Memorial

Every day in the Church is a memorial day. Every day we have Mass which is a memorial of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. Jesus even tells us to “do this in memory of me”. When we do what He told us to do – “take this all of and eat of it...take this all of you and drink from it” -we do it in memory of Him. So, when we celebrate the Eucharist at Mass, we memorialize Jesus’s sacrificial offering to the Father on our behalf “for the forgiveness of sins”. We remember His love, selflessness, courage, strength, and peace in the greatest act of love the world has ever seen.

Our country celebrates Memorial Day on Monday. We memorialize the men and women who have heroically given their lives for our country. We remember their love, selflessness, courage, strength, and peace in the midst of war. We remember that they gave their lives so that we could enjoy the fruits of freedom, peace, and justice. When we call to mind their heroic examples and actions, they become spiritually present to us. As one rabbi said, “having ceased living with us, they now live within us”.

On Holy Thursday, I spoke of my greatest memory of my Dad. During the summer of my senior year with hopes of my pitching on the baseball team that year, he took me out to the yard after dinner every night to teach me how to throw a curveball. We spent many nights working on it but I couldn’t get it. Then, while on the beach during our vacation, probably on my last pitch for that week, I made the ball curve so much that it bounced off the sand directly into his shin, and blood squirted everywhere. I was horrified at first, but then a few minutes later, we were dancing in the ocean after washing him off. Finally, I threw a curveball! Two weeks later, he died. I love that story and whenever I remember it, my Dad is spiritually with me. When we remember those who have ceased living with us, they spiritually live within us. In the Eucharist, we remember Jesus and He really lives within us.