The Eucharist of The Congregation of Abraxas

 

Prelude:

 

[Silence, or music, ending with the ringing of the meditation bell.

All stand at the ringing of the bell.

The candle or chalice shall be lit.]

 

Introit:

 

[One or more of these sentences may be read or chanted by individuals or by the whole assembly:]

 

1)    A hungry people listen not to reason, nor care for justice, nor is bent by any prayers. (Seneca)

2)    So many people in the world are hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. (Gandhi)

3)    I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Eternal. (Psalm 116)

4)    Bread is not given just so that we can eat of it, but so that we can recognize that others do not have bread, and thereby give them of our portion.(Meister Eckhart)

5)    Let everyone that is thirsty come, and take the water of life freely. (The Revelation of John)

6)    A loaf is an easy thing, but still I find myself hungering for fare unseen. (Ruth Mason Rice)

7)    I bear the wine, holiness in a vessel, the sempiternal silence, personal and brooding. (Annie Dillard – adapted)

8)    You crown the year with bounty,
Abundance flows wherever you pass;
The meadows are dressed in flocks,
The valleys are clothed in wheat;
They shout for joy; they also sing. (Psalm 65)

 

Song or Hymn

 

Prayer of Approach

 

ALL:   By bread we live, with wine we rejoice,
Without bread we perish, without the fruit of the vine our lives are sadder.
Therefore we pray for bread that we may live, and that all people may live;
And for wine that we may rejoice, and that all people may rejoice.
We do not ask that our troubles be swept away,
But that you, Spirit of Love, move with us in them.
Grant us bread, O Life of Life, and grant us the fruit of the vine, that we may taste your peace.

Amen.

 

Invocation:

 

RIGHT:
Spirit of Justice, Way of Love,

 

LEFT:
Forever absent, forever full,
We come to this table in the midst of your people
          to partake of your presence
          through the fruits of the earth;
To share your power by the work of our hands,
          To reap your harvest everlasting in the human heart.
Fill our emptiness where we hunger,
          Empty our surfeit where we overflow,
And by your grace, let us be servants of one another,
          Bringers of peace to all the earth,
And bearers of joy and love to all Earth’s children,
Amen.

 

ALL:   Amen.

 

[The meditation bell is rung.]

 

Focus on Our Limitations:

 

9)    Despite our glory, we are yet frail
Creatures bound to history and place,
Subject still to errors and limitations.
Let us speak to one another of our common struggle to be whole.

 

General Confession:

 

ALL:   We speak of love: sometimes we are loving; sometimes we are not.
We speak of peace: sometimes we are peaceful; sometimes we are not.
We seek community, and may find conformity and alienation;
We seek integrity, and may find ourselves fragmented.
Sometimes we are lonely; sometimes we are lost.

 

10)                       Search me, O Eternal, and know my heart.
Test me, and know my thoughts;
See if there be mistaken ways in me,
And guide me in the Way everlasting. (Psalm 139)

 

Silence for a time

 

Healing

 

LEADER:
The mystery is that we are connected,
          even when we feel apart;
Let us make word and deed one now,
          as we remember the ancient words…

 

11)                       If you are bringing your gifts to the altar,
and there remember that your neighbor has something against you,
Leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.
First be reconciled with your neighbor, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)

 

Peace Greeting

 

[A time to greet your neighbor in peace, with a handclasp, words, or embrace, as appropriate.

 

The meditation bell is rung again.

 

Here there may be a collect or prayer for illumination, if desired.]

 

First Reading:

 

[A lesson from the scriptures of the world, if desired.]

 

Anthem or Canticle

 

[If desired.]

 

Second Reading:

 

[A lesson from the writings of our own time, if desired.]

 

*Song or Hymn

 

Sermon or Homily

 

*Affirmation:

 

[Use one of the following:]

 

Leader:
Let us affirm together:

 

ALL:

 

We look to the future, a future to be made;
            A church whose creed is truth, whose worship is love;

A society full of industry, wisdom, and the poetry of life;

A state with unity among all, with freedom for each;

A church without tyranny,
            A society without want,A state without oppression,
            A world with no war.

Shall this ever become fact?
            History says, No! Human nature says, Yes!

(Theodore Parker, adapted)

OR:

Ours is a faith taught by no priest but by our beating hearts;
Faith to each other:
the fidelity of those whose pulses leap with kindred fire.
Who, in the flash of eyes, the clasp of hands, nay, in the silent bodily presence,
Feel the mystic stirrings of a common life that makes the many one.

 

(Mary Ann Evans – “George Eliot)

 

OR:

From the events of our lives come the songs of our hearts,
From the struggle to survive comes the melody of hope,

From the broken places of the spirit come our anthems of praise,

From the deep silence of the soul comes the solace of peace,

From our offerings of love come new shapes of the divine,

From the community we share comes the promise of tomorrow.

 

(Duke T. Gray)

OR:
We believe in knowledge, for there is no help in ignorance;

We believe in reason, for without it humankind surrenders
            to the blind forces of falsehood and prejudice;

We believe in compassion, for revenge and hatred destroy the spirit;

We believe in community, for no person’s potential can be
            realized if one lives as an island;

We believe in love, for it is life’s most creative gift.

 

(Source Unknown)

OR:
We affirm the unfailing renewal of life,
Rising from the earth, and reaching for the sun, all living
            creatures shall fulfill themselves.

We affirm the steady growth of human companionship.
Rising from ancient cradles, and reaching for the stars, people
            the world over shall seek the ways of understanding.
We affirm a continuing hope:
That out of every tragedy the spirit of individuals
            shall rise to build a better world.

(Leonard Mason)

OR:
Though aware that our knowledge is incomplete, our truth partial, and our love imperfect, we believe that new light is ever waiting to break into our hearts to enlighten our understanding, that there is mutual strength in willing cooperation, that the bonds of love keep open the gates of freedom, prepare the way of justice, and ensure the path of peace.

 

(Napoleon Lovely, adapted by Duke Grey)

 

[The bell is rung.]

 

[Confessional Section optionally here.]

 

Communion

 

[Celebrants go to the table at this time.]

 

Offertory

 

Leader:
Let us give together that we may rejoice in the common life our gifts sustain.

 

[ Here the bread is brought to the table, along with flasks of wine and juice.]

 

Offertory Anthem

 

Offertory Response

 

[Please stand and Sing (HS #507)]

 

Spirit of Truth, of Life, or Power,

We bring ourselves as gifts to thee;

O bind our hearts this sacred hour

In faith and hope and charity.

 

[Remain Standing.]

 

Invitation

 

Leader:
We gather at this table…

 

ALL:             To celebrate our community, and our communion with sacred sun and soil, and the spirit which sustains us all.

 

12)                       The breaking of bread is a sign of our community. The sharing of the fruit of the vine is a mark of our communion. We enact here a model of action which can redeem the world.

13)                       We share this food and drink as a visible sign beyond the spoken word, as an act of power and empowerment.

14)                       We partake of this food and drink as a sign of our covenant with all humanity, as an expression of our sacred concern for one another, as a symbol of our commitment to live in peace with all beings.

15)                       As we prepare this table of life and unity, may we join our hearts with those who have so loved the world that they have been willing to live and die in its behalf.

 

Leader:        ALL ARE WELCOME AT THIS TABLE, without regard for class or creed, belief or unbelief, for the community we share is larger than these.

 

ALL:   Let us render thanks for life!

 

Leader:        Let our hearts be given wing;

 

All:     And let us keep the feast!

 

Proper Preface

 

[Here choose words that are suitable for the season or special day or theme when the service is being held. Some suggestions:]

 

For Maundy Thursday or Easter or Christmas:
At this time we remember the word of the Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth as he shared his last meal with his disciples and friends. He took bread, and after giving thanks, broke it, and likening it to his own body soon to be broken said, “Whenever you break bread, remember me.” Taking the cup, he gave thanks, and likening the wine to his blood soon to be shed, said “Whenever you drink wine, remember me.” In his spirit we partake today. *

At Passover:

On the night following their deliverance from slavery to Pharaoh, the Children of Israel shared a meal of unleavened bread to mark their release from bondage. We remember their struggles and their victories.*

 

*In both of these instances, the blessing of the bread should be preceded by the Hebrew form:

Baruch atoh, Adonai, elohenu, melekh ho-olam, hommotsee lechem min ho-oretz.

 

And the blessing of the wine by:

Baruch atoh, Adonai, elohenu, melekh ho-olam, boray p’ree hagofen.

 

(These may be spoken or chanted.)

At Thanksgiving:
Eternal Spirit of Justice and Love, at this season of Thanksgiving we would be aware of our dependence on the earth and on the sustaining presence of other human beings both living and gone before us. As we partake of bread and wine, may we remember that there are many for whom sufficient bread is a luxury, or for whom wine, when attainable, is only an escape. Let our thanksgiving for Life’s bounty include a commitment to changing the world, that those who are now hungry may be filled and those without hope may be given courage. Amen

General:

From the dawn of history, human beings have given thanks with offerings of bread and wine, beer and barley cakes, rice and mead, to mark their dependence on the earth and on the powers that sustain it.

 

 

Sanctus

 

Leader:        Holy! Holy! Holy!

Heaven and earth are holy and good.


All:              Holy is peace. Holy is truth. Holy is love.

 

[Be seated]

 

The Great Thanksgiving

 

Leader:        Great Mystery of Life, source of all,
whose demands cannot be answered, whose answers cannot be demanded:

16)                       We give thanks for sun and moon, dark night and day, rain and clouds, fertile field and sky, springtime and harvest, growth and rest.

 

ALL:   We praise you, spirit of nature, and rejoice in all your works.

 

17)                       We give thanks for nations and races, events and institutions, struggles of purpose and leaps of fancy, conflicts and discovery, visions and dreams.

 

ALL:   We praise you, spirit of history, and rejoice in your promise and hope.

 

18)                       We give thanks for judgment and forgiveness, indignation and acceptance, testing and challenge, tenderness and anger, the gift of imagination and the still, small voice within.

 

ALL:   We praise you, spirit of conscience, and rejoice in your justice and call.

 

Leader:        We remember now all who have lived and died and shared this world with us: saints and sinners, martyrs and heroes, prophets and healers, ordinary men and women and children, the famous and the forgotten, the nameless and the numberless

 

19)                       We especially call to mind those who are sick and in distress, all who suffer in body and mind and spirit, all who are oppressed by forces of power and privilege, all who are in prison and in bonds; as bound with them and as sufferers with them whatever their affliction. We bear them in our hearts and pray for their relief.

 

Leader:        You are invited to speak out the names of people whom you wish to remember.

 

Leader:        We remember our enemies, if there be any who have injured us, exploited us or oppressed us, or who cherish hatred against us. May we freely forgive all who have wronged us; and if there be any whom wew have wronged may we make amends and seek forgiveness.

 

20)                       We remember those of every faith who have sought truth, and pray that all members of the human family may know true freedom, til at last the  every ends of the earth are liberated.

 

ALL:   Amen

 

Leader:        We give thanks for the fruit of the vine, and for the wheat which has come from the earth and which has been changed by human hands. May this sharing be significant for those who partake in it, for the consecration of body and spirit, for fruitfulness in good works, and for the sustaining of our lives in this community of faith. May the spirit which blesses us with these gifts, move in us, that we may give of ourselves, and bless the transformation of this hour.  (elevating the cup and the loaf of bread)
THE GIFTS OF THE EARTH FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH.

 

[The cup and loaf are set down. Here proper sections may be inserted as desired.

 

After these, the bread is taken up and held]

 

Leader:        Blessed are you, Eternal Sustainer of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

 

[Here the Leader breaks the bread as a reader reads:]

 

21)                       We are all one bread, one body. When the bodies of others are broken, we are broken.

 

[The bread is put down and after a brief moment of silence, the leader lifts up the flagon and cup and says:]

 

Leader:        Blessed are you, Eternal Sustainer of the Universe! You make the fruit of the vine.

 

[The cup is filled as the reader reads:]

 

22)                       We are all kin, one blood. When the blood of others spills, our blood is spilled.

 

Leader:        The gifts of the earth for the people of the earth!

 

All:               Therefore we covenant with one another
To work until bodies are broken no more,
To act until blood is no more spilled,
To practice peace until this sign is no longer necessary,
And all the people can dance on their land beneath the sun,
eating their bread with joy
And drinking their wine with a merry heart, as we do now.
One day there shall be peace!
One day all shall rejoice!

Leader:        Behold! Gifts of spirit for people of spirit!

All:               Amen!

 

Sharing

 

We are invited to feed one another as a model for feeding the world. When the loaf is passed, the person passing it holds the loaf until the receiver has broken off a portion. The cup is passed and the bread is dipped.

 

As you share the bread say to your neighbor: We are all one body

As the share the wine say to your neighbor: We are all blood kin.

General Thanksgiving

 

Leader: Let us pray…

 

All:           Eternal spirit, we give thanks that through word and act we have been joined into a holy company of people who would manifest in our individual and collective lives, the hope of one humanity, one living community of earth. We remember the words:

I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me;
I was sick and you visited me;
I was in prison and you came to me.      (from Matthew 25:35-36)

                In every act of mercy, of love, or empowerment we do,
In every spark of hope we keep alive: you are there.

 

Amen

 

Hymn

 

Dismissal

 

23)                     The feast is now ended, let us depart in peace.
Remember the words we have said and the acts we have done.
The work of the world lies before us.
Accomplish justice, with grace.

 

Blessing

Leader:     The blessing of Truth be upon us.
The power of love direct us and sustain us,
And the peace of this community preserve our going out and our coming in,

From this time forth and forever more. Amen.

 

All:   Amen!

 

[The bell is rung for the last time.

 

The flames are extinguished.]

 

Postlude

 

[There may be music or a silent recessional.]