Memories

            Eucharistic Prayer C, which may be found in the 1979 Prayer Book, and which we use from time to time, describes memory as a blessing from God, for which we should thank Him.

Indeed, memory is a wonderful gift – we remember the warm embrace of our mothers cuddling us, or the wonderful moments that we spent with our friends and loved ones. But memory is not useful only at a sentimental level. Memory allows us to walk, ride a bike, or not to play with matches or a hot iron!

Memory helps us to live again a beautiful sunset or the first kiss. But also is essential for reading and daily living.  Memories from our families keep us together. When I visited with my brother in Buenos Aires, we spent a good deal of time together tracing our family roots. And we look at old pictures and tried to connect names to faces and places.

Memory helps us to remember that we belong to God by virtue of baptism and that it is by God’s grace as revealed in Christ Jesus that we can come together and gather as the God’s family, as brothers and sisters. And memory helps us to remember those hymns and songs that we learn as little children in Sunday school.

Sometimes, when someone is injured or sick, he or she may lose the use of memory. “Who am I?” “What am I doing here?” It seems funny, yet those who have gone through such traumatic event know it is not funny at all. Imagine how upset we get when we cannot remember a password for the stupid computer or when we cannot remember where we left the car keys!

Even worse, one of the major effects of Alzheimer’s disease is the slow and permanent degradation of memory. Patients do not forget where is the bathroom or bed, they completely loss the whole concept of bathroom or bed. What is a bed? What is it used for? It is very sad experience.

Of course, sometimes we play games with our memory. Isn’t it easy to forget about those twenty dollars that we borrowed from brother or sister? And yet, how easy is to remember when someone owes us the same twenty dollars!

Memory is a blessing. But as with many good things, memories can enslave us or close the door to healing and happiness. Look at the many internecine wars in the Middle East or Africa. Consider our own American experience with slavery and race relations. Coming closer to our own personal experiences, how many times you may have wondered, “Gosh! Why did I say that?” “Why did I give up so easy?”

And, of course, Church is always part of our memories. For some, memories may bring back camping experiences, moving sermons, great spiritual experiences. And yet, for so many, it is sad to acknowledge that church memories are dark, numbing, and painful.

Memories… Memories can enrich and empower us in our daily life. And yet, as the story of Lot’s wife illustrates, looking back to the memory of “the good old times” may freeze us in the past, and closes the door to any possibility of discovering even a better future.

Today our story in the Gospel is about memories. Clopas and his friend are going back to their homes burdened by the memories of all that had happened in Jerusalem. They seem to have forgotten all the spirited moments they enjoyed together with Jesus, the thrill of watching people being healed, the seas becalmed, and bread and fishes being multiplied to feed multitudes. They can only seem to remember what they consider the final failure of Calvary’s Cross.

And when asked by their fellow sojourner why they were in such sad mood, they seemed only to remember about a “Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. We hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel, but to no avail. And besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.”

Questioned again, they seemed only to remember that “some women went to the tomb but they did not find his body there, and returned with the story about a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. Yet, some us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but we did not see him.”

It is at this point that their fellow traveler, who was none other than the Risen Lord, proceeds to refresh their memory about what He had told them before the Cross; indeed, the Cross was not the end of the story, but the beginning of a new chapter.

By that time, as it was getting late, they decided to make stop at the local inn. After dinner, Jesus “was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” It was then when their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. The memory of their Master breaking bread with them brought back what they needed to recognize their Lord’s presence in their midst. It was with them, all the time, and they did not recognize him!

In our Christian understanding, there is a close relationship between memory and transformation. “Their eyes were opened”… Sara Blauvelt, a theologian and catechist writes that, “At that moment, their worldview was re-oriented in such a way that it shaped all future encounters; through word and sacrament they were energized and returned with enthusiasm to their mission as disciples.”¹ 

Memories of Jesus blessing and breaking bread with them brought far more than a pleasant glow or inner peace. In the experience of the two disciples memory led to transformation – from sadness and despondency, to joy and empowerment.

“They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

The transforming power of memory turned two sad and despaired individuals into two empowered and outgoing disciples.

The Holy Eucharist which we will celebrate in a few minutes is a memorial celebration that recalls our liberation from sin and death. The Eucharist will bring back memories of unleavened bread and a close escape. The Eucharist will refresh us with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ who came “to set the captives free.” Freedom not only from Egypt’s slavery, but freedom from the hurts, pains, and experiences that may seek to oppress us.

The Eucharist, like the meal on the way to Emmaus, will refresh our memory so that we can recognize Jesus. As Fr Rufus Pereira writes, “Today, we will not be able to see Jesus in the way the Apostles saw him when he was on earth.” Nor we will see Him in the same way as Clopas and his friend did. “But like them and all true disciples after them, we too can encounter the Risen Lord in the Divine Word, the Eucharistic Worship, and in the Church Community.”

Paraphrasing the theologian John Dominic Crossan, Emmaus may never have happened, and yet time after time, we find ourselves making the road to Emmaus a real experience in our lives. Emmaus, even if it wasn’t, it is. Even if it is not the inn on the road to Emmaus, still we gather around the table to remember that Jesus “took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them” and today, he is offering himself to us.

So, today let us celebrate and give thanks for the gift of memory. Let us pray that our memory may be opened to the healing power of the Spirit. Let us offer to God our memory so that He may use it to transform us, and us to transform the world around us. Amen.

Fr Gustavo

¹ https://nccl.wildapricot.org/Resources/Documents/White%20Papers%20-%20Eucharist/Sara%20Blauvelt.pdf