Tomorrow I
will be teaching the Gospel Doctrine lesson on Matt 26/Mark 14/Luke 22 and John
18, and will be focusing on the institution of the Lord’ Supper and discussing
the priestly sacrificial Greek terms, such as αναμνηεσις (“memorial”/”remembrance”; cf. Hebrew זכר). On
the concept of “remembrance” vis-à-vis the Eucharist, a catechism issued by
German Catholic bishops captured it very well in the following:
In the celebration of the Eucharist the
Church does what her Lord did on the evening preceding his death. He
commissioned her and gave her power to do this: ‘Do this in memory of me!” (cf. Luke 22:19; 1
Corinthians 11:23-25).
‘Remembering’ or ‘memorial’ is a concept understood by Jews and Christians as more
than mere ‘not forgetting’, more than a happy memory of something in the past,
more than something which one is glad to recall. ‘Memorial’ means that God
allows what is past to be present here
and now, that we are related to that past which is here and now effective.
So Jesus’ last supper is present in every Eucharistic celebration. (Credo: A Catholic Catechism [trans.
Benedict Davies; London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1983], §27.2 [p. 164])
Of course,
they continue to defend the Eucharist itself being a propitiatory sacrifice. On
this point, see the listing of articles at: