Day 860: Sunday, July 24, 2022

Join Zoom Meeting Today - Sunday July 24, 2022

at 4:45pm Pacific Time

Use this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5193158573

Passcode: 1234

Meeting ID: 519 315 8573

Here's the liturgy in WORD and PDF formats:

There But for the Grace of God Go I:

Our Emmaus Celebration created by Kay and Linda

Opening Song: Grace Got You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtiUjNT_vAM

Welcoming: Kay

Two weeks ago our liturgy focused on mercy and loving our neighbor. Today we are looking at the other side of the coin. Grace.

Some consider it the same, and yes, both encourage loving your neighbor but Mercy is showing compassion or forgiveness toward someone when it’s within your power to punish instead.

Grace is understood as the free and unmerited favor of God.

Mercy is the kindness and compassion shown to one who offends, while Grace is an abiding presence of God in our souls which lifts us up.

Max Lucaod puts it - Mercy gave the Prodigal Son a second chance. Grace gave him a feast.

In a nutshell, they are two sides of the same coin. Grace is a gift we don’t deserve, while Mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve.

First Reading: Sandy McKeith

Joana Macy:

"When you act on behalf of something greater than yourself, you begin to feel it acting through you with a power that is greater than your own. "This is grace. "Today, as we take risks for the sake of something greater than our separate, individual lives, we are feeling graced by other beings and by Earth itself. "Those with whom and on whose behalf we act give us strength and eloquence and staying power we didn't know we had. "We just need to practice knowing that and remembering that we are sustained by each other in the web of life. Our true power comes as a gift, like grace, because in truth it is sustained by others. "If we practice drawing on the wisdom and beauty and strengths of our fellow human beings and our fellow species we can go into any situation and trust that the courage and intelligence required will be supplied."

Responsorial: Jim Jepson

Anne Lamott:

“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.

Second Reading: Alice Waco

Everyday Grace by Stella Nesanovich:

It can happen like that:

meeting at the market,

buying tires amid the smell

of rubber, the grating sound

of jack hammers and drills,

anywhere we share stories,

and grace flows between us.

The tire center waiting room

becomes a healing place

as one speaks of her husband's

heart valve replacement, bedsores

from complications. A man

speaks of multiple surgeries,

notes his false appearance

as strong and healthy.

I share my sister's death

from breast cancer, her

youngest only seven.

A woman rises, gives

her name, Mrs. Henry,

then takes my hand.

Suddenly an ordinary day

becomes holy ground.

Song: God's Grace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFOmV2s2kHY

Gospel: Jacqueline

According to Pope Francis

"You can have flaws, be anxious and even be angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can stop it from failing.

You are appreciated, admired and loved by so many. Remember that being happy is not about having a sky without storm, a road without accidents, a job without effort, a relationship without disappointments.

"To be happy means to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in fear, love in discord. It's not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness. It's not just about celebrating success, it's about learning from failures. It's not just about feeling happy with applause, it's about being happy in anonymous. Being happy is not a fatality of fate, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves.

“To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become the author of your own fate.” It's walking through deserts, but being able to find an oasis deep in the soul. Is thanking God every morning for the miracle of life. Being happy is not being afraid of your feelings and being able to talk about yourself. Have the courage to hear a “no” and find confidence in criticism, even when it’s unwarranted. It’s kissing your children, cuddling your parents, having poetic moments with your friends, even when they hurt us.

“Being happy is letting the creature that lives in each of us live, free, joyful and simple. You have the maturity to be able to say: "I've made mistakes". It's having the courage to say I'm sorry. It's having the sense to say "I need you". Is having the ability to say "I love you". May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness... that in spring he may be a lover of joy and in winter a lover of wisdom.

"And when you make a mistake, start over. Because only then will you be in love with life. You'll discover that being happy isn't having a perfect life. But use tears to irrigate tolerance. Use your defeats to train your patience.

"Use your mistakes with the serenity of the sculptor. Use pain to tune into pleasure. Use obstacles to open the windows of intelligence. Never give up ... Above all never give up on the people that love you. Never give up on being happy, because life is an incredible spectacle."

Shared Homily:

Linda - Highway I5

Kay - Personal reflection

Kay: Questions for response: When have you been blessed by the Grace of God?

Prayers of Intercession: From Ramakrishna

All: Response The winds of grace are always blowing, all we need to do is raise our sails.

Kay: May the grace we receive inspire us to show love for our neighbors through works of mercy.

All: Response The winds of grace are always blowing, all we need to do is raise our sails.

Linda: May we encourage and support one another to cross thresholds we may never have crossed on our own.

All: Response The winds of grace are always blowing, all we need to do is raise our sails.

Kay: With the grace of God, may we open our hearts and heal our wounds to become more whole and loving people.

All: Response The winds of grace are always blowing, all we need to do is raise our sails.

Linda: As a beloved community let’s have a moment of silence to call in those we hold in our hearts and intentions today. Bring them to this table. (after few moments, do hand movement)

Eucharistic Prayer

We gather together to share the mystery of the Divine

In every person, in everything we do.

Spirit of Life, Spirit of the Divine, come to us in this celebration and bless these gifts of bread and wine. Encircle us with your love and inspire us to become the transformation we seek to become.

We are on our journey and our road meets with those of everyone who is walking toward freedom and liberation tonight – wherever they come from, whatever the sadness they face. With Mary we keep the human family together, telling them “We must go on, we cannot turn back. We have a role in creating a world of peace for us and all our children. Everyone is welcome in this new world without borders. Lament cannot take hold if gratitude gets there first.”

Kay: This is the message of our brother Jesus who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and fire. Our brother Jesus now invites us to share with him this simple meal which he celebrated the night before he died with his mother and his companions. He knew the hours were precious and the time short. This gave new meaning to his words:

All: Come to the table and break this bread with me and understand that it is life itself.

Kay: And then he raised the cup and looked with love at each of the people in the room and saw everyone who had lived or would ever live, and he invited them all saying:

All: Come and drink this cup of wine which we share together. Remember me and celebrate me by re-creating this meal whenever the Spirit moves you. It is a cup filled with love.

Linda: Our Father

—Daniel Berrigan, SJ

All: Our Father, Mother, who are in this world and surpass the world,

Blessed be your presence, in us, in animals and flowers, in still air and wind.

May justice and peace dwell among us, as You come to us.

Your will be our will;

You will that we be sisters and brothers, as bread is bread, water is itself,

For our hunger, for quenching of thirst.

Forgive us.

We walk crookedly in the world, are perverse, and fail of our promise.

But we would be human, if only You consent to stir up our hearts. Amen.

Invitation to Communion

Kay: Everyone is welcome to this table.

The Spirit, whom the Universe cannot contain

is present to us in this bread

and meets us in this cup.

So, come, take this bread,

Drink this wine,

In them, the Spirit comes to us,

So that we may become one with the Spirit.

Song during communion: Miracle of Grace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVUCxeJezno

Closing Prayer: Jeanine Hillman

Beloved Rumi

Be like the sun for grace and mercy.

Be like the night to cover other's faults.

Be like running water for generosity.

Be like death for rage and anger.

Be like the Earth for modesty.

Appear as you are.

Be as you appear.

Closing Song:

50 Countries Sing Amazing Grace ALL OVER the WORLD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA7pdABvpnc