In Memory of Christ
by Leon J. Suprenant, Jr.

The 2000 Olympics in Sydney gave me the opportunity to recall my own Olympic experience. No, I'm not a world-class gymnast or figure skater! I did, however, have the good fortune to attend the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles. That day in the Los Angeles Coliseum, watching the finest track and field athletes in the world, is one I'll never forget.

The culmination of the day's events was the 400 meter intermediate hurdles final. American Edwin Moses was the heavy favorite. He hadn't so much as lost a heat for years, and winning the gold medal would be the crowning achievement of his illustrious career.

The race didn't begin until dusk. As the runners got situated in the starting blocks, the 100,000 spectators became deafeningly quiet. As the race began, all eyes were on the runners. The stadium was aglow with lighters, lit matches, and the flashing of cameras. The silence at the start of the race quickly gave way to a rumble which crescendoed into a roar as Moses triumphantly thundered down the stretch on his way to Olympic glory. Everyone knew that we had just witnessed something very special.

Winning the Gold (and Frankincense and Myrrh)

As exciting as Edwin Moses' gold medal performance was, it was just a sporting event. This experience shows that we're very capable of focusing our attention when we think something is truly important, despite the many distractions in our lives. Our hearts can be found close to what we treasure (cf. Mt. 6:19-21). Where does our treasure-our "gold medal"-truly lie?

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the memorial of Christ's life, death, and Resurrection, the most significant event in the history of the world, occurring in the "fullness of time" (Gal. 4:4). This event not only has left its indelible mark on world history, but even defines who we are today. This event seemingly is one that preeminently merits our attention.

This Jubilee Year, we celebrate with great joy the 2,000th anniversary of the onset of that fullness of time, when the eternal Son of God assumed flesh and was "born of a woman" (Gal. 4:4). As the Holy Father reminds us, "Christianity has its starting point in the Incarnation of the Word," in a God who actually seeks out and becomes present to His people.

History Repeating Itself

Given the fundamental importance of the Mass, we must ask why more people do not fervently enter into the sacred mysteries. Even among the evangelized-those who believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead-there are those who don't consider the Mass all that important, and perhaps don't even believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. While this is a complex issue, I think much of the problem comes down to a misunderstanding of what a "memorial" is.

On one extreme are people who relegate Christ's sacrifice to the distant past. They believe that in the Mass, we remember what Jesus did for us, but these events do not become present realities. And so with each successive generation, the memory becomes weaker and cloudier. The Eucharist becomes merely a symbolic reminder that Jesus loves us. This leads to an exaggerated emphasis on the "horizontal" dimension of the Mass: the "gathered assembly," the external participation of the faithful, and the human needs and aspirations of the community. Although these elements have their proper place, they become empty if they are divorced from Christ's saving presence.

On the other extreme is a more privatized ("me and Jesus") approach to Christianity. Christ is so present to us that we do not need the sacred liturgy to encounter Him. Some Christians fundamentally misunderstand the Mass' sacrificial character. They believe that Catholics claim to sacrifice Christ repeatedly, which seems contrary to the biblical teaching that Christ died "once for all" (Heb 7:27). While it's important to realize that we can and should encounter Our Lord in prayer frequently even apart from the liturgy, there's still a basic misunderstanding of what is meant by a memorial.

Anamnesis or Amnesia

I recently asked my precocious eight-year-old daughter what she thinks about when she receives Jesus in Holy Communion. She said, "I think of Jesus dying on the Cross." I think if Jesus were to comment on her innocent response, He would approvingly say, "You are not far from the kingdom of God" (Mk. 12:34).

In short, as a memorial, the Eucharist is not merely a symbolic reminder of the salvation Christ won for us, but it actually makes present and effective in our midst Christ's sacrifice on the Cross for us (cf. Catechism, nos. 1363-65). Christ is not sacrificed repeatedly. Rather, the Eucharist is a present, unbloody participation in the one sacrifice of Christ (ibid., no. 1367).

The concept of a memorial is not new to Christianity. This is how the Jewish people have always understood the Exodus. The Passover celebration not only calls to mind Israel's liberation from the slavery of Pharaoh thousands of years ago, but also makes present the liberation and salvation God offers His chosen people.

In the New Covenant, Christ has given us the Eucharist as a memorial of His suffering and death, so that His saving presence may be diffused through space and time. Jesus is truly and intimately present with His people, and each time the Eucharist is celebrated Jesus is really present to us. We not only proclaim His sacrificial death (cf. 1 Cor. 11:25), but anticipate His coming in glory.

After the words of consecration, the priest recalls the saving work of God in salvation history, as we unite ourselves with the one sacrifice of Christ. This portion of the Eucharistic Prayer is known as the anamnesis. Recalling the mighty works of God helps us to focus on what is truly happening here and now on the altar of our parish church. This unfolding reality should encourage all of us to be "really present" to the mysteries that are being celebrated in our midst-to become "deafeningly quiet" before the great event in front of us.

We must see the anamnesis not as a redundancy but as a necessary reminder of our identity, purpose, and destiny as Christians. Nowhere in Scripture is there evidence of anyone cruising through life in God's friendship without regularly calling to mind God's promises, commandments, and saving actions. Rather, those who forget about God are those who fall from the state of grace and do evil in God's sight. If the living God doesn't have our attention, then something else inevitably will.

Source and Summit

The Church teaches that the Eucharist is the source (or "heart") and summit of the Church's life. This teaching encompasses the entire life of every Christian, and is fully realized in the glorious heavenly banquet. I would, however, like to focus briefly on two vital aspects of the Eucharistic life: adoration and mission.

Since Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, is truly present in the Eucharist, we owe the Blessed Sacrament the worship of adoration (cf. Catechism, no. 1418). This includes not only the singular privilege of receiving Him in Holy Communion at Mass, but also worship of the Blessed Sacrament outside Mass. The resurgence of Eucharistic adoration in many dioceses around the world, with the full blessing of the Magisterium (see pp. 27-30 of this issue), is surely a positive sign of spiritual renewal in our time. As Pope Paul VI wrote, "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord."

Our lives as Christians don't end with the Mass any more than a car after being fueled is meant to sit in a gas station. The word "Mass" comes from the Latin word missa (literally "having been sent"), from which we also derive the word missio ("mission"). Our Eucharistic devotion must be ordered to godly lives that bear witness to the saving presence of Christ.

May the extraordinary graces of this "intensely Eucharistic" Jubilee Year provide us the impetus and strength to make Christ known and loved in the new millennium, a millennium especially consecrated to our Blessed Mother. On behalf of the entire CUF staff, I wish all of you a most blessed Christmas aglow with the light of Christ burning brightly.

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