The Way Home March 9

our bell will begin the invitation to prayer

Wild is the Wind – Cat Power musical reflection into silence

silence our bell will break into the silence

we gather…

Mystery of Goodness, by whose gaze we are called into being and held in life, teach us the kind of prayer which seeks no reward, the kind of love which forgets itself. Spirit of the desert, scour our hearts and awaken our hunger, that we might find ourselves in you; through Jesus Christ, Lord of the wilds. Amen.

we share the story… - first reading You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things. ~ Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese”

we share the story… - second reading Listen, this is the trinity, he said, tramping the wet road in the thin well-being of winter morning: God the curlew, God the eider, God the cheese-on-toast. To his right a huddle of small blue mountains squatted together discussing the recent storm. To his left the sea washed. I thought it was whimsical, what he said, I condemned it as fey. Then I saw that he meant it; that, unlike me, he had no quarrel with himself, could see his own glory was young enough for faith still in flesh and in being. He was not attracted by awe

or a high cold cleanness but imagined a god as intimate as the trickles of blood and juice that coursed about inside him, a god he could eat or warm his hands on, a low god for winter: belly-weighted, with the unmistakable call of the bog curlew or the sea-going eider. ~ Kerry Hardie, “The Avatar”

- the gospel Matthew 4:1-11 we share the story…

The Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt him. After Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was starving. The tempter came to him and said, “Since you are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.” Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.” After that the devil brought him into the holy city and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, I will command my angels concerning you, and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”

Jesus replied, “Again it’s written, Don’t test the Lord your God.” Then the devil brought him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He said, “I’ll give you all these if you bow down and worship me.” Jesus responded, “Go away, Satan, because it’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” The devil left him, and angels came and took care of him.

musical reflection into silence Out of the Wilderness - The Be Good Tanyas

silence our bell will break into the silence

we pra y we pra y we pra y we pra y we pra y we pra y we pray…

Holy God, You enter the desert to face the hardest truth; we live in self-deception. Send your Holy Spirit to call us by name and lead us home. You offer the bread that gives true life; we consume what leaves us craving more. Send your Holy Spirit to call us by name and lead us home. Your table is open to all; we keep it for ourselves. Send your Holy Spirit to call us by name and lead us home.

You refuse to worship empty power; we let greed rule our world. Send your Holy Spirit to call us by name and lead us home. You call us to share your holiness; we think we are not worthy. Send your Holy Spirit to call us by name and lead us home. Your welcome is wild; we are caged by fear. Send your Holy Spirit to call us by name and lead us home.

Creator and Healer, Come to every home where grief and loneliness have overshadowed joy and love; Come to every neighbourhood where fear and suspicion have overshadowed friendship and care; Come to every country where the lack or the excess of wealth have overshadowed generosity and compassion;

Come to every corner of our world where despair and violence have overshadowed respect and peace; Come to our planet where negligence and greed have overshadowed responsibility and restraint; Come to us again, Lord of the wellspring; restore us and renew us. Teach us to step into your future alive and unashamed. Amen.

we come to the table…

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. With the bread we need for today, feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us. From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever. Amen. The Lord’s Prayer

we share communion…

musical reflection into silence Wildflowers by Tom Petty

silence our bell will break into the silence silence our bell will break into the silence

we leave together we leave together…

The Peace of Christ be always with you, And also with you. we share the peace…

May our journey through the universal questions of life bring us to a new moment of awareness. May it be an enlightening one. May we find embedded in the past, like all the students of life before us, the answers we are seeking now. May they awaken that in us which is deeper than fact, truer than fiction, full of faith. May we come to know that in every human event is a particle of the Divine to which we turn for meaning here, to which we tend for fullness of life hereafter. - Sr. Joan Chittister, Benedictine Sisters of Erie

Thank you God for our times together on this journey and for the way our prayers feed our souls and change our hearts and unite us with you. We go now to live as Christ loves us, as people of compassion, as those who seek home in serving and healing each other. And now may God’s presence, God’s love and God’s hope go with us and remain with us always. Amen.

we share in community... food and drink and conversation.