31-Dec-23 (Luke 2:22-40)

When Simeon and Anna recognized who Jesus was as Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple, it wasn't because he looked any different from any of the other children with other parents in spite of all those old pictures that show Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with massive halos around their heads. Simeon and Anna saw something in Jesus that told them that this was the One God had promised.
If we were in the temple that day, we might have missed that. We know Jesus a lot more clearly by what he taught and what he did. We know him most clearly by this communion that we're about to take.
It is here are the Table that Jesus shows us the depths of God's love for us and calls us all to be God's presence here on Earth. It is here at the Table that Jesus brings us together and shows us that we can be one Church, one witness.

Prayer:

Please join me now in prayer:
God, who brings us together with the Church in all times and all places at this Table, help us to remember how much you love us; so much that even death and sin would not separate us. We thank you for the Bread and the Cup, symbols of that love for us.
As we take these symbols into ourselves, fill us with your Spirit, that we can be your witnesses and your presence in our world.
We pray in Jesus, our Christ's name. AMEN.