Saturday, April 26, 2025: Join Us Tomorrow for our Emmaus Celebration at Christ Church United Methodist or on Zoom: All are Welcome!

We begin with welcoming at 3:45

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1717 Yulupa Ave, Santa Rosa, 

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Emmaus Liturgy April 27th, 2024

For the Children; Celebrating Earth Day; Life, Death, Resurrection;

We are Easter People and Remembering Pope Francis

Ring the Singing Bell:

Steve:

OPENING PRAYER:

“In the name of the Bee, And of the Butterly, And of the Breeze — Amen - Emily Dickinson

 WELCOME/INTRODUCTION:

Just as Thomas Berry dedicated his book titled, “The Great Work” to the children, Pat and I dedicate this liturgy to them as well. Berry says:

Pat:

“To the children, to all the children. To the children who swim beneath the waves of the sea, to those who live in the soils of the Earth, to the children of the flowers in the meadows and the trees in the forest, to all those children who roam over the land. And the winged ones who fly with the winds. To the human children too, that all the children may go together into the future in the full Diversity of their regional communities.”

David: OPENING SONG: Christ the Lord has Risen Today Charles Wesley

Steve:

Today’s liturgy may leave us with more questions than answers. Preparing for this liturgy we wanted to celebrate Earth Day and Earth Week in the light of our recent journey through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as celebrated during Holy Week, and culminating with the joy of Easter last Sunday. We cannot ignore the difficult times we are in and we didn’t want to sugarcoat todays reality. As we deal with so many concerns, the inhumane treatment of immigrants, loss of trust in the American government from our allies, degrading of our democratic principles, and rising cost of living and fear of a possible recession to name a few. As Pope Francis reminds us, the environmental time bomb ticks away. Climate change and the degradation of the environment is real. We inch closer and closer to climate tipping points that could lead to severe worldwide degradation of our living conditions, (which many people and other species are already experiencing), or even extinction of the human race itself.

Pat:

James Baldwin says: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” 

Steve:

Joanna Macy says, “Until the late 20th Century, every generation throughout history lived with a tacit certainty that there would be generations to follow. Each assumed without questioning that its children and children’s children would walk the same earth under the same sky. That certainty is now lost to us, whatever our politics. That loss, unmeasured and immeasurable, is the pivotal psychological reality of our time.”

Pat:

Womanist author Audrey Lord says, “Within each one of us there is some piece of humanness that knows we are not being served by the machine which orchestrates crisis after crisis and is grinding all of our futures into dust.” It feels like Good Friday has no end. But let us find clear guidance and hope in today’s readings.

FIRST READING: Children, It’s Spring

And this is the lady whom everyone loves, Ms. Violet in her purple gown or, on special occasions, a dress the color of sunlight. She sits in the mossy weeds and waits to be noticed. She loves dampness. She loves attention. She loves especially to be picked by careful fingers, young fingers, entranced by what has happened to the world. 

We the older ones, call it Spring, and we have been through it many times.

But there is still nothing like the children bringing home such happiness in their small hands.” - Mary Oliver

ALL:  Hear what the Spirit is Saying.

SECOND READING: Steve: Introduction:

In 2023, eight years after his encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis released an update via an Apostolic Exhortation titled, Laudate Deum (or Praise God) To All People of Good Will on the Climate Crisis. He reemphasizes that the effects of climate change disproportionately affects the underprivileged and poor in a negative and sometimes devastating way. In honor of Pope Francis, our second reading is comprised of excerpts from this document.

Reader 1

Eight years have passed since I published the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si, when I wanted to share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet, my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home. Yet, with the passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. In addition to this possibility, it is indubitable that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons. We will feel its effects in the areas of healthcare, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migrations, etc. This is a global issue and one intimately related to the dignity of human life.

Reader 2

Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident. No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone.

Reader 3

Some effects of the climate crisis are already irreversible, at least for several hundred years, such as the increase in the global temperature of the oceans, their acidification and the decrease of oxygen. Ocean waters have a thermal inertia and centuries are needed to normalize their temperature and salinity, which affects the survival of many species. This is one of the many signs that the other creatures of this world have stopped being our companions along the way and have become instead our victims.

Reader 4

The same can be said about the decrease in the continental ice sheets. The melting of the poles will not be able to be reversed for hundreds of years. As for the climate, there are factors that have persisted for long periods of time, independent of the events that may have triggered them. For this reason, we are now unable to halt the enormous damage we have caused. We barely have time to prevent even more tragic damage.  Certain apocalyptic diagnoses may well appear scarcely reasonable or insufficiently grounded. This should not lead us to ignore the real possibility that we are approaching a critical point.

Reader 1

In Laudato Si, I offered a brief resume’ of the technocratic paradigm underlying the current process of environmental decay. It is “a certain way of understanding human life and activity that has gone awry, to the serious detriment of the world around us.” Deep down, it consists in thinking “as reality, goodness and truth automatically flow from technological and economic power as such.” As a logical consequence, it then becomes easy “to accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology.” In recent years, we have been able to confirm this diagnosis, even as we have witnessed a new advance of the above paradigm. Artificial intelligence and the latest technological innovations start with the notion of a human being with no limits, whose abilities and possibilities can be infinitely expanded thanks to technology. In this way, the technocratic paradigm monstrously feeds upon itself.

Reader 2

Without a doubt, the natural resources required by technology, such as lithium, silicon and so many others, are not unlimited, yet the greater problem is the ideology underlying an obsession to increase human power beyond anything imaginable, before which nonhuman reality is a mere resource at its disposal. Everything that exists ceases to be a gift for which we should be thankful, esteem and cherish, and instead becomes a slave, prey to any whim of the human mind and its capacities.

Reader 3

I cannot fail in this regard to remind the Catholic faithful of the motivations born of their faith. I encourage my brothers and sisters of other religions to do the same, since we know that authentic faith not only gives strength to the human heart, but also transforms life, transfigures our goals and sheds light on our relationship to others and with creation as a whole….If we consider that emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven time greater than the average of the poorest countries, we can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact. As a result, along with indispensable political decisions, we would be making progress along the way to genuine care for one another. Praise God is the title of this letter. For when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies.

ALL: Alleluia, Alleluia, He has conquered death, Alleluia. Love will win out! Alleluia

Pat: Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the soul of Pope Francis and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. May eternal light shine upon our Pope Francis.

Amen.

SHARED HOMILY: 

• Do you have a favorite memory of Pope Francis or how has he influenced you on your journey or in regards to your faith? Were you aware of his follow-up Exhortation Laudate Deum?

• Can you share a special moment in nature that has had an impact on your life or has influenced you or radiated throughout your life?

• Share ways in which you try to decrease your footprint on mother earth, decrease use, reuse, or recycling. Decrease the purchase and use of plastic items. How do you decrease your energy use?

• Does nature provide a refuge for you during these troubling times? Do have a favorite place in nature that is your sanctuary?

• Do you have feelings about the condition of the world we are leaving for our children and grandchildren?

Steve: What do we bring to the table. What do you want to pray for?

Passing the basket.

David: OFFERTORY SONG: Ubi Caritas

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=R6w5F1-ceIU

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER:

Pat: 

O Holy Spirit, we come to this Eucharistic Table with deep gratitude for Pope Francis and his leadership but saddened by his passing. We are grateful for Francis who modeled a church with open arms, meeting people where they are, calling for inclusivity, defending the marginalized, and who said “who am I to judge.” We are grateful for a man who believed in “having mercy,” in promoting ecology, who believed in true happiness is living for love. We ask that our prayers will be received by Francis and that his spirit will be here with us today. We ask you O Holy Spirit to watch over the upcoming Conclave and help steer the Church in a positive and life giving direction. We call on you to give us courage and strength in combating climate change and the degradation of our environment that sustains us. Help us to care for each other and for ourselves during these stressful times. May this meal be an expression of love for Pope Francis, Mother Earth, and for all the children around the whole planet. 

All: Amen

BLESSING OF THE BREAD AND WINE:

Pat:  On the night before He died, Jesus was at table with His friends, He took bread, He gave thanks to God, He blessed it, He broke it, and shared it with His friends and said, 

All: “This is my body, shared with you.” 

Steve:  As supper was ending, Jesus took the cup of wine, He gave thanks, He gave it to His friends and said, This is the cup of my love for you and for all creation. 

ALL: Go forth and be my hands and be my feet; carry my love into the world.

Pat: Let us proclaim the Mystery of Our Faith

All:  For it is Through Christ, With Christ, and In Christ, in unity with the Holy Spirit that all honor and glory are yours, now and forever.

All:  Amen.

Steve:  Now together, as one community, let us pray in the spirit of our brother Jesus. 

All:  

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 are the heavens: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us. And give bread to those who have none. 

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and test, 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 forever. Amen. (The Lord’s Prayer - The New Zealand Prayer Book)

THE KISS OF PEACE:

Pat:  Let us greet one another with a gesture of Peace!

Invitation to Eucharist: 

Steve:   So through this Eucharist, and in the spirit of our Beloved Emmaus Community, we extend the invitation of Jesus to each and everyone of you to take and eat this bread, and drink from this cup. Let us come to this table, this is the table of the Risen Christ, where all are welcome.

All: Amen

David: COMMUNION SONG: Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Etc29mMOaLU

POST COMMUNION REFLECTION:

Teach us, and show us the Way  By Chinook (Anonymous) (18th Century)

 

Pat:

We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring

heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it:

All: Teach us, and show us the Way.

Pat: We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the high green

valleys and meadows filled with wild flowers, the snows that never melt, the

summits of intense silence, and we ask that they:

All:Teach us, and show us the Way.

Pat:

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our

rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields and we ask that they:

All: Teach us, and show us the Way.

Pat:

We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields,

the abundant gardens and orchards, and we ask that they:

All: Teach us, and show us the Way.

Pat:

We call upon the forests, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with earth in

their roots and the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine and the

cedar, and we ask them to:

All: Teach us, and show us the Way.

Pat:

We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the seas, our brothers and

sisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whales and the dolphin,

the beautiful Orca and salmon who share our Northwest home, and we ask them to:

All: Teach us, and show us the Way.

Pat:

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends,

who dreamed the best for future generations, and upon whose lives our lives are

built, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to:

All: Teach us, and show us the Way.

Pat:

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of

the Great Spirit of love and truth which flows through all the Universe, to be with

us to:

All: Teach us, and show us the Way.

Enid: BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS: Ed and Hermine

CLOSING PRAYER: Prayer For The Life Of The World John Philip Newell

ALL:  

The ageless mountains are full of your glory, the vast seas swell with your might, the shining skies expand beyond our imagining so we pause to praise we wait in wonder we listen to learn of the mountain glory within us of the sea force in our veins of love’s shining infinity. Grant us the grace, O God, to serve this inner universe of soul among us.”

ALL: And this Beloved Emmaus Community says:  AMEN!

David: CLOSING SONG: Here Comes the Sun Beatles