Sunday, July 27, 2025 Emmaus Liturgy! 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 8 

For Phone Users: Dial In:

+16694449171,,5193158573# US

Emmaus Liturgy for Sunday 7/27/25  

Theme: Love & Loss

Welcome & Introduction Marcie: (Acknowledge any newcomers)

There are many kinds of love. We have all loved and lost. A parent, a spouse, a child, a friend, a pet. And there are other losses like a home, ability, memory, health, environment, and so many others. We grieve these losses in many different ways. This afternoon we want to acknowledge these losses, maybe to share how we’ve dealt with them, or haven’t been able to deal with them yet. 

Did we get over some and not others? Maybe we don’t want to get over them, but instead be able to hold our grief differently. Maybe the hole in your heart will always be there and we hold it in a special way.

Liturgy of the Word

Victoria: Our Opening Prayer tonight is a “body/breath” meditative prayer that begins with a brief story, followed by a one minute meditation focused on our inhaling and exhaling. I’ll ring the singing bowl to begin and end our meditation. (Victoria will read and then lead the meditation)

(Kay Lambert) 1st Reading

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort we ourselves are comforted by God. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Responsoral Psalm: 147:3

 All: God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

(Jeanine )  2nd Reading (“A Gracious Lady” - Wendell Berry)

A gracious lady came to us, and favored us by receiving kindly our care of her at the end of all her days. She was a lady made graceful beyond what we had known by the welcome she gave to death, her guest, whom she made unfearful by her fearlessness, having no further use for herself as we had known her.

( Jim Keck ) Gospel

Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.

Revelations 21:3-4

Song: “To Where You Are”

Shared Homily (Marcie)

We have all loved and lost. There’s a physical losing and an emotional losing.

Grief teaches us how to relate to others as we develop a much deeper sense of compassion and begin to share our story with others. 

It’s good to give voice to these losses, and it’s especially good when we have a community with whom to share—who listen to us with compassion and try to be there for us. We are on this life journey together.

Who/What are you most afraid of losing?

What is the most significant loss you have experienced?

What have you learned from losing?

Sharing of Gifts - the basket in front of our table is for those who wish to contribute.

Prayers of the Faithful (Victoria) Response: Lord, hear our prayer

For those we have loved and lost, we pray to the Lord….

For those left behind, whose grief seems unbearable, we pray to the Lord….

For those who have no one to comfort them, we pray to the Lord….

For those who long for the peace of acceptance, we pray to the Lord…..

(Victoria) Who or what do you bring to the table? (Use hand gestures to gather them in, hold them to our heart, and lift them up.)

All: O God, teach us to recognize that as we walk with each other, you are present.

Liturgy of the Eucharist (Prayer of Thanksgiving) Eucharist Prayer

Victoria: God of Love, we gather together remembering those who have gone before us, grateful for their love and asking for the strength and courage to persevere in love and hope.

On the night before he died, Jesus was at table with his friends. He took bread, gave thanks to you, broke it, and gave it to his friends saying,

All: “This is my body, broken for you.”

Marcie: As supper was ending, Jesus took the cup of wine. Again he gave thanks to you, gave it to his friends and said,

All: “This cup is the new covenant of my lifeblood shed for you and for all. As often as you do this, do this in memory of me.”

Acclamation (sung a cappella) 

All: We remember how you loved us all your life. And we still celebrate for you are with us here. And we believe that we will see you, when you come. When you come again. We remember. We celebrate. We believe.

Victoria: Now gathered at your table, we offer to you our gifts of bread and wine, and ourselves, a living sacrifice. Pour out your Spirit upon all these gifts that they, and we, may be the Body and Blood of Christ. Breathe your Spirit over the whole earth and make us your new creation.

Marcie: In the fullness of time bring us with all your saints from every tribe and language, from every people and nation to feast at the banquet prepared from the foundation of the world.

All: (Holding up the bread and wine)  For it is through him, with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor. Is yours, O God, now and forever. Amen.

Victoria: 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: Our Mother, Our Father, Holy and blessed is your true name. We pray for your reign of peace to come. We pray that your good will be done. Let heaven and earth become one. Give us this day the bread we need. Give it to those who have none. Let forgiveness flow like a river between us, from each one to each one. Lead us to holy innocence beyond the evil of our days. Come swiftly Mother, Father, come. For yours is the power and the glory and the mercy: forever your name is All in One.

Offering Our Gift of Peace

Marcie: Let us offer to one another a sign of our peace and love.

Invitation to Communion:

Victoria: Everyone is welcome to this table. Our God, whom the universe cannot contain, is present to us in this bread. Our God, who redeems us and calls us by name, now meets us in this cup. So come, beloved friends, and take this bread, drink this wine. In them, God comes to us, so that we may come to God.

Marcie: As the bread and wine are passed around to those present, we invite everyone on Zoom to join in the communion we share while we listen to our communion

Song: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Light - Kevin Kern

YouTube - Sergia Montanari (instrumental & video)

Closing Blessing

Victoria: "In the struggles we choose for ourselves, in the ways we move forward in our lives and bring our world forward with us. 

They have not melted into dust and have not disappeared, they are with us still. The lives they lived hold us steady. 

Their words remind us and call us back to ourselves. They move forward with us.

It is right to remember the names of those who gave us strength in this choice of living. It is right to name the power of hard lives well-lived. 

We share a history with those lives. We belong to the same motion. They too were strengthened by what had gone before. They too were drawn on by the vision of what might come to be. 

Those who lived before us, who struggled for justice and courage and love, evoke our own. We carry them with us: we are their voices, their hands, their hearts. 

We take them with us, and with them, choose the deeper path of living. 

from “They Are With Us Still”

And the good people of this beloved community say,

AMEN