Aphorism of the Day, July 2024

Aphorism of the Day July 31, 2024

The writers of the New Testament who believed that the sign of God could be seen in all creation believed that Jesus Christ was a particular human signature of God in the world to signify that God can be intensely particular and intensely general.

Aphorism of the Day, July 30, 2024

Are language products mostly "selfish" since they are generated from the perspective of the one or ones who generate them?  Would this make AI statements "unselfish" because they purport to have a distance from any particular "constructing ego?"  Or are AI statements like the mercenaries on behalf of the egos who seek their generation on behalf of an "ego" position?

Aphorism of the Day, July 29, 2024

According to the Johannine words of Jesus, the "work" is believing in the one whom God sends.  Belief or being persuaded reveals what the human vocation is.  We are persuaded people, and the question remains, "about what are we persuaded?"  Persuasion is never final; it is on-going and always has to be continually informed and applied in new arising situations.

Aphorism of the Day, July 28, 2024

From Anselm we learned that God is a linguistic tautology.  By definition, God means the greatest, and how could the greatest be the greatest if the greatest did not exist.  Anselm invites people to try to drop from human vocabulary the word God and the standard meaning of God.  While we're at it we can try to pretend that everything that was, is, and shall be does not "exist" either.  Whatever we perceive to be existing from our very limited perspective, there is, was, and will always be MORE.

Aphorism of the Day, July 27, 2024

The significance of Jesus was not new for the Gospel writers since for them he was known in their Risen Christ experience in a mystical event.  The Gospels are about tying the mysticism of the early followers of Jesus to the person of Jesus of Nazareth by presenting narratives of Jesus tinged with already mystical outcomes of the Risen Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, July 26, 2024

The "sign"ificance of signs occur within paradigms of interpretation or hermeneutic circles.  If one does not understand the hermeneutic context, the "sign" cannot signify as intended by the sign maker.

Aphorism of the Day, July 25, 2024

What is the relationship between a sign and language?  A sign is a significant event of and in language marking a telling item of information distinguished from other word events to influence life decisions and human behaviors.  A stop sign changes the meaning of a street corner in influencing decision and behaviors.

Aphorism of the Day, July 24, 2024

A chief sign of human identity is having language.  Language is the life of being signatory or constantly being involved in a medium with word products which purport to refer to or be signs of things which are not themselves.  What words refer to or Reality itself is unknowable in itself because we are slaves to the medium of continuous signification involving a continuous deferring of synonyms.  This is this is this is this is this is this......

Aphorism of the Day, July 23, 2024

Paul prayed that people would comprehend the love of Christ and be filled with the fullness of God.  The goal of life is to have surfaced the omnipresence of the divine in various immanent events.

Aphorism of the Day, July 22, 2024

The stories of the multiplication of loaves identifies Jesus as concerned about the masses being fed.  Any follower of Jesus should also be concerned that everyone has enough to eat.  Food is the basic medicine of living.

Aphorism of the Day, July 21, 2024

Sheep without shepherds are people vulnerable to demagoguery of kleptocrats convincing the ignorant that the interest of the wealthy greedy is the common good for all.

 Aphorism of the Day, July 20, 2024

Some people have the fortune of experiencing their lives being impinged upon by the Plenitude of Existence as a friendly and supporting and affirming reality.  Others do not have this fortune which means that who who have the fortune need to become the nurturing presence for those who don't see existence itself as an original blessing.

Aphorism of the Day, July 19, 2024

Everything is mutually connected.  The human mind has the (dys)ability to create the illusion of alienation and separation with resulting attempts to wreck connection with chaos and its acolytes of hatred and evil.

Aphorism of the Day, July 18, 2024

Human beings do not have the capacity to "see" God and live; human beings have the ability to be in connection with God who contains all in exterior and interior ways.  Meditation is the practice of finding the interior hum caused by the flood of infinity with which all things are connected.

Aphorism of the Day, July 17, 2024

Paul understood the social meaning of the cross of Christ as a death to the hostilities which pertained between people formerly regarding each others as foreigners, aliens, and strangers.  Does anyone regard the cross of Christ in this way today?  Often it is used by people to create barriers and make us even more foreign to each other.

Aphorism of the Day, July 16, 2024

The biblical use of the word shepherd refers to non-exploitive leadership of the vulnerable.  We often see political "leaders" and religious "leaders" who are the antithesis of non-exploitive leadership.

Aphorism of the Day, July 15, 2024

The observation of the crowd as "sheep without a shepherd" invites reflections upon the need for non-exploitative leadership in politics, religion, and in any community requiring group collaboration.  In politics, business, and religion exploiters use the "a sucker is born every minute" tendency of the mob.

Aphorism of the Day, July 14, 2024

Has any historical figure had more of an afterlife effect than Jesus of Nazareth?

Aphorism of the Day, July 13, 2024

Can history be written without any reference to heroic figures?  Only people who stand out get remembered and documented.  A history of the unknown would be an oxymoron.  Our traditions and stories of identity have been formed by what has come to language about seminal people in history.  Our language traditions speak us before we consciously choose to use them.  By choosing not to use certain words or ideas from inherited language traditions does not erase them from being foundational in our having been structured by them.

Aphorism of the Day, July 12, 2024

St. Paul regarded to be his mystical relationship with the Risen Christ as different but equal in importance to Peter's actual experience of Jesus, plus Peter also had a mystical Post-resurrection experience too.  It is one thing to say that mystical experiences actually happened, it is another thing to say what they mean and how the one who experiences such interprets the experience.  Religious experiences are so much different from commonsense or empirical experiences, it is important not to equate them.  Mystical experience is more like one's aesthetic experience with music, poetry, and art rather than describing the events of a lab experience.

Aphorism of the Day, July 11, 2024

Today we have become specific manifestations of former probabilities.  But probabilities are but current interpretations of what we think were statistical approximations of what we think caused the specific outcomes of the present, which are also interpretations of what a particular language user describes within the language tradition of his or her community.

Aphorism of the Day, July 10, 2024

What does Word of God mean?  For some it means the community process by which certain writings came to be designated as the official textbook of their communities.  For others it means that the divine directly created these words and so there is an implied omniscience behind every word in the Bible.  In the funneling of a great God into the limitation of human experience, there is an emptying of God as God into God as analogical human communication.  The emptying occurs in human cultures with all the limitations of the particular cultures.  We can absolutize the notion of love, without absolutizing what the specific practices of love were in biblical cultures.  Beyond the written words of text, there is the notion of God as Word itself which is a profoundly expansive reservoir vaster than what can be written on pages.

Aphorism of the Day, July 9, 2024

Prayer like the Psalms models what can be a continuous commentary on what is happening in one's life and the life of the world.  Stating the obvious as interpreted by the commentator before God has less to do with God and more to do with our orientation and coping with life as it is, laced with lots of hope for what we wish it might be.  Prayer is about changing the one who is praying so as to be able to be the best possible agent of change.

Aphorism of the Day, July 8, 2024

With advent of artificial intelligence the possibility of HAL like entities taking significant control over human life becomes real, some for good and some for terrifying outcomes.  In the big theodicy question does an Omni-Becoming Being allowing genuine freedom from all non-omni-becoming beings risk the takeover of the whole by bad actors?  Does the Omni-Sustainer remain what is greatest if the majority of what lives and moves and have being within the Omni-Sustainer chooses what is bad?  Or is there a self-correction by the preponderance of non-sentient volitional entities which are "amoral" when contrasted with any meaning of human morality.  Do non-sentient "amoral" agents eventual correct bad human agency?

Aphorism of the Day, July 7, 2024

Time and language go together because language involves sequences.

Aphorism of the Day, July 6, 2024

The actual is the model for what might be ideal because the actual is always so time-time as to be the "not yet" of perfection.

Aphorism of the Day, July 5, 2024

Seems as when the church has had outward position and power in society, it tends to reject or de-emphasize the hidden or the mystical and over identifies itself with the literal and the visual.  The suffering or hidden church emphasizes the always already inner realm of the divine while eschewing attachment to external idols.

Aphorism of the Day, July 4, 2024

The familiarity which breeds contempt may be the human habit of even getting bored with good things and not appreciating the good until it is gone, like when people are so familiar with democracy and yet do not vote or vote for someone who is not in favor of democracy.

Aphorism of the Day, July 3, 2024

Totality is not final because it is the always already accumulating and integrating.  That which is omni-becoming says in the instance of any occasion, "I contain you and have merged you with everything else."

Aphorism of the Day, July 2, 2024

There is a voluntary weakness of God.  It is the power of restraint in the allowing of genuine freedom which is evident in the seemingly apparent ascendency of the greedy and powerful to oppress or resist being sharing stewards in equal and just ways with all people.  The religion of Jesus is mostly the poor using their freedom to take care of those who also are poor.  This is the most powerful way to use freedom.  (see the beatitudes)

Aphorism of the Day, July 1, 2024

The cliche is "familiarity breeds contempt."  Getting tired of or bored with the familiar may be a sign of a need for change or the need for a conversion to a new paradigm in thinking.

Quiz of the Day, July 2024

Quiz of the Day, July 31, 2024

Who is responsible for the visualization meditation practice found in a work called "Spiritual Exercises?"

a. Francis Xavier

b. Teresa of Avila

c. John of the Cross

d. Ignatius Loyola

Quiz of the Day, July 30, 2024

Which of the following prophets wrote a book which was lost?

a. Elijah

b. Elisha

c. Nathan

d. Balaam

Quiz of the Day, July 29, 2024

The longest greeting list for colleagues of Paul in his ministry is found at the end of what letter?

a. 1 Corinthians

b. 2 Corinthians

c. 1 Thessalonians

d. Romans

Quiz of the Day, July 28, 2024

The following is not true about Uriah the Hittite:

a. he was the husband of Bathsheba

b. he was a soldier

c. his death was arranged by King David

d. he was the brother of Nathan the prophet

Quiz of the Day, July 27, 2024

Who succeeded Joshua as the leader of Israel?

a. King Saul

b. Samuel

c. Eli

d. Othniell, a Judge of Judah who was the first in a succession of judges

Quiz of the Day, July 26, 2024

During the Olympics we ask the following: Which of the biblical figures used athletic metaphors?

a. Jesus

b. Moses

c. Paul

d. Peter

e. Luke

Quiz of the Day, July 25, 2024

Other names for the Sea of Tiberias are

a. Sea of Galilee

b. Lake Gennesaret

c. Lake Capernaum

d. all of the above

e. a and b

Quiz of the Day, July 24, 2024

Which Gospel includes an entire discourse centering upon the multiplications of loaves?

a. Matthew

b. Mark

c. Luke

d. John

Quiz of the Day, July 23, 2024

In which Gospels is Simon Peter named as the one who cut off the ear of Malchus?

a. Matthew and Mark

b. Mark and Luke

c. Matthew and Luke

d. Mark and John

e. Matthew and John

f. Luke and John

Quiz of the Day, July 22, 2024

What prophet "multiplied" loaves for 100 people?

a. Samuel

b. Jeremiah

c. Elijah

d. Elisha

Quiz of the Day, July 21, 2024

Which is of the following is not true regarding Amelia Bloomer?

a. an Episcopal saint

b. attend the Seneca Falls Convention for women's rights

c. the namesake for Turkish pants-like women's underwear

d. an advocate for temperance

e. an abolitionist 

f. editor of a women's journal called the Daisy

Quiz of the Day, July 20, 2024

How many times did the people of Israel march around the city of Jericho?

a. 6

b. 7

c. 13

d. 14

Quiz of the Day, July 19, 2024

Who appeared in Joshua's theophany?

a. An angel

b. Moses

c. Commander of the Army of the Lord

d. Michael the Archangel

Quiz of the Day, July 18, 2024

The Jordan River was not parted for

a. Joshua

b. Moses

c. Elijah

c. Elisha

Quiz of the Day, July 17, 2024

Of the following, who held the position Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church twice?

a. Samuel Seabury

b. William White

c. Philander Chase

d. John Henry Hopkins

Quiz of the Day, July 16, 2024

What was used to mark the home of the persons who would be spared in the conquest of Jericho?

a. fleece in the window

b. crimson cord in the window

c. red drapes

d. scarlet dress hanging in the window

Quiz of the Day, July 15, 2024

Who is the harlot in the lineage of Jesus?

a. Bathsheba

b. Tamar

c. Rahab

d. Sarah

Quiz of the Day, July 14, 2024

What was to be the eastern border of the Promised Land?

a. Jordan River

b. Damascus

c. Euphrates River

d. Tigris River

Quiz of the Day, July 13, 2024

Reference to the bulls of Bashan can be found where?

a. Genesis

b. Psalm 22

c. Isaiah

d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, July 12, 2024

According to the Gospel account who ordered the death of John the Baptist?

a. Salome

b. Herodias

c. Herod's wife

d. Herod's daughter

e. Herod

Quiz of the Quiz of the Day, July 11, 2024

Of the following, who made it into the Promised Land?

a. Joshua

b. Moses

c. Aaron

d. Miriam

e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, July 10, 2024

Of the following, who was not a biblical twin?

a. Thomas

b. Jacob

c. Esau

d. Perez

e. Habil

f. Cain

Quiz of the Day, July 9, 2024

A City of Refuge was a designated place for

a. foreigners

b. women divorced by their husbands

c. safety from one avenging an accidental death

d. pardoned killers

Quiz of the Day, July 8, 2024

What biblical wife despised her husband for publicly dancing in only his underwear?

a.Bathsheba

b.Michal

c. Ruth

d. Zipporah

e. Deborah

Quiz of the Day, July 7, 2024

What New Testament word has a Persian origin?

a. hell

b. paradise

c. eternity

d. fellowship

Quiz of the Day, July 6, 2024

After being rebuked by a speaking donkey what did Balaam utter?

a. prophecies

b. blessings

c. oracles

d. all the above

Quiz of the Day, July 5, 2024

The expression "Abba" is

a. the Hebrew word for father

b. the New Testament Greek word for father

c. the Aramaic word for daddy

d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, July 4, 2024

The Millo is a place associated with what?

a. David's residence at Hebron

b. the City of David in Jerusalem

c. the Temple in Jerusalem

d. wall of the city of Jerusalem

Quiz of the Day, July 3, 2024

Of the following, the most obvious influence for the 12-Step program would come from

a. the Ten Commandments

b. Ecclesiastes

c. The Gospels

d. Paul's letter to the Romans

Quiz of the Day, July 2, 2024

Balaam's donkey did not

a. speak to him

b. see an angel

c. buck him off

d. lay down and refused to do on

Quiz of the Day, July 1, 2024

Where would the phrase "out of the body" experience come from?

a. Elijah

b. Jacob

c. John the Divine

d. Paul

Sunday School, August 4, 2024 11 Pentecost, B, Proper 13

 Sunday School, August 4, 2024   11 Pentecost, B, Proper 13

Themes:

We are continuing the bread of heaven theme.

There is the matching of the story of Manna which is described as a flaky substance which landed like snow on the ground each morning and the people of Israel could gather it and eat it as their meal for the day.  For protein, we read that God sent quail for the people to eat.

You can ask the children if they have ever been served new looking food and have they asked: "What's that?"   Then you can tell them that "What's that?" in Hebrew is "Manna."  The people of Israel saw the white stuff on the ground and they said, "What's that?" and so "What's that?" became the name of the food.  This might mean that the writers actually had a sense of humor by making the question into the name of the food.

The Gospel writer of John compared the large meal hosted by Jesus in the wilderness with the daily Manna or bread from heaven for the people of Israel.

The Gospel community had communion as a way of celebrating the fact that Christ was so close to them that he was a close to them as the bread which they ate and the wine they drank.

When we come to communion, we might see the bread and the wine and ask, "What's that?"  and the priest will say, "The body of Christ, the bread of heaven."  "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation."  And so we believe in the special friendship that we have when we gather because of Jesus Christ, Christ is sense as being present with us and acknowledged as being with us in a special way in the bread and the wine.

When Jesus spoke the words, "I am the bread of life," he was speaking in riddles.  When we eat bread we take it inside of ourselves and the bread becomes us.  Remember the Gospel of John called Jesus the Word of God which created all things in the world.  We are always eating words in the sense that we take words and pictures into our minds.   This means we need to be careful about the words we take into ourselves.  This is why the words of Jesus are important because the words of our lives form us.  We become in our actions the words of our life.  In our communion we take on an identity with Jesus because we acknowledge that taking in the Words of Jesus is the way in which we can know that Christ is truly present with us.

Have the children think about how their actions are influenced by the words in which they take in.  If all we hear and take in are bad words then we can act from the bad words that are taken in.

Jesus is the bread of life because Jesus is Word of God that we study, read and take in for our spiritual lives. 

Sermon:

Did your mom or dad ever serve you some food and you said to them, “What’s this?”  And what if you mom and dad then began to call all of your food, “What’s this?”  We’re going to MacDonald and I’m going to order some “What’s this?”  Tomorrow for breakfast, I’m going to have some “What’s this?”  I see that mom has packed some “What’s this?” in my lunch box today.

  Do you think that we should name our food, “What’s this?”

  We could but, it has already happened.  It happened in a Bible story that was written a long time ago.

  The famous Prince of Egypt, Moses led his people out of Egypt.  He brought them into the desert and they had no food, and so they complained.  Moses prayed to God and asked God to provide some food. And so God had some food fall on the ground like snow flakes.  Moses told the people, “Go and gather the food from the ground and eat it.”  It was a new and strange food for the people, so do you know what they said when they saw it?  They said, “What’s this?”  or in Hebrew they said, Mah Nah?  And that means What’s this?  So do you know what they begin to call their new and strange food?  Manna, which means “What’s this?”  What are going to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner?  You guessed it, “We’re going to have, “What’s this?”

  The “What’s this” food kept the people alive in their long journey for forty years.

  Some times we may have to try some new food.  And instead of saying, “What’s this?” we should say, Thank you God, thank you mom and dad for another meal that will help me grow strong.

  The next time you think about not eating your food, I want you to remember the “What this?” story.  And when you remember the “What’s this?” story, I want you to remember to be thankful for food, and remember to pray for all of the people in this world who do not have enough food.  Okay…say Mah Nah.  What this?

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

August 4, 2024: The Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

Gathering Songs: I Am the Bread of Life, Butterfly Song, Eat This Bread, When the Saints

Song: I Am the Bread of Life  (blue hymnal # 335)    

I am the bread of life, they who come to me shall not hunger.  They who believe in me shall not thirst.  No one can come to me, unless the Father draw him. 

Refrain:  And I will raise him up.  And I will raise him up.  And I will raise him up on the last day.

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the  Letter of Paul to the Ephesians

I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 145

The LORD is faithful in all his words * and merciful in all his deeds.

The LORD upholds all those who fall; * he lifts up those who are bowed down.

The eyes of all wait upon you, O LORD, * and you give them their food in due season.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.  When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal." Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, `He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

 Liturgist:        The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Song: Butterfly Song (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 9)

If I were a butterfly, I’d thank you Lord for giving me wing.  If I were a robin in the tree.  I’d thank you Lord that I could sing.  If I were a fish in the sea, I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee.  But I just thank you Father for making me, me. 

Refrain: For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile, you gave me Jesus and you made me your child.  And I just thank you Father for making me, me.

If I were an elephant, I’d thank you Lord by raising my trunk.  And if I were a kangaroo, you know I’d hope right up to you.  And if I were an octopus, I’d thank you Lord for my fine looks, and I just thank you Father for making me, me.  Refrain

If I were a wiggly worm, I’d thank you Lord that I could squirm.  And If I were a billy goat, I’d thank you Lord for my strong throat.  And if I were a fuzzy wuzzy bear, I’d thank you Lord for my fuzzy wuzzy bear.  And I just thank you Father for making me, me.  Refrain.

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:        Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  Eat This Bread (Renew!  # 228)

Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry. 

Eat this bread, drink this cup, trust in me and you will not thirst.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: When the Saints (Christian Children’s Songbook # 248)

When the saints go marching in, O when the saints go marching in.  Lord I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in.

When the girls go marching in….

When the boys go marching in…

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God! 

Signs within Signs within Signs.....of Christ

10 Pentecost cycle b proper 12 July 28, 2024
2 Kings 4:42-44 Psalm 145: 10-19
Ephesians 3:14-21 John 6:1-21

Lectionary Link

For today and for the next four Sundays, we will be reading from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John.  This chapter centers around the multiplication of the loaves and fish story, as a set up for a long bread of heaven discourse presented in the voice of Jesus.  In John's Gospel the multiplication of loaves story is coupled with Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee during a frightening storm for the disciples traveling in a boat.

The Gospel are written as different from other New Testament writings, which for the most part are letters of church leaders written to communities sharing teaching, prayers and poetry, liturgy, personal greetings, and practical instruction for the comprising of a new community experience in blending Jews and Gentiles in the practice of discipleship of Christ.

From our modern understanding of history as being "eye witness empirically verifiable" journalism of events, we can treat the Gospels as a sort of primitive oral history. In doing so, we miss the fact that they are the mystagogy of the early church presented using the narrative of Jesus.  They are spiritual presentations of Jesus within a spiritual continuity with the great heroes and themes of the Hebrew Scriptures.  Moses, Elisha, and Elijah, were known in their roles of being able to feed people in marvelous ways and they were also were people who had a way with water.  Calming waters was an important features of these heroes, since water in biblical mythology is the chaos of the deep over which the creating Spirit is always already moving.  The heroes are those who know how to redirect the energy of chaos toward the energy of creation and peace.

We cannot forget the mystagogy of the Gospel of John, which includes within it a Book of Signs.  The writer of John uses the word for Sign, semeion rather than the words for miracle or wonder. (ergon, dunamis, teras)

The Gospel of John begins with a great poetic assumption.  The Sign of Signs is Word itself, which is also God.  Human beings are made in the image of God as Word, by being creatures with language ability.

Within Word as the Sign of Signs, there arose the most profound human Sign, who was also the divine Sign within human experience.  Or as the writer of John writes, the Word became flesh and lived with us as the most accessible form of the divine to humanity.

We have read today about the multiplication of loaves and fish and about Jesus walking upon the stormy waters.

The early church was also a liturgical church, and the liturgy encoded the mystagogy, the spiritual of the experience of the Risen Christ, and how it would be encoded, taught, and represented in the gathered worship experience of the Christ communities.

Water and Bread, symbolizes the two primary sacraments of the church, are symbolized within the spiritual presentation of the life of Jesus Christ as the Sign of Signs in John's Gospel.  The one who is the Sign of Signs is also the one who continues to mystically provide for us signs of the Christ presences to us.

The Book of Signs within John's Gospel was not included to exhaust the presence of Jesus within the 30 some years of his history in Palestine; the Book of Signs was included to invite all readers to discover the signs of the Risen Christ which continues within our world and lives today.

Water and Bread are basic signs of continuing life for our physical being.  The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the one who gives us the water of spiritual life welling up within us, and as the one who has provided his very holistic life to us for our continuing fullness of life.

As we delve into this Book of Signs about Jesus as the Bread of Life, let us seek the wisdom to recognize the signs of God's love and goodness to us in our lives.  Amen.