7-1 Mrs. Katherine Andersen 

Jesus fed the 5000 with five loaves and two fish.  He called his disciples "fishers of men." Tradition has it that when a believer approached a stranger and wondered if they were Christian, an arc was drawn in the dust with the foot.  If the other party shared the faith, the arc was crossed with another, forming a crude fish.

However, both of these were predated by, of all things, an anchor. The anchor became a key Christian symbol during the period of Roman persecution that took the lives of both Saints Peter and Paul.  It was sufficiently vague to confuse the uninitiated observer. 

The symbol of the cross is the symbol that reminds us of how Jesus died for us, we would do well to remember the anchor also. It reflects the mission that we are to go out into the sea of humanity to share the Good News about Jesus Christ.

This year we are going to focus on our mission to be fishers of men, and disciples, to not only remember what Jesus did for us, but also as a challenge to rise to what Jesus wants from us through virtuous actions, words, and deeds.