Gathering
Video:
01 – Call to Worship
02 – Busy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFOGeOcgVCs
Introduction
Video:03 – Liturgical Greeting v.short http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AndLNmeBlrI
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
My dear friends in Christ, we gather together this evening to offer this holy sacrifice to Almighty God, who is the Mother and Father of us all.
On the eve of the Church’s festival of Mothering Sunday, a feast of unity and a return to the mother church, has been added the commercial festival of Mother’s Day, designed more to sell flowers and cards than to rightly give thanks to God for those who brought us into this world.
And yet, the God who defies all gender, who is truly other, has been bound up and limited by us in the language of gender as we speak of ‘Our Father…’
We demonstrate time and time again that we try to make Our God too small by the limitations of our imagination and language.
Scripture speaks of God protecting us like a Mother Hen, hiding us under the shadow of her wings, nurturing us like a small child.
Even in incarnated form, God shows to us a love which defies gender and reaches out to us:
Saint Anselm wrote:
And thou, Jesus, sweet Lord,
art thou not also a mother?
Truly, thou art a mother,
the mother of all mothers,
who tasted death,
in thy desire to give life to thy children.
Anselm, 11th C
For some, Mother’s Day might be an awkward day, a reminder of what is not, what is lost, or what is painful or traumatic. Mothering Sunday speaks of what is, and what matters.
Let us pray therefore with special intention for Holy Mother Church for her unity, as we pray alongside Our Blessed Lady, Mother of Our Lord, first apostle and Mother of All Christians (as one of her titles in the Orthodox Church styles her), let us offer this holy sacrifice to Almighty God, the Mother and Father of us all.
And so as we prepare to encounter God in these holy and sacred mysteries, let us first call to mind our sins…
Penitential Rite & Absolution
Screen: reconcile
Video: 04 – Scattered Stones http://www.vimeo.com/10039119
Sin separates. It separates us from God, it separates us as a community. The stones of unity which are built into a temple, a cairn of living stones are torn apart and scattered.
Take from this cairn a stone to hold, to transfer your sin into…
<cairn is dismantled>
Cradle it, and let its hard exterior take on the hardness of your heart.
Your stone carries the marks of wind and water, of weather, of spade and drill. It has history. It has past: just like your life. You carry the scars of your experience, maybe outside, maybe within.
You hold in your hand something unique, something special, something of which there not another anywhere in the world. Just like you.
In places where God is rarely heard, in the dark and dismal places, these stones are ready to cry out in praise of God. Shed onto this stone your hurt, your doubt, your fear, your insecurity, for reluctance to reach out to the God who reaches out to you.
The Lord, who makes all things and draws in unity all things, will take this from you, and release you from your burden…
Holy God, Maker of us all,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus Christ, Servant of the poor,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, Breath of life,
Have mercy on us.
Let us in silence remember our own faults and failings…
God takes our hardness of heart, and replaces it with a heart of flesh. Let us rebuild the temple of living stones, and renew this church, this place, this people with our resolution to be reconciled to the God who reaches out to us.
<cairn is rebuilt>
I confess to God and in the company of all God’s people that my life and the life of the world are broken by my sin.
May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love.
Amen.
We confess to God and in the company of all God’s people that our lives and the life of the world are broken by our sin
May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love.
Amen
Screen: You are forgiven
The Lord has put away your sin, and of your charity, pray for me, a sinner also. Amen
Collect
Let us pray…
God of compassion,
whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary,
shared the life of a home in Nazareth,
and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself:
strengthen us in our daily living
that in joy and in sorrow
we may know the power of your presence
to bind together and to heal;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
Liturgy of the Word
Video: 05 – Word
Video: 06 – This is your Son
Meditation:
Video: 07 – Nurture Meditation http://www.vimeo.com/10028034
Scattered in this space are the detritus of life, discarded toys, relics of past times, long forgotton memories.
take a toy
hold it to yourself
comfort it, as if rather than simple cloth, it is flesh and blood, warm, wriggling
you may never have done this to a child, or it may be second nature
As you embrace the toy, imagine that you yourself are in those arms
That you are held, comforted, reassured.
She held him. Just as every mother has ever held a child.
She held him close in a dark and damp cave, amid the smells of cattle and donkey, because there was no room elsewhere
She held him on a hurried journey in the middle of the night to flee the implending slaughter of innocents, to become a refugee in fear and poverty
She held him and comforted him, when the thunder gave him fright or the shadows lept and prevented sleep
She rocked him and held him as in contentment and security he drifted off to sleep.
He knew what it was to receive love and would grow to show that love to others.
In the arms of Our Blesséd Mother Mary, lies the Christ-child, lies you.
The God that stepped into this world, who became flesh like you, shares that common bond with you… and you lie cradled together in Our Lady’s arms.
You are loved. You are nurtured. As you cradle this toy, imagine you are cradled, alongside the Christ whose calling is to firstly be nurtured and then to nurture the
whole world in love, in compassion, in sacrifice.
If that is his calling, then are we not called also? Are we not also called to love, to compassion and yes, even to sacrifice for the whole world. Are we not called to care? Are we not called to preserve and to heal?
In your arms lies broken relationships and hurt, the fears and anxieties of ourselves and of others, the needs of those we love, and the needs of those we do not know. In your arms lie the capacity to nurture as you have been nurtured.
Unlike a child, this toy can be discarded. Returned to the floor and forgotton. Your call to nurture this world, cannot be thrown away so lightly.
You will be sent out from this place empowered by God’s holy and life-giving sacraments, and that power will be in your arms to heal and to care.
Embrace life. Return the embrace that God gives you.
Embrace Life, and change the world.
Intercessions
Video: 08 – Visual Intercessions
The Liturgy of the Sacrament
Peace
Video: 09 – Blessed Peace http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhIgWrdLNXw
Christ is our peace.
He has reconciled us to God
in one body by the cross.
We meet in his name and share his peace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of peace
The Peace is shared
The Offertory
As the offertory is played, bread and wine move haphazardly from the rear to the altar, passing through most members of the congregation
Video: 10 – Blesséd be your name (iWorship)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cyqn2LxKVk
Pray, my dear friends, that this our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Mother and Father of us all
May the Lord accept the sacrifice of your hands, for our good, and the good of all the church
The Eucharistic Prayer
Video: 11 – Joined with Angels – Eucharistic Prayer B http://www.vimeo.com/9304160
The Lord be with you
and also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.
1 Father, we give you thanks and praise
through your beloved Son Jesus Christ, your living Word,
through whom you have created all things;
who was sent by you in your great goodness to be our Saviour.
2 By the power of the Holy Spirit he took flesh;
as your Son, born of the blessed Virgin,
he lived on earth and went about among us;
3 he opened wide his arms for us on the cross;
he put an end to death by dying for us;
4 and revealed the resurrection by rising to new life;
so he fulfilled your will and won for you a holy people.
5 Therefore with angels and archangels,
and with all the company of heaven,
we proclaim your great and glorious name,
for ever praising you and singing:
Sanctus
We are joined by angels,
Our purpose the same:
To worship the one and only God,
A little piece of heaven in this place
And we cry together: Holy, holy
For there is no other like You, Lord.
We declare together: You are awesome,
You are to be feared, honoured and revered,
For You are the Lord.
We are joined by angels,
With one voice we sing,
As we lift our hands to honour You,
In worship, the angels extend their wings.
And we cry together: Holy, holy
For there is no other like You, Lord.
We declare together: You are awesome,
You are to be feared, honoured and revered,
For You are the Lord.
The priest continues
6 Lord, you are holy indeed, the source of all holiness;
7 grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit,
and according to your holy will,
these gifts of bread and wine
may be to us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ;
8 who, in the same night that he was betrayed,
took bread and gave you thanks;
he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you;
do this in remembrance of me.
9 In the same way, after supper
he took the cup and gave you thanks;
he gave it to them, saying:
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.
10 Do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of me.
<no memorial acclamation>
11 And so, Father, calling to mind his death on the cross,
his perfect sacrifice made once
for the sins of the whole world;
rejoicing in his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension,
and looking for his coming in glory,
we celebrate this memorial of our redemption.
12 As we offer you this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving,
we bring before you this bread and this cup
and we thank you for counting us worthy
to stand in your presence and serve you.
13 Send the Holy Spirit on your people
and gather into one in your kingdom
all who share this one bread and one cup,
so that we, in the company of Our Blessed Lady,
St Thomas the Apostle, all the saints,
may praise and glorify you for ever,
through Jesus Christ our Lord;
14 by whom, and with whom, and in whom,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory be yours, almighty Father,
for ever and ever.
And we cry together: Holy, holy
For there is no other like You, Lord.
We declare together: You are awesome,
You are to be feared, honoured and revered,
For You are the Lord.
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Video: 12 – The Lord’s Prayer Challenge http://www.vimeo.com/10048025
Our Father in heaven.
Don’t say ‘Father’ if you do not behave like a son or daughter. Don’t say ‘Our’ if you only think of your self.
Hallowed by your name
Don’t say ‘Hallowed’ if you do not honour that name.
Your Kingdom come
Don’t say ‘Your Kingdom come’ if you are weighed down with material goods
Don’t say ‘Thy will be done’ if you do not accept the hard bits
Don’t say ‘as it is in heaven’ if you only think about earthly matters
Give us this day our daily bread
Don’t say ’Our daily bread’ if you have no concern for the hungry or the homeless
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who against us
Don’t say ‘Forgive us our sins’ if you remain angry with someone
Lead us not into temptation
Don’t say ‘Lead us not into temptation’ if you intend to continue sinning
But deliver us from evil
Don’t say ‘Deliver us from evil if you are not willing to make a stand against injustice
For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen
Don’t say ‘AMEN’ without considering the words of your prayer!
We break this bread to share in the body of Christ
Though we are many we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.
Agnus Dei
Video: 13 – Rufus Wainwright: Agnus Dei http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVbdzqOrOjg
This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
Blessed are those who are called to his supper.
Lord I am not worthy to receive you,
but only say the word and I shall be healed.
Communion
Video: 14 – Prayer from the Heart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPX9clcLLAw
Post Communion Prayer
Let us pray…
Father,
You enlighten all who come into the world.
Fill our hearts with the light of your gospel,
that our thoughts may please you,
and our love be sincere.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
Amen
Blessing & Dismissal
Video: 15 Joy Division Blessing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Ma-AodQ9I
Video: 16 – Polyphonic Spree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GewbAuTgu5g
END