In Memory of Him
June 13/14, 2009
Fr. George Smiga
Mark 4:35-41
Today on the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we celebrate the great gift of the Eucharist, the gift of that sacred meal which we share together with one another every weekend. In the gospel the words that Jesus spoke to his disciples at the last supper, “This is my body, this is the cup of the new covenant,” are the same words that we hear in every Eucharistic Prayer. To them are added words that Christ spoke according to Paul, “Do this in memory of me.” It is that command of Christ’s on which I wish to focus today, that command that we do this meal in memory of him.
Christ asks us to remember, but what does he ask us to remember? Certainly he asks us to remember his words at the last supper but I think he asks us to remember much more than that. By joining this Eucharistic meal to the command to remember, Jesus makes the Eucharist the antidote to forgetfulness. Our lives are diminished over and over again by the things we forget. We are so busy, so preoccupied with so many things that we often end up forgetting the things that are essential. We are so focused on raising our children, in negotiating problems at work or getting through the fear of the economic down turn. We forget to take strength from the things that can truly give us life. It is all so easy to focus on things which are marginal and forget those things that are fundamental. In that forgetfulness, we keep going faster and faster and our lives become more and more superficial because we sever ourselves from the beauty and the mystery of living. Against this kind of forgetfulness, Jesus asks us to remember, to celebrate this meal in memory of him. I believe that he asks us to remember three things: To remember who we are, what God has done, and what God has promised.
Each time we come to the Eucharist, each time we gather at this meal, we are asked to remember who we are. Not who we are in the minds of the people we work with or even in the minds of our family and friends, but who we are in the eyes of God. In the eyes of God, each one of us is a beloved daughter or son. Each one of us is a person of permanent value. All too often we forget that. We forget and therefore we define ourselves by our weaknesses or our sinfulness or our fears or our failures. But when we come to this place, we are called to remember our true identity. We come to this holy place because we are a holy people and here we remember our dignity, our status as chosen children of God.
Also when we come to the Eucharist, we are called to remember what God has done, what God has done for us. We are called to remember the gift of our spouse and the mystery of the love that unites us. We are called to remember the gift of our children and our friends, who bring wonder and hope into our lives. We are called to remember the gifts, the talents we’ve been given and the opportunities that we have been provided with to use them. Now we know all of these things, but all too often we forget them. In that forgetting we diminish the quality of our lives. But when we come to this meal, we are called to remember. The word Eucharist means thanksgiving and each time we come to the Eucharist we are called to remember all that God has done for us and to be thankful.
Finally we are called to remember at each Eucharist, what God has promised us. God has promised never to abandon us, never to forget us. We need to remember those promises as we deal with the problems of life, as we deal with loss and grief and fear and change. Now we know God’s promises as words but we often forget their power. We strive then to solve the problems of our life on our own. But at this Eucharist, we are called to remember that we are not alone, that God goes with us, and that together we can face whatever life brings.
Jesus gives us the command to share this meal in memory of him. He asks us to remember: who we are, what God has done and what God has promised. So at this Eucharist and every Eucharist, as we respond to the Eucharist Prayer, let us remember our dignity as children of God. As we come forward to receive the bread and share from the cup, let us be filled with thankfulness for the gifts that God has given us. As we go forth from this place, let us remember that we do not go forth alone but God comes with us. The Eucharist is the antidote for forgetfulness, for the forgetfulness that can diminish our lives. By remembering, we can live in dignity, in thankfulness and in hope. In this meal, we can find true joy and lasting life, all because we do it in memory of him.
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