13 – 14 June 2020
THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
IN MEMORY OF ME
We all want to be remembered. To be forgotten is to be treated as if you were of no significance, that you didn’t matter to anyone- it’s as though you never existed! Jesus wanted to be remembered – ‘This is my body given for you – This is the cup of my blood…Do this in memory of me.’
Of course Jesus was not just thinking of his own need to be remembered. He was thinking also about his disciples. They too needed to remember him. In his love for them – a special way of remembering him, was, the Eucharist.
Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we recall some of the wonderful things he said and did. We reflect on them and try to apply them to our lives. We remember especially that Jesus becomes really present to us in the Eucharist, not physically, but really present. A spiritual bond is forged, we are not merely in communication but in communion with Jesus, A Holy Communion!
Memory is a precious faculty. It connects us with people and events that are no longer present to us. If we cherish the memory of our loved ones, they become present to us. They are not just memory but a real presence, a presence we feel rather than see. By remembering them we continue to reap a harvest from what they sowed while among us. How much more fruitful it is to remember Jesus, especially in the way he asked us to be remembered.
REMEMBERING:- Jesus said to his apostles: ‘Do this in memory of me.’ We all love to be remembered. This was true even for Jesus. But if we want to be remembered, we have a duty to also remember. Memory is a powerful thing. Wrongly used it brings death; rightly used it brings life, and is a from of immortality. It keeps the past alive. Those we remember never die; they continue to walk and talk with us. Lord when we celebrate the Eucharist we are remembering you. May that remembering bring us life here and hereafter. Amen
FRIDAY JUNE 19 : THE FEAST OF THE MOST SACRED HEART.
The old Testament God, people often say, is a fierce and vengeful God, while the God revealed in the New Testament is the tender God Jesus called ‘Father’. The Jewish Scripture does thus present God as a warrior destroying his enemies, but they also depict a divine lover taking Israel as his bride, as a mother who will never forget her child, as a father holding a toddler’s hand.
Christians too have worshiped a warrior God – not only in crusades, but in every ‘Holy’ war. The feast of the Sacred Heart underscores the divine image consistently presented in God’s own self-revelation. God is Love with a heart aflame with love for all humanity. (On Friday following the 9.00am and 11.00am we will have – exposition of the blessed Sacrament for half an hour in honour of this great feast – please stay)
SATURDAY JUNE 20 : THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
Today’s feast honours Mary’s pondering heart. ‘Immaculate’ the word with which we describe it, recalls the words we heard Jesus speak – ‘Blest are the single-hearted’. For Mary’s heart was occupied with God – we are not as single-hearted as Mary. But this feast invites us to join her in pondering the treasures of our own hearts. For the wonders we have tucked away – the memories of life and love, of growth and wonder – are our road to single-heartedness. Hidden in them are hints of the God Mary loved so well, the God who is love and life.
(WE WILL HAVE A SPECIAL MASS – SATURDAY MORNING 9.30AM TO CELEBRATE THIS SPECIAL FEAST – FOLLOWED BY THE PRAYING OF THE ROSARY- HOPE YOU CAN COME – PLEASE RING 5144 4100).
Warmest regards and special wishes to one and all – miss you – Dean Peter.