The Christian Memorial

Sacred Hearts Convent - June 5, 1983

Every year, Americans celebrate Memorial Day, to remember their loved ones who have gone to their rest.

The Mass is for Christians a memorial celebration in which they recall, they remember Jesus: his love, his death on the cross. When on Holy Thursday Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist, he said, "This is my body, this is my blood. Do this in remembrance of me." And St. Paul comments, in today's 2nd reading: "every time, then, you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”

Jesus himself expressed the desire that we should thus remember him after his death, when he said: Do this in memory of me." Jesus wants us to remember him, remember his love, remember how he gave his life for us. He wants to live on in us, so that his sacrifice for us may not be in vain.

Unless we keep Jesus alive in our hearts, we will soon forget him and our love for him will slowly die away. To be saved is to have Jesus living in us. It is in him that we are God's children, that our sins are taken away, that we have God's life in us, that we are saved.

Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist so as to help us remember him and his saving love; so that, we should keep remembering how he gave his life on the cross for us as the greatest sign of his love. "There is no greater love than to give your life for your friends."

In every Mass, the Christian community comes together to make a joyous celebration of love and gratitude. It reminds me of family gatherings when we celebrate the anniversary of our parents. It’s a love feast and a celebration of the goodness of our parents. We come together to express our love and gratitude.

So it is with the Mass. Especially the Sunday Mass when the Christian family comes together to remember Jesus and his love and to give thanks in a joyful celebration. That indeed is what the Mass is all about.

I sometimes hear people say, “I don’t seem to get anything out of the Mass.” For many this is an excuse for not going to church.

Such people completely miss the point about the Mass. You don't go to Mass to get something for yourself no more than you celebrate your parents anniversary or birthday to get something. You go to celebrate your parents’ love and Jesus' love. Only then, will the Mass come alive and be meaningful. And if you go to Mass to show your love and thanksgiving to Jesus for his sacrifice on the cross, for his immense love for you, then you will find joy and your love shall grow. Jesus will become more alive in you and this will be a great gain.

But the Mass is not just a memorial of the past, a remembrance of what Jesus did for us. Jesus makes himself present in our midst under the sign of bread and wine. He is not dead; he is risen, he lives, we are celebrating our risen Lord, present in our Midst, just as truly as when a family comes together with their parents to celebrate their anniversary. As we celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus is in our midst, just as truly as when he celebrated the Last Supper with his Apostles.

Jesus is not only present in the bread and in the cup. He is present because he wants to come into our lives through Holy Communion. "As the living Father has sent me and as I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he also shall live because of me." (Jn 6:58)

Jesus chose to come into our lives through the sign of bread and wine that we might understand how intimately he wants to be a part of our life. Just as food becomes our own flesh and blood, so Jesus becomes most intimately our life. So much so that St. Paul could exclaim, "I live, but no, it is no longer I who live but Christ in me." (Gal. 2:20)

Finally, the Eucharist is given to us by Jesus as a pledge of life everlasting. "He who eats this bread shall live forever.” (Jn 6:59) “And I will raise him up on the last day." (Jn 6:55)

So, brothers and sisters, when you come to Mass especially on Sundays, understand why, know what you are doing: come to remember with love and gratitude the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and his great love for you. Come with joy; it's a celebration. And you don't celebrate alone. That’s why you come with the Christian community.

Come finally with thanksgiving, to thank the Lord Jesus for his tremendous love for you. He died on the cross that, he might give you everlasting life. He himself is our life; he gives himself to us in Holy Communion. Receive him with love and faith. Surrender your heart to him, that he may transform you, that, he may live in you more and more. Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Sermons on the Eucharist Index