Sunday,  July 13, 2025 Emmaus Liturgy for Today! Join Us This Afternoon for our Emmaus Celebration either at Christ Church United Methodist in Santa Rosa or on ZOOM!

We begin with welcoming at 3:45

In Person 

in Classroom 8 at Christ Church United Methodist

1717 Yulupa Ave, Santa Rosa, 

Or 

Join our Emmaus Celebration on Zoom:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5193158573?omn=81718819732

Meeting ID: 519 315 8573
Passcode: 1234

Patti and Hermine:  Opening Remarks

Opening song: On Eagles Wings https://youtu.be/nSjkJiuCaVI

First Reading: From John O'Donohue 

Though we need to weep your loss,

You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,

Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.

Your love was like the dawn

Brightening over our lives

Awakening beneath the dark

A further adventure of colour.

The sound of your voice

Found for us

A new music

That brightened everything.

Whatever you enfolded in your gaze

Quickened in the joy of its being;

You placed smiles like flowers

On the altar of the heart.

Your mind always sparkled

With wonder at things.

Though your days here were brief,

Your spirit was live, awake, complete.

We look towards each other no longer

From the old distance of our names;

Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,

As close to us as we are to ourselves.

Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,

We know our soul's gaze is upon your face,

Smiling back at us from within everything

To which we bring our best refinement.

Let us not look for you only in memory,

Where we would grow lonely without you.

You would want us to find you in presence,

Beside us when beauty brightens,

When kindness glows

And music echoes eternal tones.

When orchids brighten the earth,

Darkest winter has turned to spring;

May this dark grief flower with hope

In every heart that loves you.

May you continue to inspire us:

To enter each day with a generous heart.

To serve the call of courage and love

Until we see your beautiful face again

In that land where there is no more separation,

Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,

And where we will never lose you again.

:Gospel: The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-3

 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise

IVP Ne

Shared Homily:

Hermine: Introduction to shared homily

Questions: Who do you think of when you think of ‘neighbor’?

When has a ‘neighbor’ helped you?

When has a ‘stranger’ helped you?

Patti: What do we bring to the table? (use hand motions)

Patti:    We take all these spoken prayers and those that may remain silent in your heart and lift them to God.

Eucharistic Prayer (Prayer of Thanksgiving) 

Patti:  We pray today, aware that the same Spirit that moved in Jesus, moves in each one of us; a Spirit beyond all names, a Spirit embedded in all people, a Spirit embedded in all living things.  

We pray today, grateful for the human gift of conscious awareness, that enables us to appreciate the bond we share with everything that exists; everything that exists on earth and in the vastness beyond this planet.

Hermine:  We are bonded with stars, with galaxies, with space beyond measure; with rocks and mountains, with rivers, lakes and oceans, with flowers, ferns and forests, with the many species of animals, with every other human being.

We pray today, aware of the urgent need for humanity to acknowledge and respect this unbreakable bond we all share and to live in accordance with it.

We give thanks for men and women throughout the ages, who have increased our knowledge and awareness of the connectedness of everything in the universe, living and non-living.

Patti:  Today we remember Jesus and the challenges he faced as he preached his revolutionary message – the misunderstanding, the rejection, the accusations, the insults, the pain and suffering he endured sometimes even from the people closest to him.

We remember the way he faced his death, alone, yet faithful to what he had preached; lonely, yet hopeful that his message would carry on.

Hermine:  We gather as people who put our faith in Jesus’ message of love.  

We commit ourselves to bringing his powerful message to a world desperately in need of hope to carry on as he did in the face of opposition, misunderstanding or rejection.

Bonded in spirit with followers of Jesus throughout the centuries who, like him, faced 

great obstacles; we eat this bread and drink this wine as a sign of our readiness to be counted as true brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Patti:  We give thanks for the Spirit, active in our lives as it was in the life of Jesus.

We break and share this bread, As Jesus broke and shared it. 

We share it as our pledge of openness To the Spirit in our midst, and in the acknowledgment Of our eternal connectedness with the Spirit.

Hermine: We take wine and drink,

As Jesus invited his friends to drink, Mindful of a relationship of love and trust

Between ourselves and the Spirit. Breathe your Spirit over the whole earth and make us your new creation.

All:  For it is through him, with him and in him, now and forever.

Hermine:  Now together, as one community, we offer to you O God, 

our prayer, in the name of your beloved son and our brother, Jesus: 

All:  Creator God, who gives birth to all that is and was and will be!

Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruits of your mission. Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with your desire. Forgive us for the times our will has not aligned with your will. Allow us the grace to forgive others from the entanglement of past mistakes. Do not let us be burdened by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment. For you are the vision, the birth, power and fulfillment, as all is gathered and made whole once again.

Sign of Peace:

Hermine: Let us offer a Sign of Peace to those around you.

Patti: All are welcome at this table.  [Explain passing the bread and the cup.]

Communion Song: In love for me https://g.co/kgs/6VDgmPW

Closing Poem: i carry your heart with me by ee cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart

And this beloved Emmaus Community says: 

 

ALL: AMEN! 

 

Closing Song: https://g.co/kgs/Xb8LGAm

Birthdays! Enid 

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