Liturgy

Hear, Vox Veniae, Voice of Grace,
the ancient prayer that speaks from centuries before us.

Lord God, you are matchless.
You show us the ways of your love,
with all your Heart,
with all your Spirit,
with all your strength.

Among the clamor and discord of our world,
We confess that we are slow to hear your wisdom.
Within the perpetual march of our habits and culture,
We confess we are slow to comprehend Your ways.

Great Creator, open our ears this morning
that we may hear your instructions
and inscribe them within.
Teach us how to love you with all our heart.

Spirit, help us to remember and to recite
the divine longing that is present
in each of our weary bodies.
Teach us how to love you with all our soul.

Holy Protector, when we feel
this world binding up our courage.
Let your breath of life fill up our limbs.
Teach us how to love you with all our strength.

God of Jacob and of humanity,
we know that you are with us.
You have promised to watch
over us wherever we may go.

Therefore, we pray:
Shepherd us through every door in our lives.
And as we pass our thresholds of change,
remind us of this call to Agape Love.

In the name of God, the Father,
Jesus, the Risen Child,
and the Holy Spirit, our Divine Light,
Amen.

(Allison Zadrozny)

Scripture Reading

We invite you to hear from a reading in Matthew 22: 34-40.

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced
the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one
of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a
second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.”

The Good News of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!

The grass withers and the flower fades,
but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.

Sermon and Reflection

Sermon Podcast 10.25.20 – Invitation to Love

In this current season, what would it look like to shift from being right to being more loving?

How might you practice fully loving both your neighbors and yourself?

Benediction

Our beloved church, go to your day,
now emboldened in God’s Love.

With clear eyes, discern the dust from the
Divine so that the joy of the Lord is near.

With open ears, ready your sense of wonder and
meet the demands that bind you with curiosity,
so that the freedom of the Lord is near.

With deep hearts, deplete of nothing,
release the masks you put on yourself
and the ones you put on your neighbor,
so that the body of the Lord is near.

We pray this in the name
of the Father,
of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

Go in peace and live the church.
May you find safety and rest this week.

(Allison Zadrozny)

[Photo by Cole Lalomia @ Flickr]