"Why Do We Remember?"

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Hello, hello everybody. It's Father David. Hope you're doing well today. So we're doing something a little different today. I'm not joined by Mark today. We had a little bit of uh scheduling issues today, uh this week with Memorial Day and the end of the school year and all kinds of things, you know, gets a little crazy at the end of May. But uh yeah, I'm gonna doing a little side quest today, if you will, a little side mission, uh just to give us a little bit of a topic and then kind of go on from there. You know, because we don't want to drop the podcast for a week uh just because we couldn't get to it. You know, we don't want to leave all you hanging right out there uh in the internet world, right? Uh so we'll keep the party going here. So with that, I just wanted to uh we were gonna we were gonna go into our next topic and chapter of the book uh from Trent Horn. We're actually getting near the end of the book. We only have two chapters left, uh, one being on hell and one being on heaven. So again, it's kind of like the last things and all that. So so stay tuned, because after the book, we're gonna have to have more topics, right? Uh so don't fear not. Uh we will go into into new topics and things, maybe another uh maybe another book uh looking at. Uh we'll also have interviews lined up, I think, with different people uh just around the parish, getting to know them and uh talking about a host of of topics as well. Uh but with that, I just want to do a a little um yeah, again a little aside mission here on uh reflection. Uh just uh kind of the the importance and the reality of of reflection. Obviously, within our episodes, we're doing a lot of reflecting on you know the book itself, uh the information and the material that uh Trent presents to us. But I think you know what makes a podcast good is actually bringing that into life itself, right? In as insofar as it's not just a bunch of theories or topics, but we actually reflect on our own lives. That's kind of why at the beginning of each episode, you know, we'll kind of share a little bit of banter on you know what's happened this last week. Reflection is is is so important. And I think just even this in this last week, there was uh two things in particular uh that kind of keyed me into this. Obviously, uh Memorial Day itself uh on Monday, that we kind of kick off the summer, uh the summer season and everything with an important celebration, an important uh memorial, you know, of all those who have uh sacrificed their lives, uh men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our country, for our freedoms and everything. And I think it's uh really beautiful and really important that we take uh a day, we mark a day in the calendar every year, uh, really to remind ourselves to stop and remember. Great acts, right, of of service and of life. Uh and so I had uh it was really kind of cool. I had a mass, uh first time ever, had a mass in a cemetery. So uh the Catholic Cemetery Association invites uh priests out to the some of the different cemeteries to be able to celebrate mass on Memorial Day. And I was at a Holy Cross cemetery, and it was really kind of cool. Had about 200 people uh or so for the mass, and it was kind of interesting too, because it was like a really foggy morning, so like uh celebrating uh mass in a foggy cemetery, rather interesting, you know, but uh but it was really beautiful, and so it just you know, all of that with Memorial Day and just thinking about how we remember as human beings, and uh and then uh a not so significant, also another example uh was I was out at Mr. Divotts uh today, uh this evening. So Mr. Divitts, if you're unaware, is a driving range down the down York Road here. And yeah, I was kind of getting into golf a little bit last year, uh I figure it was kind of a pastory thing to be able to learn how to do, right? Uh so golf outings and different things, but it was kind of on my radar of something to look at. But as anyone, if anyone knows the game of golf, it is not really a game of the body as much as it is a game of the mind. You know, you can you can show up to the driving range or are on the golf course, and you know, it could be from day to day, you can have a crazy different game. And I think it's just also playing the game, you are uh you're as you're paying attention to your swings, you're really having to pay attention and really reflecting on, okay, what did I just do uh and what do I want to do? Right? Uh not uh not shank the ball, you know, a hundred yards to the left would be great. So but yeah, so I think between these two things, more importantly and significantly, uh Memorial Day, but then also, you know, anyone who plays the game of golf or anything, is we have this reality of reflection. And uh, you know, why do we reflect? It's something that is really uh essentially human. Uh no other animals do this, right? They don't sit and uh sit down on a rock and ponder uh life and everything, right? You know, reflection comes from the the the definition is to to bend back. Uh so to bend backwards. And I think when we reflect, obviously that's what we're doing. We're we're actually going, it's if you think about it, interestingly, you know, it's like you're going outside of your your mind and your body and your time and your space. You're thinking about a time that was previous. It's kind of a it's kind of a an inch kind of a transcendent activity. We don't really think about it, right? Because we do it so much. But again, it's it's it's essentially human. Uh there's no other animal that reflects like we do and thinks and ponders. And you know, why do we reflect? Why should we reflect? Well, I think it's a sense of, you know, we want to understand ourselves as a part of history, uh, and really a sense that we want to understand ourselves as a part of a story. You know, why are movies uh in the modern age so so so popular, right? Well, certainly, okay, yes, uh, we have CGI and uh all the crazy things they can do and uh and show on uh on movies, you know, Godzilla and whatever Marvel movie is is up next, right? But more importantly, that, you know, even the most most popular movies, you know, why are they popular? Not just because of the special effects, because you know, it tells us a story, and we like to imagine ourselves a part of that story. You know, why is the why are the scriptures important? Yes, being the word of God, for sure. But it's also it's a a story that we can understand our lives, right? And you know, reflection is so essential, uh essential in that. Socrates was an ancient philosopher, and he said uh the unexamined life is not worth living. Uh might be a little drastic, right? All all life is worth living. If we're alive, it's a good thing. But I think there is something true though, that you know, um there's something really missed uh if we just kind of go through life not really thinking about what we're doing, what we're not doing, uh, and the significance of of our lives and and the events and the moments and the relationships and kind of all these things, right? Uh that it all has meaning, that we're created in the image and likeness of God, and uh and again we're created at a sense of of providence, uh that God wanted us to be. Obviously, our parents, you know, or were cooperators in that, but God chose us and willed us to be, you know, through their through their love, and uh and to say then our life is a journey, it's a story, it's a narrative, and it's an it's an it's an important one. And to say we sp we send we spend some time thinking about our life uh is important. Now, that could be really difficult because maybe we come up against uh difficult parts of our story, really difficult relationships. And and that's where you know I suppose you know reflection for the Christian uh isn't just simply an act a mental activity, but is really something of prayer, right? That we're not alone with our thoughts. We shouldn't be alone with our thoughts, right? Jesus is with us. And so to say, you know, if we're thinking about that reflecting, um, yeah, if we come up against trauma or we come up against, you know, difficulty, that uh yeah, we can always direct that to God in in prayer, and that could be a whole other uh episode or series of episodes, right? Uh but we all have an interior world, and to be it to be attentive to that is really important. You know, just a a famous example within the Christian world would be uh Saint Augustine. You know, Pope Leo is an Augustinian, uh meaning he's from the Order of St. Augustine, uh in the in the memory of St. Augustine. Uh Saint Augustine's most famous writing was The Confessions. Long story short, he kind of had a bit of a roller coaster of a life experience and uh became uh Christian, became Catholic, and and uh he reflected on his life in the book called The Confessions. If you if you've never heard of it, uh I would highly recommend The Confessions, uh or at least reading uh a book on the Confessions first, if you don't dive into the text uh itself. But uh it's a really a beautiful it's one of I I think it's described as one of the first not autobiographies, but it's like a it's a it's it's like a first reflective piece about one's life. I I believe so, don't quote me, but I think uh it's significant in world history in that way. There was nothing else written like this uh from the author itself, himself. And so the confessions, really important, uh just how we how how reflection in a Christian sense can look. Then also I was thinking about this in regards to Memorial Day because there's a sense of we we reflect as Christians liturgically. Well, okay, what liturgically, what does that mean? The liturgy is the is the public worship of the church, right? So it's uh essentially mass, right? The liturgy, the hours is also another way of lit of praying a liturgy. It's a a public act of worship of the church. We'll talk about that more uh because uh there's a new liturgy of the hours, a new brevery coming out in the next uh year or so. So stay tuned to more details on that. Uh but the mass is a liturgy, right? There's rituals, uh, there's a congregation, there's all these things. And there's a sense of we we have a lot of remembering. It's an it's an act of remembrance, uh coming to mass and going to mass. Obviously, we have uh the liturgy of the word, you know, so we have the reading of the scriptures, uh, the first part of Mass. And then we go into the liturgy of the Eucharist, which is obviously the celebration um of the Eucharist. So within that, though, we recognize that there's the consecration, right? So the priest holds up uh the bread, holds up uh the chalice uh with the wine, which becomes precious blood. And there's the line that the priest says that are Jesus' words, you know, do this in memory of me. You know, what is the what is the this? Not just simply, you know, the the liturgical ritual celebration, right? Do you know obviously that's important, he wants us to do that because we can receive him uh through the priest, right? But what is do this in memory of me? You know, what is the that that raising up of the the the bread and the chalice representative of that act is representative, obviously, his own flesh and blood being raised up on the cross, right? And so doing this in remembrance of him recognizes that we too uh are called to enter into that sacrificial life, that sacrificial love that God has lived, and that's what he's inviting us to. But it's uh it's rather interesting. So, you know, with the mass and everything, uh sometimes I'll ask the kids in the school this, you know, how many masses have have there ever been? Uh and they're like coming up with some crazy numbers, right? So millions, billions, whatever it is. Truly an unknowable number, right? Because there's public masses, there's private masses all over the world for 3000 and some years, right? Well, the answer is not uh if we I don't forget whether we've said this on the podcast before, but you know, the answer is not any number of masses, it's it's one mass. That each and every time we celebrate the mass, we're actually celebrating the one mass that happened at the last supper, right? So kind of mind blowing, kind of crazy, right? But we we enter into, we kind of go through time and space uh to back to the Last Supper, and then also the crucifix and resurrection, all these events are outside of they happened in time and space, right? But they're also outside. Crazy thought, right? But when we remember, we actually make that event present within the liturgy. So there's actually uh a five dollar word, we learned this in seminary, when we were studying the liturgy, it's called anemnesis. So anamnesis is the Greek uh word for remembrance or uh recollection. So we get amnesia, right? Uh from this from this word. Interestingly, you know, when the Jewish people uh celebrate the Passover and everything, uh traditionally, uh at least you know, when they celebrate the Passover, they they celebrated uh it in a very similar way. That with the Passover meal, they would really be uh celebrating, as the Lord had invited them to, you know, with um uh with lamb and bread and all these things, uh they would be celebrating the Passover meal, they would be celebrating you know their liberation from Egypt. And it's a sense of this this meal wasn't just simply um a remembrance, kind of a ritual that kind of reminded them of the past, but it in a real sense it was actually making you know that um that salv the salvation that they experienced, you know, the redemption that they experienced, actually real now in a in a in a real way, right? Kind of through time and space. So in a sense, you know, this is something we kind of an idea and a reality we kind of inherit from our Jewish brothers and sisters, right? Uh and from the Old Testament and from really our journey and story too. And we see how it's it's it's renewed and it's it's deepened in what Christ does, right? Because he becomes the Passover lamb and everything. So uh, but yes, this so this whole remembrance, it's not just about like simply thinking about something that happened a long time ago, it's actually this deeper sense of um God working right here and right now. So anyway, kind of a crazy thing to think about, maybe more deeply, but uh remembrance is just very much a part of the Christian uh Christian life. You know, it which you know kind of begs the question, you know, how do we remember? As we know, as human beings, we remember through all kinds of very practical things. Uh pictures, I love pictures. You know, I have a uh Google Photos account, I love to be able to go back, you know, especially now we don't have to have we don't have to have, you know, big entire books of pictures, even though I do love physical photos as well. You know, we can have our you know our Google photos and stuff, and you can look back years and years and years to things that happened before and uh you know t decades ago and and all of that. And uh listen I love pictures, it's kind of like a wordless journal, but it just reminds us of of our story, you know, and with that movies and stories and songs and uh and everything. Kind of tying back to Memorial Day and everything, the Mass and the Cemetery, the uh some of the first Christians celebrated the first masses on the tombs of the martyrs. So the martyrs were really the ones that were looked to to be they lived the the fullness of of Christianity, of being a follower of Christ, insofar as you know they gave their whole life for Christ. And so it was an act of remembrance uh of them, an act of honor, and also an act of intercession, you know, asking for their prayers, that the first masses were celebrated on the tombs of the martyrs, which is actually why we still have the practice within the church. And if you go over to Europe and uh you go into churches where people will be buried under altars, that uh every altar has a relic within it. I I forget, I apologize right now, uh, that I did look up the the relics in the altar here at Holy Family. There's actually two uh two saints, and they're early church, uh kind of early church saints. So, but yeah, uh there's a relic and every altar. It's just the sense of it's a reminder, it's a remembrance uh of the saints for sure and their their intercession, but just of this this greater story that we're a part of. So it's pretty uh it's kind of incredible. And and then and with that, you know, too, they would celebrate the masses uh on those tombs, but then as an act of remembrance going from there, you know, how would they continue to remember them by living in the ways that they lived, right? So being heroic, being virtuous, being you know, laying down their own lives, you know, for the gospel and everything. So again, in a Christian sense, remembrance is not just simply like a mental activity, but it's maybe it's just it's about something of how we how we live and how we embrace life. That uh it affects not just our thoughts, but our actions and and all we are. So well, anyway, that was a little uh longer than just uh a minute or so, right? But uh yeah, just uh a couple thoughts on remembrance, you know, the importance of remembrance and you know why why should we take time to remember. Alright, with that, let's jump to our gospel for the weekend. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen. The Lord be with you. Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John Glory to you, O Lord. God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. But whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. So this is the gospel for the weekend. Uh sorry, I actually don't have a particular thought on this yet. Uh I haven't uh quite distilled uh my um reflections yet, uh, but I'm gonna be praying with it as we get ready for the weekend. You know, the we this weekend is Trinity Sunday. So we had Pentecost this last weekend, and we're going to another special feast of Trinity Sunday. There's kind of a lineup of special feasts uh these next number of weeks, right? We have uh Trinity Sunday and then uh and then uh Corpus Christi and then back into ordinary time, right? So it's good. All right, so with that uh prayer intentions, I just offer prayers for uh our military uh service men and women uh and all their service that they give to us, um, seen and unseen, right? To be able to protect our freedoms just a remembrance uh and remembrance of them. So hold them up in prayer uh today. Let's pray. Name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, Amen. Good and gracious God, uh, we just give you thanks and praise for this day. We give you thanks for the gift of our minds, of our intellects, uh, with the gift of memory and of remembrance. We thank you for uh the many ways you've worked in our lives in ways seen and unseen. We ask you to uh enlighten our minds and our our hearts today, that as we reflect upon our lives, we may see ultimately uh your presence and your providence. Um be with us today, be with uh again all of our military men and women who serve our country uh to keep them safe uh in their uh in their sacrifice uh in their work for us to provide us the freedom we have in our country. We ask you to bless us, keep us safe, and always in your love. We ask this all in your name. Amen. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen. Alright, everybody, have a great week, and we'll catch you soon.