"I was a stranger and you welcomed me."
GATHERING HYMN: One of your own choosing –
(suggestions:
John Foley’s Come to the Water, Marty Haugen’s
All Are Welcome, Marty Haugen’s Gather Us In)
WELCOME INTO THE CIRCLE OF PRAYER:
I saw a stranger today.
I put food for him in the eating-place
and drink in the drinking-place
and music in the listening-place.
In the Holy name of the Trinity
he blessed myself and my family.
And the lark said in her warble
often, often, often
goes Christ in the stranger's guise.
O, oft and oft and oft,
goes Christ in the stranger's guise.
Carmina Gadelica, “Celtic Rune of Hospitality”
READINGS:
Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world;
for
I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you gave me clothing,
I was sick and you took care of me,
I was in prison and you visited me.
Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are
members of my family, you did it to me. (Matt 25:34-36, 40)
As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked
ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay
with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’
So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with
them,
he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him;
and he
vanished from their sight.
They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us
while
he was talking to us on the road,
while he was opening the scriptures to
us?’ (Luke 24:28-32)
The Servant-Girl at Emmaus
She listens, listens, holding
her breath. Surely that voice
is his - the one
who had looked at her, once, across the crowd,
as no one ever had looked?
Had seer her?
Had spoken as if to her?
Surely those hands were his,
taking the platter of bread from hers just now?
Hands he'd laid on the dying and made them well?
Surely that face-?
The man they'd crucified for sedition and blasphemy.
The man whose body disappeared from its tomb.
The man it was rumored now some women had seen this morning,
alive?
Those who had brought this stranger home to their table
don't recognize yet with whom they sit.
But she in the kitchen, absently touching the wine jug she's to take in,
a young Black servant intently listening,
swings round and sees
the light around him
and is sure.
- Denise Levertov
- Denise Levertov
PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL REFLECTION:
Which image, phrase, word
captures my heart and my spirit and my energy in celebration of
religious life?
BLESSING: Pilgrims on the Road
We are once again pilgrims on the road to Emmaus . . .
Our heads are bowed as we meet the Stranger
who draws near and comes with us.
As evening comes, we strain to make out His face
while he talks to us, to our hearts.
In interpreting the Book of Life,
He takes our broken hopes and kindles them into fire:
the way becomes lighter as,
 |
| “The Servant-Girl at Emmaus” by Diego Velazquez |
drawing the embers together,
we learn to fan the flame.
If we invite Him this evening, He will sit down
and together we shall share the meal.
And then all those who no longer believed
will see and the hour of recognition will come.
He will break the bread of tears at the table of the poor
and each will receive manna to their fill.
We shall return to Jerusalem to proclaim aloud
what He has whispered in our ear.
And no doubt we shall find brothers and sisters there who will greet us with the words: 'We, too, have met Him!'
For we know: the mercy of God
has come to visit the land of the living!
Brother Roger Schutz of Taizé
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