, the stronger grows also that for spiritual life.

 

 

Opening Song: A Prayer for the Earth by Pope Francis, music by 

Hazzan Steve Klaper & Br. Al Mascia, OFM

https://youtu.be/VJz0ZuxxMI0?si=4ywsrEBRSl2Yl-O2 

 

 

 

We begin in the name of our Creative God, our brother Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Prayers of Gratitude and call to action

 

Linda: Creator God, You have entrusted the human family with the richl diverse gifts of creation, asking us to receive them with gratitude and care for them wisely and well.      

 R] We thank you for the gift of appreciation.

 

Linda: Christ Jesus, You have entrusted us with a mission to warn those whose actions abuse and are destructive of Earth, its life, and its peoples, and to invite them and ourselves to more loving, protective and life-giving ways.

     R] Word of God, thank you for the gift of courage

 

Linda: Holy Spirit of God, You are at work in us and among us making us more conscious of the sacredness of all creation, raising up global movements in these times to care for Earth and each other.  R] We thank you, Spirt of God for the gift to make wise choices.

Opening Prayer

Penny: Creator of all, You are the breath that stirred the deep, the flame that kindles stars, the voice that sings through forest and field. We gather today in awe of Your wild and wondrous world—
giving thanks for earth beneath, sky above, and all the beloved beings who share this home with us.

 

May the spirit of this Season of Creation remain with us, reminding us to continue to open our eyes to the beauty we too often overlook. Open our hearts to the groaning of the Earth and the cries of all who are harmed by our neglect. Open our hands, that we might be healers, justice-seekers, and faithful stewards
of the sacred gifts You have entrusted to our care.

 presence. Renew us in love, restore us in hope, and reawaken us to the deep truth: we belong to You.

R] Amen.

We Have Come Christopher Grundy



https://youtu.be/Gdc2s-omCf8?si=bfpShbgsb8Mz_gUM

 

  

Liturgy of the Word

A reflection by Jane Goodall   Janet

 

"Lost in awe at the beauty around me, I must have slipped into a state of heightened awareness. It is hard - impossible really - to put into words the moment of truth that suddenly came upon me then. Even the mystics are unable to describe their brief flashes of spiritual ecstasy. It seemed to me, as I struggled afterward to recall the experience, the self was utterly absent: I and the chimpanzees, the earth and trees and air, seemed to merge, to become one with the spirit power of life itself.

The air was filled with a feathered symphony, the evensong of birds. I heard new frequencies in their music and also in singing insects' voices

- notes so high and sweet I was amazed. Never had I been so intensely aware of the shape, the color of the individual leaves, the varied patterns of the veins that made each one unique.

Scents were clear as well, easily identifiable: fermenting, overripe fruit; waterlogged earth; cold, wet bark; the damp odor of chimpanzee hair, and yes, my own too. And the aromatic scent of young, crushed leaves was almost overpowering.

That afternoon, it had been as though an unseen hand had drawn back a curtain and, for the briefest moment, I had seen through such a window. In a flash of "outsight" | had known timelessness and quiet ecstasy, sensed a truth of which mainstream science is merely a small fraction. And I knew that the revelation would be with me for the rest of my life, imperfectly remembered yet always within. A source of strength on which I could draw when life seemed harsh or cruel or desperate.

 

These are the inspired words of Dr. Jane Goodall, ethnologist, steward of the Earth, prophet of hope, mystic.

 

R] Thanks be to God

 

 

 

 


https://youtu.be/DwFq1HrNiuU?si=bZYtzWn_PyJBsXna

A reading from the Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis On Care for Our Common Home  Barbara

 

The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast.  For this reason, the ecological crisis is also a summons

to profound interior conversion. What we all need is an ‘ecological conversion’whereby the effects of [our] encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in [our] relationship with the world around [us].  Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or secondary aspect of our Christian experience. 

 The Earth Charter asked us to leave behind a period of self-destruction, and make a new start, but we have not as of yet developed a universal awareness needed to achieve this. Here, I would echo that courageous challenge: As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seeks a new beginning…Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.

Inspired words for our time.  R] Thanks be to God

 

Alleluia: 

 



 
https://youtu.be/FUHVCvC-7kk?si=ymbGUJUxvcCKvbIV

 

 

 

Gospel

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountainside, and after he sat down and the disciples had gathered around, Jesus began to teach them:

“Blessed are those who are poor in spirit: the kindom of heaven is theirs. 

Blessed are those who are mourning: they will be console.Blessed are those who are gentle: they will inherit the land. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice: they will have their fill.

Blessed are those who show mercy to others: they will be shown mercy. 

Blessed are those whose hearts are clean: they will see God. Blessed are those who work for peace: they will be called children of God. 

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of their struggle for justice: the kindom of heaven is theirs.

These are the holy words of our brother Jesus.

R] Praise to you, Christ Jesus!

 

Homily

 

 

Statement of Faith : Judy and Lucia

 

 

Judy: We believe in God as source of life and reality of our evolving universe

In God, not apart from us

God, in the midst of the human adventure

Who speaks to us through myth and poetry

The cries of the prophets of history and today

Through the simple declarative sentences and questions of everyday existence.

 

Lucia: We believe in the goodness of the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth

Who walked and talked and ate and drank among us

Who gave flesh and blood to the God he demonstrated as loving parent

Who taught us that the only acceptable sacrifice is a worship that is offered in spirit and in truth

We believe in his meal of restoration and his washing of feet

His embrace of the lepers and the rejected ones

We believe in his vision of the original covenant renewed over again through the honest love of God and every creature.

 

Judy: We believe in the living Spirit of God

Call to unity in the face of fear and fragmentation

Call to life in the midst of the seductive power of death

Challenge to hope when we exhaust the alternatives we believed in

We believe in an equal, gifted community of women and men

Nourished by that Spirit

Faces turned towards the neediness of humankind

Sharing together the support and challenge of the Gospel of Jesus

We believe that only our lives can make our faith credible

And so we commit ourselves

As individuals and as a community

To lives of healing, justice, compassion and loving kindness

 

May we strong and gentle enough to live so.  R] Amen

 

Prayers of the Community: 

 

Karla: Ever present Creator, Ruah, Breath of Life, we sit present at our tables holding our blessings, cares, and concerns. We ask that your healing power move within us, our families, our countries, our leaders, our world.

For what or whom shall we pray?

For all these prayers, and those that remain unspoken in our hearts we pray in Jesus’ name.   R] Amen 

Closing: We pray for these and all unspoken prayers in our hearts. Amen.

Sign of Peace: Karla

Let us show the love God has instilled within us by greeting each other as a sign of God’s justice, peace, love, forgiveness, and grace. The peace of our Creator be with you in all things.

R. And with you.

Let us offer each other a sign of Christ’s peace. 

Offering of the Gifts:

 

John: 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

 

Gina:  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

 

R] May God accept this offering given for the praise and thank God’s goodness.

 

Prayer over the Gifts

   Loving and gracious God, all that we have are gifts from You. Receive these gifts of bread and wine, our energies, our hopes and our commitments to return our love to you through our care for and sharing of creation with grateful and generous hearts. Grant this in the name of Jesus, the Christ.   R] Amen

 

Preface

 

Patti: Holy One, we are amazed at the universe and this planet Earth and we respond with gratitude and compassion. We are blessed by the lights of the heavens, the sun and moon, comets and stars; we are blessed by knowing ours is but one galaxy among many. 

 

Jay Cee:We are blessed by the darkness which keeps us from being blinded by the light and which eases us into contemplation and rootedness; likewise, we are blessed by light which awakens our souls to the glory of creation. And so we sing: 

 

 

 

Holy, Holy: Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy

 

 


https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk
 

 

 

Marita: In the blessed abundance of creation, we gather to celebrate Your nourishing gift of life. May our hearts be open as You invite us to participate in the wise and wonderful work of creation. We open ourselves to your presence that we may love you and care for you in all things.

 

Gerry: We come together with the Earth and with one another to renew the forests, to care for plants and to protect all creatures. We join to celebrate the seas, to rejoice in sunlight and in rain, to sing the song of the stars. We come together to pray for the healing of the Earth and the renewal of life.

 

 (please extend your hands over your bread and wine)

Penny: We call Wisdom Sophia upon these simple gifts of bread and wine, that they may become for us the Body and Blood of Jesus, the Christ.

 

 Penny: We remember that on the night before he died, Jesus gathered with his friends and family.  He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet. 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, given for you.”

 

Penny: As the meal was ending, Jesus took a cup of wine, again prayed a blessing, and shared it with all of them saying:

 

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

 

Nick: We take this bread and eat it, mindful of the Spirit at work in our lives, in the ordinary, in the everyday and in our desire to love as generously as Jesus did. Likewise, we drink now, mindful of our bonding with Jesus and all people through the Spirit at work in our lives.

 

Juanita: May the saving grace of the Spirit and of Jesus enhance the dialogue and sacrifice necessary to save ourselves and our world. We celebrate the truth-tellers and the lovers of the environment, living and dead; Ansel Adams, photographer; John Audubon, naturalist; Jane Goodall, anthropologist; Greta Thunberg, and Erin Brockovich, climate activists, Henry David Thoreau and Rachel Carson, authors, Sr. Dorothy Stang, eco-martyr. Like our brother Jesus, these visionaries were pioneers and prophets who sought to live fully and fearlessly the truth of their calling. 

 

GalenWe seek to act justly and courageously in confronting the suffering that desecrates the Earth and its peoples; to take risks in being proactive on behalf of the marginalized who suffer the environmental injustices of fouled air, tainted water, and a poverty of parks and public spaces that bring people together to enjoy nature. We pray for inspiration to act with the harmony and unity and synthesis that is modeled for us by the trees of the forest, and the stars of the evening.

 

John: Generous Creator, the intricate and elegant biodiversity of our world is your hallowed autograph on our lives, our souls and our hearts. We yearn for the wholeness of being in harmony with Your will and with all living things. Each day we draw on your creative, life-giving energy with awe as we find nourishment in, seed and field, river and forest. 

 

Karen: We acknowledge our shortcomings, especially our feelings of being powerless in the face of climate change and injustice. We seek to be reconciled with those we have hurt and we resolve to do better.  

 

Cathy W: With your unfailing wisdom and the wind of Your Spirit, inspire us that we may reach out and love one another and care for the world, our home. Strengthen us to work for local and global justice. May we one day reap a harvest of equality and fairness as if they were wildflowers, propagating spontaneously, unerringly and in surprising abundance. All: Amen

 

Penny: Behold, this is our brother, Jesus, who calls us to rejoice in God’s goodness, and follow Jesus in faithful discipleship. Here and now he gives us food and drink for the journey.

 

R] What we have heard with our ears, we will live in our lives; as we share communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge

 

Communion Meditation: Look At The World by John Rutter



https://youtu.be/T4k8oVf9v78?si=DXBhxYJpmnngDKEm

 

 

Closing Prayer

 

 Loving God, let this Eucharist we have shared fill us with Your life. May the love of Christ which we celebrate here touch our lives, fill us with your peace, guide us in our care for your creation, and lead us to You. We ask this in Jesus’ name.  R] Amen

 

Blessing

 

Penny: We believe that all creatures come forth from the all-powerful hand of the Creator, evolving through time and space, filled with God’s presence and tender love.

R: May God awaken us to everything that is.  R] Amen

Nick: Through Christ, all things were made. Formed in the womb of Mary, Christ Jesus became part of this Earth, gazing with upon this world  with human eyes.  

 R: May Christ bless us in his risen glory.   R] Amen

KarlaThe Holy Spirit guides this world toward the Creator’s love and accompanies it as it groans in travail. .   R]  Amen

John: May this Holy Spirit inspire us to care for one another and our common home.   R]  Amen

Penny: And may our ever-imaginative God, Creator, Word, and Spirit, wondrous community of infinite love, bless us all with justice, love, peace, and beauty,.    R] Amen   

Dismisssal: Karla           R] Thanks be to God    

Closing Song: Keepers of the Earth by Centuple Resource Centre & SEFAAI3




https://youtu.be/OyeXIO8s1UU?si=91C0YPK97NY4uQs7
 

                         

 

 

 

Seasons 4

        Seasons of Creation  Feast Of St. Francis of Assisi   Zoom   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935930592?pwd=qZlKA506MIS9okXQQxBkaKsyhsZJD...