A LITURGY FOR HOLY COMMUNION, AT THE CLOSE
OF A MINISTRY RETREAT FOR ‘MARKING THE TIME’
Gathering music
Psalm 19:1-6, 7-10, 14 is read
The community is gathered in these words:
There are stones that sing and rivers vibrating
under our feet and in our hearts,
one and the same, not distinct—
sacred blurring into secular,
secular fusing into sacred;
no binary bifurcation, no simplistic division,
but wholeness—shalom—
infinite liminality, unlimited unfinality …
As we have been marking the time, we remember …
it is over food that everything happens;
it is over food that hearts are opened,
fears are revealed, and love is expressed;
it is over food that everything happens;
the sharing of hopes, the comforting of anxieties,
the telling of stories, the healing of hurts …
it is over food that we meet: food, bread and wine,
the basic stuff of life, here, now, for us, from eternity.
We offer our prayers:
In time beyond our dreaming, beyond our marking …
in Daramoolen … in Tjukurrpa … in Alcheringa …
you brought forth light out of darkness:
swirling waters, dazzling colours, singing stones,
and you set woman and man in the midst of your creation.
In the covenant with Israel
you mandated holiness and steadfast love,
through the voices of the prophets
you called for justice and righteousness,
in the songs of the psalmists and the wisdom of the sages
you spoke truth and wisdom, hope at the gates.
And then, in the fullness of time
—in that particular wrinkle in time—
you sent forth Jesus, your Son:
gift of grace, gatekeeper of hope;
perfect grace, embodying you,
dangerous grace, confronting, challenging;
the grace of perfect danger
sent to the place of resistance and defiance
in the face of Empire: Roman—human—Empire.
We remember:
And so, as we have been marking the time,
we remember that time around the table, at the meal—
for everything happens over food.
And at this particular wrinkle in time, we remember:
how he took – blessed – broke – and gave them bread,
how he took – blessed – poured – and gave the cup;
blood shed from perfect danger,
blood shed as perfect grace,
sign of hope at the gates of hope,
promise and foretaste—stimulus and challenge—
the place of truth telling about our souls …
our ground … our struggle … our hope.
We mark that time in this time, now.
We pray for others:
And as we mark the time and remember that moment,
we celebrate this moment above the rivers vibrating,
amidst the stones singing, we celebrate and pray …
[specific names and issues may be named after each pause]
for each other …
for the people with whom we minister
and the urgencies that will undoubtedly claim us on our return …
for those who have been with us,
but have returned to responsibilities …
for colleagues unable to be with us here …
for those, here and beyond, who are pondering,
discerning, conversing, deciding about new possibilities …
for those who are moving on
into new pathways, new ventures …
for those towns and cities beyond us,
across this wide brown land …
for people and nations beyond our shores …
for creatures and ecosystems across the planet …
and we join in the Lord’s Prayer …
then we share the Peace …
then our Prayers continue:
Bless us, bless those for whom we pray, bless us all.
Bless this land,
with rivers vibrating, stones singing, land yearning.
Bless these gifts of bread and wine.
Send your Spirit to meet with our spirits, our very being.
Send your Spirit into these gifts of bread and wine,
that they may be for us body of Christ, blood of Christ,
to nourish us and change us
to be people of God, body of Christ, communion with Spirit,
here, now, on earth as in heaven.
The elements are shared amongst the people in silence
We mark the time of our moving on
and take the time to bless our going forth:
May you travel in an awakened way,
Gathered wisely into your inner ground,
That you may not waste the invitations
Which wait along the way to transform you.
May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,
As you have lived] your time [here] to its fullest;
Return home more enriched and free
To balance the gift of days which call you.
The Blessing of the Angels (sung)
John T. Squires
30 October 2019
Many thanks to the Rev. Dr Sarah Bachelard for the gentle leading, rich resourcing, and inspiring modelling of deep spirituality, which she offered throughout the Retreat.
Notes
The featured image is of the symbol that sat at the centre of the group throughout the Retreat, which was variously adapted at points throughout.
The term Dreamtime is an English attempt to render various Indigenous words that describe Aboriginal culture and spirituality. Included here are Daramoolen (Ngunnawal), Tjukurrpa (Walpiri and Pitjantjatjara) and Alcheringa (Arrernte)
“Marking the times” was offered by Sarah as the overarching theme for the Retreat, inspired by a phrase in the Book of Common Prayer (‘read, mark and inwardly digest‘)
“A wrinkle in time” is the title of a book by Madeleine L’Engle
“It is over food that hearts are opened, fears are revealed, and love is expressed” is taken from a sign in the Op Shop at Jindabyne Uniting Church
“Stones that sing and rivers vibrating” is taken from There are stones that sing by Mary Oliver
“The grace of perfect danger” is taken from For the Artist at the Start of the Day by John O’Donohue
“The place of resistance and defiance” and “the gates of hope” is taken from The Gates of Hope by Victoria Safford
“The urgencies that claim you” and the closing blessing, “may you travel …”, are both slightly adapted from For the Traveller by John O’Donohue
Other poems used on the Retreat include A Morning Offering by John O’Donohue, A Sleep of Prisoners by Christopher Fry, Still Point by Max Reif, Sonnets to Orpheus Part Two, XIII by Rainer Maria Rilke, and No Sooner by Michael Leunig
An Informed Faith 