Communion for Epiphany Sunday

Arise, beloved ones

and come to the feast

where all are welcome

and all is ready.

God’s light has become manifest----

the light shines in and around you

but also within you.

Let it shine.

Let the transforming power of love

shed light into your chaotic places,

your tragic places, and your hopeful places.

Let it fill you.

You cannot see the path ahead,

you cannot divine the way.

You will make the road by walking it.

You will go home a different way.

Do not be afraid.

God knows that our deepest fear

is not that we are inadequate:

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful

beyond measure.

“It is our light; not our darkness

that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

Come, gorgeous ones

to the table of life

and share this meal

for all is prepared,  

all is ready for you.

(People come forward and place their gifts around the table)

 The Holy One is here in our minds and in our hearts.

 Let us open our spirits to God.

We come open and ready. We give thanks and praise!

O God, our mother and father, bread baker and wine maker, we give you thanks and praise. You worked the world into being, instilled all creation with life, and shaped us as your people.

In Jesus Christ, the bread of life and the true vine,

You feed us with the Word and quench our thirst for justice.

At table with a circle of his friends,

Jesus took bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them saying:  “Take. Eat. This is my body given for you.

Remember me, each time you do this.”

After supper he took a cup, gave God thanks for the wine,

and shared it with his friends saying: “Take. Drink. This is my blood, love poured out for you. Remember me, each time you drink it.”

Spirit of the Living God, help us recognize the risen Christ

in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup.

Send your blessing on this bread;

Send your grace upon this cup.

This is the feast of love for the people of God.

 (holding up the bread) "May the living God be reborn in you."  

 (holding up the cup of wine)   “Love born and poured out for you.”

Give Birth

What good is it to me if this birth

 of the divine Son takes place unceasingly

 but does not take place in myself? 

What good is it to me if Mary

 is full of grace but I am not?

 What good is it for me

 for the creator to give birth 

if I do not also give birth to him

 in my time and my culture? 

This is the fullness of time, 

when the son of God is begotten in us.

Meister Eckhart (15^th century mystic)

If You Want

If you want,

the virgin will come walking down the road

pregnant with the holy, and say,

 “I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart,

my time is close.”

Then, under the roof of your soul,

you will witness the sublime

intimacy, the divine Christ

taking birth forever, as she grabs your hand for help,

for each of us is the midwife of God, each of us.

Yes, there under the dome of your being does creation comes into existence

Eternally through your womb,

Dear pilgrim---

the sacred womb in your soul, as God grabs our arms for help;

for each of us is his beloved servant never far.

                           St. John of the Cross

The Risk of Birth, Christmas, 1973

This is no time for a child to be born,

With the earth betrayed by war & hate

And a comet slashing the sky to warn

That time runs out & the sun burns late

That was no time for a child to be born,

In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;

Honor & truth were trampled by scorn –

Yet here did the Saviour make his home.

When is the time for love to be born?

The inn is full on planet earth,

And by a comet the sky is torn –

Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.

Madeleine L’Engle

Hope starts small as a seed in the womb. All God needs is a willing womb, a place of safety, nourishment and love. Miryam offered all of these ---space, love, and belief. God requires only a small space, a womb or a lowly manger to be born. What are you offering this season of Epiphany? How can creation come into existence through your womb, dear pilgrim? What new birth, what new way of being is seeking to be born in your soul this new year? Is this not the fullness of time for us all because the world can't wait, because God needs us--- is grabbing our hand? Are you willing to risk?

Prayer

From God’s fullness

we all receive room.

Life and light---

divine access and grace filled flesh

belong to us all.

We give thanks for the Word

who assures us that the light

will never be overcome by darkness.

May this light

widen our vision.

May we become

welcoming fires

in empire’s shadows.

May we see how

the story of God

with-us

invites our participation.

May we live Christmas all year long.

family gathered around a fire
 in their bombed out home in Gaza, 2012

An Arabic Christmas Carol (Byzantine Hymn of the Nativity)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvjiVam2HO