Podcast: Play in new window | Download
ALLELUIA!
Invitation to Worship
Our Love is truly risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
O Holy One,+ open my lips.
~And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
There are shouts of joy and victory, alleluia;
~In the tents of the just, alleluia!
HYMN FOR EASTER IV
Gentle Shepherd, Living Bread, Christ arisen from the dead,
Be our Paschal Feast today As we sing for joy and say: ALLELUIA!
Christ, our Mother, gives us birth as new people for the Earth,
With his Body feeds his own, nursing us ’til we are grown, ALLELUIA!
For the sheep the Shepherd bled, sinless in the sinners’ stead,
Christ, our Love is ris’n on high, and now lives no more to die: ALLELUIA!
Gate through which your sheep are led, Pasture where your sheep are fed,
Altar, Priest and Sacrifice: Love alone that will suffice: ALLELUIA!
Shepherd, Mother, Sheepfold-Gate, Call by name to all who wait:
“Come and follow, join the strife; Take the Way that leads to life: ALLELUIA!”
Text: The Daily Feast ; Tune: CHRIST IST ERSTANDEN 77.77.4
PSALMODY
“I am the gate,” says our Love.
“Whoever enters through me will find salvation and rich pastures.” Alleluia!
Psalm 117/118
Give thanks, Adonai is good,
God’s love endures for ever!
Now let Israel say:
“God’s love endures forever!”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“God’s love endures forever!”
Let all who revere Adonai say,
“God’s love endures forever!”
In distress, I called to Adonai
who answered and set me free.
Adonai is with me, I am not afraid;
What can they do to me?
Adonai, my Help, is with me,
I can face all that I fear.
Better to trust in Adonai
than rely on human help.
Better to trust in Adonai
than rely on the rich and famous.
When all that I fear surrounded me
your Presence, Adonai overwhelmed them;
When they surrounded me completely
your Presence overwhelmed them;
When they surrounded me like bees,
and blazed like a brushwood fire,
in your strong Presence I faced them!
I was pushed to falling,
but you, Adonai, gave me help.
My strength, my song is Adonai,
who has become my savior.
Glad songs of victory sound
from the tents of the just.
With right hand raised on high,
Adonai is strong to save.
I shall not die but live
to tell all that our God has done.
I was struck down and dwelling in darkness
but not doomed to die.
Open to me the gates of truth and justice,
let me praise God within them.
This is Adonai’s own gate,
which only the just may enter.
I thank you for you answered me,
and you became my savior.
The stone rejected by the builders
has become the cornerstone.
This is the work of Adonai,
it is amazing and wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day Adonai has made,
let us rejoice and be glad.
Adonai, give us the victory!
Adonai, grant us success!
Blest is the one who comes,
who comes in the Name of Adonai.
We bless you from the house of our God.
Adonai Elohim is our light:
Go forward in procession–
adorn the altar with branches.
I will thank you, my God,
I will praise you highly.
Give thanks, Adonai is good,
God’s love endures forever.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
“I am the gate,” says our Love.
“Whoever enters through me will find salvation and rich pastures.” Alleluia!
READING ACTS 11:19-24
Those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen
went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word ….proclaiming the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.
Responsory
R. As the Abba has sent me, even so I send you, *alleluia, alleluia!
V. For you did not choose me, but I chose you that you should go and bear fruit. * alleluia, alleluia!
V. Glory to the Abba and the Word and the Holy Breath of Love.
Canticle of Zachariah
Antiphon
Just as the Abba knows me, so I know the Abba;
for these, my sheep, I lay down my life, Alleluia!
Blessed + be Adonai, the God of Israel,
Who visits this people to set us free
Raising for us a sign of salvation
In the house and family of David.
God promised throughout past ages
In words of holy prophets
To save us from our enemies,
And from the control of our oppressors.
Adonai favored our ancestors
And remembered the sacred covenant.
The pledge to Abraham and Sarah
Is now renewed for us;
That freed from the grip of our foes
We might worship without fear
And be both just and holy
For the rest of our days.
And you, child, called “prophet of the Most High,”
Will go ahead to prepare the way,
By teaching this people of salvation
Through forgiveness of their sins.
For the loving compassion of the Holy One
As the Rising Sun will shine upon us
To illumine the darkness and dispel death’s shadow
To guide our feet on the way of peace.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen
Just as the Abba knows me, so I know the Abba;
for these, my sheep, I lay down my life, Alleluia!
SERVICE OF PRAYER
O Good Shepherd, you know and call each of us by name;
~ lead us to green pastures where we can live in health and harmony with the rest of your beloved creation.
O Good Shepherd, you seek those who are lost and gently carry them back to the fold;
~lead us out of our comfort and complacency to find and welcome those who are isolated, lost or wandering aimlessly.
O Good Shepherd, you have sheep who belong to other folds but listen to the voice of your deep wisdom,
~open our ears to hear your voice speaking through them and their traditions and bring us together into one flock of great diversity and beauty.
O Good Shepherd, you have given yourself to us as a Banquet in the face of all we fear;
~may our sharing of the Eucharist and of each meal transform us into Bread for the World.
O Good Shepherd, you provide so much more than we need that our cups overflow;
~free us to share all that we have so that all people and all creation may flourish.
O Good Shepherd, you lead your sheep through darkness and death into God’s marvelous light;
~ bring us through the gate of self-giving love to the fullness of life.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father…
Closing Prayer
We bless and thank you, O Gracious God, for all that you have done in raising Jesus from the dead. You have conquered the power of death and opened to us the way to the freedom, flourishing and fullness of life which your love offers to us and all of your creation. May the Good Shepherd call us by name to follow him through the gate of self-emptying love into the pastures of abundant life now and forever. Amen
Blessing
May the Good Shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep
+ bless us and lead us to everlasting life. Alleluia!
~Amen, Alleluia!
Let us bless Adonai, Alleluia, Alleluia!
~Thanks be to God, Alleluia, Alleluia!