St. Mark's & St. David's United Churches
March 28th, 2013 Maundy Thursday
Sacrament
of Communion—Potluck Supper 5:00 p.m.
PART ONE: entering the light
One: We
have gathered here
to
journey with the story of the Christ
on
the night before Good Friday
and to
join that story with our own human journey
as we do
so.
All:
As we move into the light together on this night,
we
will be carrying all the realities
of
our own humanness
like dust on our feet.
One: We
will listen for a new commandment,
the
voice of Jesus saying,
“Love
each other as I have loved you.”
All:
Let us commit ourselves to honour
that
commandment this night –
to
love each other,
just
as Jesus Christ loves us,
no matter how we have faltered
on the way.
One: The
love of Christ is like a light
that
invites us to dare to know who we are
and to
share that truth with each other.
All:
We will light these candles
and
wait in their light.
(The Lenten candles are lit and
a silence is kept.)
One:
In all of our reality, we come to this table.
All: Here we will serve and be
served as in life itself.
Grace and Potluck Supper
PART TWO: entering our shared humanness
Reader: John 13:1–2a
Celebrant:
On the night of being betrayed
by
someone just like us,
Jesus
took bread and said,
“This
is my body which is given for you.
Do this
as often as you eat it in remembrance of me.”
All:
Jesus also said,
“Love
one another as I have loved you.”
Be
present, Jesus Christ, by your Holy Spirit,
as
you were with your disciples
and
make yourself known to us.
Silent reflection
One: Have we always loved each other?
All:
We
still wear the ashes of our humanness.
We
have not always loved the Christ or each other.
(A
candle is extinguished.)
Reader: John 13:2b–5
Hymn Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love VU593
One:
Bending low to serve friends,
Jesus
took in his hands the dust
on
the feet of their lives.
In that
moment, Jesus knew who each one was
and what
they needed in order
to be
received at the table.
In the
silence, let us reflect on
what
lies in the dust of our feet.
What
would bring us more fully to the table of life?
All:
As we face who we are this night,
are
we prepared to receive from each other
the
hospitality of a love
which
touches the dust of our lives
and
yet still invites us to the table?
One: If
you wish to do so, place your open hands,
palm
upwards on the table before you
as
a sign that you are prepared
to
receive the hospitality of others,
and the
hospitality of Jesus Christ.
Silent reflection
One: Be
known to us, Jesus Christ,
in
the breaking of the bread:
(The
bread is broken.)
All:
Let us receive this broken bread
as a
sign of the hospitality of the Christ
and
our love for each other.
(We sing “Let us Break Bread
Together VU480” as the bread is shared around the table. Please
hold your bread until all are served.)
1 Let us
break bread together on our knees,
let us
break bread together on our knees.
R When
I fall down on my knees
with
my face to the rising sun,
Oh,
Lord, have mercy on me.
2 Let us
drink wine together on our knees,
let us
drink wine together on our knees. R
3 Let us
praise God together on our knees,
let us praise God together on our
knees. R
One: In
the eating of the bread lies the sharing
of our
common humanness
and our
commitment
to
the hospitality of life together in Christ.
Let us eat this bread together.
(all eat)Reader: John 13:31b–35
One: The
Christ walked through our lack of love for others.
If
we are to follow, we are called to walk this night through that lack
of love.
All:
Because we love each other,
and
because Jesus walks with us,
we
are not afraid to say the truth aloud.
One:
Let us hear the cries of the world this night:
Silent reflection
All: We
hear the cries of the hungry
and
the naked and those without shelter.
(A candle is extinguished and a
silence is kept.)
All: We
hear the cries of those
suffering
in the violence of war.
All: We
hear those whose voices
are
silenced by oppression and exploitation.
(A candle is extinguished and a
silence is kept.)
All: We feel the fear and pain of loneliness.
(A candle is extinguished and a silence is kept.)
All:
We know the pains and hurts
of
our own lives,
and
touch the pain of others
who
are ill, grieving or wounded by life.
(A
candle is extinguished and a silence is kept.)
All: The
Christ walks through the betrayals
of
the world and does not turn away.
Celebrant:
On the night he was betrayed, after supper, Jesus took the cup and
lifted it and said:
“This
is my cup of the new covenant for you and for all people for the
forgiveness of sin.
Do
this as often as you drink it
in
remembrance of me.”
All:
This is the cup of common humanness
and
our common hope in Jesus Christ.
(The
cup is shared and a silence is kept.)
One: As
we extinguish this last candle,
we
do it knowing that Jesus Christ
shares
all our journeying
and
waits to wash the dust
of
our failures off our feet in grace
if we will allow that to happen.
(The Christ candle is extinguished and a silence is kept.)
Sung
Response: Stay here and keep watch with me.
The
hour has come. Stay here and keep watch with me.
Watch
and pray. (x4)
Let us leave here in
silence as we walk in faith towards Good Friday.
