This Sunday, after a five-month wait, our congregation will again be able to share in communion during our morning worship services. It will be a different experience as we gather around our tables at home instead of approaching the communion table in the sanctuary. Though we are separated from our CUMC friends, my hope is that we can all feel the Holy Spirit moving between us and among us as we partake of the bread and cup.

The presentations of our communion elements can be as simple or elaborate as we care to make them. God can work through all of them. This week a music publisher happened to include a video that relates perfectly to our upcoming at-home-communion. It shows individuals and families preparing their communion tables. While there are no children in the video I know that many of you will be sharing the special act of preparing the communion table with your children. The video link is below.

The music that is being shared during this video is Panis Angelicus by César Franck (1822-1890). The Latin text was penned by St. Thomas Aquinas (1223-1274) and is part of a longer hymn text, Sacris Solemniis. The English translation is: May the Bread of Angels become bread for all. The Bread of Heaven puts all foreshadowing to an end. Oh wondrous thing! The body of the Lord will nourish the poor, the servile, and the humble.

The video is entitled “Setting the Table.” May it provide you a time of meditation and inspire you as you prepare for your own at-home communion.