A few years back, before I left my parish assignment to transition into the U.S. Air Force, I was called to visit an elderly parishioner who was moved to a nursing home about an hour away. It was a hard thing for his spouse to accept, especially when the elderly parishioner was suffering from memory loss, which caused him to not recognize her at times. Also, the condition affected his ability to move, and he was not willing to eat because he did not have an appetite. It was a challenging opportunity to minister to someone who was suffering emotionally and sentimentally while trying to take care of someone who was suffering physically and mentally. Nonetheless, through this unique moment in time, I was able to receive a moment of grace for my own life, too. I hope what I will share with you can relate to you in some ways because no matter what is going on in life, we are not forgotten by God.
After the initial talk with his spouse at the parish office, I still had some meetings to attend before I was able to drive away and visit the parishioner. His wife warned me that many times, especially recently, he did recognize their long-time family members and loved ones. Therefore, I prepared myself for that particular scenario… To my surprise, my name was in that day’s memory bank! He was so surprised to see me visiting from afar, and his wife was so happy that he was energetic and his memory was there that day. Tears were exchanged as the person told me how much both of them missed our parish family and apologized for missing Mass due to health problems.
We talked for a good while. I had to give him some “tough love” on trying to eat, especially with the gentle reminder of his family and caretakers, even when there was no appetite at times. We spent time together until he got tired and dozed asleep. This encounter touched me deeply in many different ways. It reminded me how wonderful of a gift to not be forgotten, visited, and prayed for! Even though they were grateful that I visited that day, I was grateful to be God‘s instrument of love that day for a dear parishioner.
From ancient times, heroes tried their best to leave a legacy in history so that they will be remembered. Scholars and warriors worked hard so that their names would be recorded in their own people’s history books. Therefore, remembrance is one of our basic human desires! Memories are some of the most invaluable treasures we can ever have; thus, dealing with memory loss is one of the hardest things for a person and their loved ones. Too oftentimes, we take things for granted and think that we will remember or be remembered, but unfortunately, this is not always the case in life. Perhaps we can have some selected memories that we would like to keep here and there — and that could become a struggle at times, too — but we all seem to suffer from some type of amnesia.
We become very forgetful of what God has done for us and how He had and continues to work in our lives. We often forget our blessings because we let the present moment and its trials, problems, distractions, or busyness pull us everywhere. We have lost sight of what it truly means to be grateful and reflective of how wonderful life can be, even though it can be messy at times, too. Take a look back at all your trials and see if you can identify only the wrongdoings or sufferings, or do you also see the grace-filled moments that come along with them? God never abandoned us! He always sent the right people to assist and allow the right moments to teach us, even when we were too hurt or myopically looking at the problems themselves. We are not alone, even in our toughest trials.
Contrary to many people’s assumptions, I struggled and questioned God‘s goodness and providential timing at times, too. However, I have learned to spend the time to step away from the chaos and look back at my own life to see how His love has been constant throughout each and every trial. As I engage in retrospection and prayer, I can see that God‘s grace led me through life’s toughest trials when I thought I could not make it through alone. If this same God was faithful to me in the past, He will not abandon me now as He has always remained faithful throughout my life! If I know that He is here and that my fears, reservations, or humanity are blinding me from seeing Him as He is, I learn — little by little — to trust in my faith to guide me back to Him. I need to allow my faith to be strengthened with personalized understanding and affirmation of hope.
I also learned to reflect, analyze, and try to look at what is really happening now (beyond the apparent problem). It will be hard to focus, go beyond what is painful, and see things as they are beyond our present blind spots. Nevertheless, we are invited to be patient, to continue to relate what is going on with how the work of grace was shown in the past as to connect the dots and see the opportunity or lesson that is presenting itself to us now.
The best way for us as Catholics to remember is to focus on what has been given to us at every Mass, that Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as expiation for our sins. For our sake, he endured immense pains, suffering, anguish, shame, and even betrayal and abandonment. This is the greatest and clearest reminder of divine love for us so we can remember to live for Him and with Him in the present moment. This retrospective reflection, recalling, and reliving in a loving, personal, and intimate way allows the message of the Cross, especially through the receiving of the Eucharist, to become an act of loving gift of ourselves to Him when we receive what He has given us. This faith in His faithfulness and love affirms our hope for the future.
Every time we hear the words of the Eucharistic institution, “Do this in memory of me,” our memory becomes enlivened and transformed by the Eucharistic Sacrifice. This memory is not just an ordinary sense of memory, as if we look at a picture and recall what happened. The Greek word anamnesis reminds us that we get to relive what happened on Calvary here and now! It is like — through the sacramental grace of the Mass — being transported back to the exact moment of Christ’s own sacrifice on the Cross.
The sacrifice of the Mass is then the same sacrifice of Christ on the Cross — in an unbloodied way — reminding us of who we really are and how loved we are by the Lord.
In each and every Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass, we are living and transformed by the love of the Trinity, which the Father handed over His Son as expiation for our sins. The Lord gave His life freely to redeem us from the slavery of evil. Thus, the Holy Spirit received, sanctified, and moved the hearts of believers to accept this everlasting exchange of divine love. With the Mass, we can recognize the immense love of God and remember who we truly are as Christians. We are more than what the world tells us or what sins have made us become! We are children of God the Father, disciples of Christ, and instruments of the Holy Spirit because of what the Trinity has done for us. Therefore, we have the grace and ability to become what we are meant to be, living to the fullest in this world of meaningless wandering.
If we truly open ourselves up to the life-changing reality of Mass, we will never come out of it unchanged. The Holy Sacrifice of Christ at Mass is the sober reminder that how we receive Him now will be how we prepare ourselves to receive Him at His Second Coming. In other words, our disposition of how we open our hearts to receive Christ in our souls will be the gauge of how we are prepared and will be received by Him when He comes to greet us at the unexpected hour.
Our faith keeps us vigilant, aware and focused on the spiritual battlefield all around us because the enemies are trying their best to attack, deter, and make us lose sight of His own love for us. Once we give in to the attacks and lose sight of who we truly are, we will lose focus on Who gives us life and sustains us. Once we lose sight of God, the Devil will sow despairs, negativities, and hopelessness by diminishing our hope, making sure to chase after false happiness, emptiness, passing vanities, and false glories. If we lose sight of God and things that are eternal and life-giving, we will become objectified and, in turn, objectify others only to seek what is beneficial, hedonistic, and pleasurable for the moment but are lost, down-beaten, and empty deep from within.
Therefore, let us recall and live God’s faithful, never-failing, never-changing, and everlasting love as we brace ourselves in times of crisis. When the temptations of self-preservation and ignorance of other people’s goods are so appealing and, at times, seem to be natural, let us turn to what is important, basic, and foundational in practicing our human and theological virtues. Our true characters are really shown when we are called to put into practice faith, hope, and charity. Simply put, what we have received through faith at Mass, through the Scriptures, and in prayer needs to be practiced with how we treat and care for our neighbors, especially those who are easily ignored, forgotten, vulnerable, and abandoned by society and others in times of crisis. To stand firm in God, proactively kind and caring in words and actions are our proper Christian response in a time of crisis like this one.
I also want you to know that no matter what is going on in your lives, please know that you are remembered in my prayers and loved by us, who are your spiritual family. In your time of trials and hardships, please allow the Church to walk with you, for we are your family of faith. You are never alone, forgotten, or abandoned. You are truly loved and remembered by God and by us, especially when we come together to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!
Peace be with you.