Advent Devotional: Nov 29
Scripture Readings: Psalm 124 | Genesis 9:1-17 | Hebrews 11:32-40
“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.” (Genesis 9:9-10)
I love communion Sundays. The liturgy we use allows us to proclaim the good news of Jesus together as a church family. We pray and receive the body and blood of Jesus. We remember what God has done for us and look forward to what God will do someday when Christ returns to our world. The bread and juice become channels of God’s grace so that we can share God’s grace with all the world
Have you ever wondered what happens to the leftover communion bread and juice? It does not get thrown in the trash or poured down the drain. Instead, we tear up the bread and scatter it and we pour the juice on the ground. We do this because God’s covenants - with Noah, with Abraham, and with us through Jesus - are good news for all God’s creatures. Every animal and the earth itself is waiting for the return of our King. When Jesus comes again in final victory, “The wolf will live with the lamb and “the leopard will lie down with the goat (Isaiah 11:6).” Peace will reign. Let heaven and nature sing!
Prayer response: The Peace Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Readings from the Revised Common Lectionary
Scripture taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica, Inc.
Prayer of St. Francis, Loyola Press
Reflections by Rev. Serena J. Wolfe
