A Litany/Liturgy for a Coronavirus Pandemic (Covid-19) & Virtual Eucharist
The following was written by Sarah Ngu, our Executive Director, and largely adapted from Rev. Michael Kurth’s litany in Earth & Altar.
Most merciful God, Holy Trinity,
our healer, our rock, our refuge;
We come to you with open hearts and hands,
Lifting up those whose lives are most at stake,
Knowing that we are only as strong
As the weakest among us.
For those who are sick: help them recover in good health and restore them in body, mind and spirit.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For the elderly, those with underlying illnesses, those without health insurance and sick leave: keep them healthy and free from all sickness.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For those who are forcibly contained in unsanitary jails and detention centers: protect them from all sickness and provide for their needs.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For all hospitals, doctors, nurses, and first responders: protect them from all sickness, relieve all stress, and provide them the resources to meet everyone’s needs.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For those experiencing financial loss and uncertainty of resources: alleviate any fears and provide for them daily bread and wage.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For those for whom “home” is not a safe place, and for those without a home: protect them from harm and provide for them a safe home.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For all parents: build in them strength and fortitude, and give them the words and witness to be wise counselors and compassionate caregivers.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Stir up in us a spirit of compassion and tenacity; move us to check in with loved ones.
Amen.
Ease our fear and anxiety, that we may share our resources rather than hoard them.
Amen.
Inspire us and all who gather to worship around the world to be beacons of your love and hope.
Amen.
EUCHARIST
A virtual guided meditation based on Richard Rohr’s Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality.
A meditation on the Eucharist
If you have bread or crackers and wine or juice at home, you’re invited to bring it out now and take Communion in your own home. All are welcome and invited to participate. I will read a passage from Scripture to explain the story behind this tradition.
On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me. After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, ‘Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”
Here is a meditation on the deeper meaning of this passage provided by Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest.
Take your whole life in your hands, as Jesus did. Now hold the bread and wine/juice in your hands.
Next, thank God, who is the origin of your own goodness. Your life is pure gift, so let’s make a choice for gratitude, appreciation, and abundance, which de-centers the self. “Eucharisteo” means, in Greek, “to give thanks.”
Break it, give it away and don’t protect it. The sharing of the small self will be the discovery of the True Self in God. “Unless the grain of wheat dies, it remains just a grain of wheat” (John 12:24). The broken grain becomes broken bread.
Chew on that, drink up! By drinking and eating you are participating in the very life of God, the body and blood of the Church.
Father Rohr compares the Eucharist to a homeopathic medicine, because homeopathic cures always include a slight touch of the disease. Each time we eat and drink, we are eating and drinking our own death ahead of time, in loving union with Jesus Christ’s death, instead of always demanding that others die. The eating and drink says to our very body and blood that henceforth our lives are not our own, and that we are united with God and with one another. We walk right into the mystery of death, and like him, trust its other side, which is resurrection.