Gathering Music
No nos moverán / We shall not be moved
Version: Joan Baez 1974, OneLicense #A-729109
No, no, no nos moveran!
No, no, no nos moverán
Como un árbol firme junto al río
No nos moverán
We– shall not, we shall not be moved
We– shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree, standing by the water
We shall not be moved
Unidos en la lucha, no nos moverán
Unidos en la lucha, no nos moverán
Como un árbol firme junto al río
No nos moverán
¡No, no, no nos moverán!
No, no, no nos moverán
Como un árbol firme junto al río
No nos moverán
We– shall not, we shall not be moved
We– shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree, standing by the water
We shall not be moved
We– shall not, we shall not be moved
We– shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree, standing by the water
We shall not be moved
No, no, no nos moveran!
No, no, no nos moverán
Como un árbol firme junto al rio
No nos moverán
United in the struggle, we shall not be moved
United in the struggle, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree, standing by the water
We shall not be moved
We– shall not, we shall not be moved
We– shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree, standing by the water
We shall not be moved
No, no, no nos moveran!
No, no, no nos moverán
Como un árbol firme junto al rio
No nos moverán
Gathering Words
Maria Carolina Alderete
We welcome you to this circle of prayer to honour life and acknowledge those whose lives have been jeopardized. Naming the pain that goes from North to South, honoring the liberation that comes from South to North, calling for solidarity from all directions, we invite you to join us in the liminal space where spirits meet, Mother Earth dances, Wisdom fulfills us, and God guides us through playful joy and communal tenderness. Today, we celebrate our compañeras y compañeros, Latinx, Chicanx, Mestizxs, brown, black, and indigenous life. Today, we call for justice and love, the end of wars and borders. Today, we invite you to de-link and travel between worlds. Welcome!
Opening Song
Gather at the River – Mark Miller, OneLicense #A-729109
Gather at the river, children,
time to come and see,
justice and community growing,
all God’s people free.
Refrain:
When in faith, with grateful hearts,
we open wide the doors,
love and healing will abound,
now and evermore!
Listen to the stories, children,
of God’s love and light,
as the touch of Jesus offers
blessing and new sight.
Refrain
Go and share the good news, children,
love is meant for all,
reconciliation is coming,
can you hear the call?
Refrain
Opening Prayer
Cassie Montelongo
Come, O Holy Spirit!
Come, open us to the wonder, beauty, and dignity of the diversity found in each culture,
in each face, and in each experience we have of the other among us.
Come, fill us with generosity
as we are challenged to let go and allow others to share with us
the goods and beauty of earth.
Come, heal the divisions
that keep us from seeing the face of Christ in all people and children.
Come, free us to stand with and for those
who must leave their own lands in order to find work, security, and welcome in a new land, one that has
enough to share.
Come, bring us understanding, inspiration, wisdom, and
the courage needed to embrace change and stay on the journey.
Come, O Holy Spirit, show us the way
Adapted version of “The Justice of Prayer,” in Prayers & Intentions For Immigrants and
Immigration Reform. Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education (n.d., p. 20). https://pvm.archchicago.org/documents/87254/88701/PrayersIntentionsComplete_en.pdf/8cc76ade-81b0-4910-8587-e4ddd3234bce
Music
Sencilla
Author: Santiago Benavides, 2014, OneLicense #A-729109
Verse 1:
Dame una fe sencilla
como risa de niños cuando juegan
como gota de rocío que se rueda
como cruz de rústica madera
Verse 2:
Dame una fe sencilla
que se siente a la mesa de los pobres
que se alegre de alegrar sus corazones
y que llore también con sus dolores
una fe así, parecida a ti…
Chorus:
Sencilla como fue a la tierra tu venida
como fueron tus historias campesinas
como fue tu hogar en Palestina
Verse 3:
Dá-me uma fé singela
Para curar con esperanza la tristeza
Para cantar por más perdón nesta guerra
Para avivar o pavio que fumega
Verse 4:
Dá-me uma fé singela
Que não dá brecha e espaço a mentira
Que não consegue conviver com a injustiça
E não se cala o que sabe que dá vida
(Interlude)
Pre-chorus:
una fe así, parecida a ti…
(Repeat Chorus 1)
Chorus 2:
Sencilla como tu mirada compasiva
como aquellas aldeas recorridas
como el amor que te llevó…
a dar la vida…
a dar la vida
A dar la vida.
Give me a simple faith
like children’s laughter when they play
like a dewdrop rolling
like a rustic wooden cross
Give me a simple faith
that sits at the table of the poor
that rejoices in cheering their hearts
and also cries with their pain
a faith like this, that looks like you…
Simple as was your coming to earth
like your peasant stories
like your home in Palestine
Give me a simple faith
To heal sadness with hope
To sing for more forgiveness in this war
To fan the smoking wick
Give me a simple faith
That does not give room or space to lies
That cannot coexist with injustice
And does not silence what it knows gives life
A faith like this, that looks like you…
Simple like your compassionate gaze
like those peasant villages
like the love that led you…
to give your life…
to give your life
To give life.
Scripture Reading – Isaiah 42:1-9
Yaheli Vargas-Ramos
1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
Sermon Reflections
Yaheli Vargas-Ramos: “The Spirit that blows to fan the flickering light.”
James Riofrio: “The Bruised Reed” (focus on Isaiah 42:3-5)
María Carolina Alderete: “Militancy as a spiritual practice of care”
Musical Response
Juan Martinez Benavides & Fellipe Dos Anjos
Tenemos Esperanza
Author: Federico Pagura, 1979, OneLicense #A-729109
Verso 1:
Porque él entró en el mundo y en la historia
porque él quebró el silencio y la agonía
porque llenó la tierra de su gloria
porque fue luz en nuestra noche fría.
Porque nació en un pesebre oscuro
porque vivió sembrando amor y vida
porque partió los corazones duros
y levantó las almas abatidas.
Chorus (x2):
Por eso es que hoy tenemos esperanza
por eso es que hoy luchamos con porfía
por eso es que hoy miramos con confianza
el porvenir [en esta tierra mía.]
Verse 2
Porque atacó a ambiciosos mercaderes
y denunció maldad e hipocresía
porque exaltó a los niños, las mujeres
y rechazó a los que de orgullo ardían.
Porque El cargó la cruz de nuestras penas
y saboreó la hiel de nuestros males;
porque aceptó sufrir nuestra condena,
y así morir por todos los mortales.
[Repeat Chorus]
Verse 3:
Porque una aurora vio su gran victoria
sobre la muerte, el miedo y la mentira
ya nada puede detener su historia,
ni de su Reino eterno la venida
Porque ilumina cada senda en gloria
Y las tinieblas derrotó con lumbre
Porque su luz es siempre nuestra historia
Y ha de llevar a todos a la cumbre
[Repeat Chorus]
Verse 1
Because He entered the world and into history;
because He broke the silence and the agony;
because He filled the earth with His glory;
because He was light in our cold night.
Because He was born in a dark manger;
because He lived sowing love and life;
because He softened hard hearts
and lifted up the downtrodden souls.
Chorus (x2)
That is why today we have hope;
that is why today we fight persistently;
that is why today we look with confidence,
at the future in this land of mine.
Verse 2:
Because he launched attacks on blind ambition
and he denounced hypocrisy and evil
He honored women and he blessed the children
But left the proud to rage at their own peril
Because he bore the cross of our transgressions
and drank the bitter cup of sin and sorrow
He bowed beneath the yoke of sin’s oppression
And suffered death that we might face tomorrow
[Repeat chorus]
Verse 3:
Because a dawn saw His great victory
over death, fear, and lies;
nothing can stop His story now,
nor the coming of His eternal Kingdom.
Because it illuminates each path in glory
And defeated the darkness with light
Because its light is always our story
And it will lead everyone to the summit
[Repeat Chorus]
Sacrament of Holy Communion
Dr. Francisco Pelaez-Diaz
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Creator God, you revealed to us your Creation on earth.
The waters flowed, and the winds blew.
You set the cosmos into motion and created living beings.
You gave life to the plants and the sea creatures and the land animals.
You put into flight the birds and insects, and you made people to walk on the ground.
You blessed us all and called us good.
But when our love failed and we turned away,
You revealed a love for your people and all of Creation that never ends.
And so we praise you, with all the company of saints and sinners, singing your unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosannah in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosannah in the highest.
You continued to reveal your love for us in your son, Jesus, who came to live among us and move as a human on this Earth. When he dined with his friends, just before he was to be executed, he reminded them of your love revealed in the gifts of bread and juice before them on the table.
He took the bread in his hands, gave thanks to you, broke it, and shared it with his friends, saying the familiar words, “Take, eat. This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” And when the supper was over, he took the cup, again gave thanks for it, and shared it with all who gathered, reminding them, “Drink this all of you. This is the cup of my covenant with you, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” Together we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Still-creating Spirit,
Be poured out on those gathered here and on these gifts from the field in bread and juice. As we receive them into our bodies, make us your body. Unite us with those who have come before us in your kin-dom and with those who will come after us, now and always. Amen.
Prayer after Receiving:
Creative God, we thank you for revealing your love to us in bread and juice. We recognize your presence in us and all around us, and we ask that you continue to reveal your love for all Creation to the ends of the Earth through our lives. Make us your people and use us to reveal the inbreaking of your kin-dom here and now: a world of justice and peace. Amen.
Written by Rev. Laura Baumgartner, Seattle, WA (ancestral homelands of the Duwamish and Coast Salish peoples), an elder in the Pacific Northwest Conference, serving Haller Lake UMC. She is involved in the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement.
Blessing
Dr. Francisco Pelaez-Diaz
Sending Song
Juan Martinez Benavides
¿Quién va a cantar?
Author: Ruben Rada, 2000, OneLicense #A-729109
[Verso 1]
Cuando se pierda toda la poesía
Cuando la gente solo sobreviva
Cuando el cansancio mate la alegría
Seremos una máquina de trabajar
Si globalizan nuestro pensamiento
Solo habrá un libro con el mismo cuento
Sin esa magia de la fantasía
La música del mundo no tendrá lugar
[Estribillo]
Pregunto yo,
¿quién va a cantar?
¿Quién va a soñar?
¿Quién va a tocar la melodía del amor?
¿Quién va a cantar? ¿Quién va a soñar?
¿Quién va a pedir para que no calle el cantor?
[Verso 2]
Si cada pueblo tiene un presidente
Que por lo menos rime con la gente
Cuando el reparto sea más coherente
Tendremos un planeta con identidad
Cuando el amor sea lo más urgente
No tendrá caso la guerra de Oriente
Cuando el racismo no tenga parientes
Me sentiré orgulloso de la humanidad
[Repite estribillo]
[Verse 1]
When all poetry is lost
When people only survive
When weariness kills joy
We will be a working machine,
If they globalize our thinking
There will only be one book with the same story
Without that magic of fantasy
The world’s music will have no place
[Chorus]
I ask,
who is going to sing?
Who is going to dream?
Who is going to play the melody of love?
Who is going to sing?
Who is going to dream?
Who is going to ask so that the singer is not silenced?
[Verse 2]
If every nation has a president
At least rhymes with the people
When the distribution becomes more coherent
We will have a planet with its own identity
When love becomes the most urgent thing
The Middle East war will make no sense
When racism has no relatives left
I will feel proud of humanity
[Repeat Chorus]
