Sharing Memory with God

Created on 25 November 2013

Written by A. Casta

The Year of Faith has come to a close this past Sunday, November 24th -- the Feast of Christ the King. Faith tends to grow in adversity and for many this has been a very difficult year filled with stripping moments -- where all that was left was the certainty of Jesus in our lives. In his closing remarks, Pope Francis commented that believing “is walking with Jesus. It’s a journey that lasts a lifetime... Obviously, in this journey there will be moments when we feel tired and confused. However, faith gives us the certainty of the constant presence of Jesus in every situation, including the most painful and difficult to understand.”

The Holy Father asks us to remember God's faithfulness in our own lives so that this living rememberence can help us awaken the memory of God in others and ignite our role as catechists, especially to our youth.

It becomes quickly evident that the Holy Father uses the word 'memory' in an expanded way, one that may not be completely familiar to us.

If we roll back the tape to late September's homily in which Pope Francis addressed catechists we glean a richer meaning of his use of 'memory'.

So, as I look out at you, I think: Who are catechists? They are people who keep the memory of God alive; they keep it alive in themselves and they are able to revive it in others. This is something beautiful: to remember God, like the Virgin Mary, who sees God’s wondrous works in her life but doesn’t think about honour, prestige or wealth; she doesn’t become self-absorbed. Instead, after receiving the message of the angel and conceiving the Son of God, what does she do? She sets out, she goes to assist her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. And the first thing she does upon meeting Elizabeth is to recall God’s work, God’s fidelity, in her own life, in the history of her people, in our history: “My soul magnifies the Lord...

The catechist, then, is a Christian who is mindful of God, who is guided by the memory of God in his or her entire life and who is able to awaken that memory in the hearts of others. This is not easy! It engages our entire existence! What is the Catechism itself, if not the memory of God, the memory of his works in history and his drawing near to us in Christ present in his word, in the sacraments, in his Church, in his love? Dear catechists, I ask you: Are we in fact the memory of God? Are we really like sentinels who awaken in others the memory of God which warms the heart?3. “Woe to the complacent in Zion!”. What must we do in order not to be “complacent” – people who find their security in themselves and in material things – but men and woman of the memory of God? In the second reading, Saint Paul, once more writing to Timothy, gives some indications which can also be guideposts for us in our work as catechists: pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness (cf. 1 Tim 6:11).

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-homily-at-mass-for-catechists

The word memory is used to denote a reawakening of an awareness of God's living presence, his faithfulness, in the everyday of life; moments that perhaps were missed but are alive today, communios that fuel action. Action such as the willingness to bear witness in the public square or the willingness to properly catechesis children no matter what the cost. Fidelity to Christ, comes “often at a high price” says the Holy Father.

The words of the "little bear" St. Ursual come alive. "In the estimation of the wise man, "the guarding of virtue" is the most important part of the education of youth."

"By nature parents have a right to the training of their children, but with this added duty that the education and instruction of the child be in accord with the end for which by God's blessing it was begotten. Therefore it is the duty of parents to make every effort to prevent any invasion of their rights in this matter, and to make absolutely sure that the education of their children remain under their own control in keeping with their Christian duty, and above all to refuse to send them to those schools in which there is danger of imbibing the deadly poison of impiety."[26] -- Pope Pius XI | http://www.ewtn.com/library/encyc/p11divil.htm

Pope Francis challenges those who remain silent.

“Woe to the complacent in Zion, to those who feel secure … lying upon beds of ivory!” (Am 6:1,4). They eat, they drink, they sing, they play and they care nothing about other people’s troubles.

These are harsh words which the prophet Amos speaks, yet they warn us about a danger that all of us face. What is it that this messenger of God denounces; what does he want his contemporaries, and ourselves, to realize? The danger of complacency, comfort, worldliness in our lifestyles and in our hearts, of making our well-being the most important thing in our lives. This was the case of the rich man in the Gospel, who dressed in fine garments and daily indulged in sumptuous banquets; this was what was important for him. And the poor man at his doorstep who had nothing to relieve his hunger? That was none of his business, it didn’t concern him. Whenever material things, money, worldliness, become the centre of our lives, they take hold of us, they possess us; we lose our very identity as human beings. The rich man in the Gospel has no name, he is simply “a rich man”.

Material things, his possessions, are his face; he has nothing else. Let’s try to think: How does something like this happen? How do some people, perhaps ourselves included, end up becoming self-absorbed and finding security in material things which ultimately rob us of our face, our human face? This is what happens when we no longer remember God. If we don’t think about God, everything ends up being about “me” and my own comfort. Life, the world, other people, all of these become unreal, they no longer matter, everything boils down to one thing: having. When we no longer remember God, we too become unreal, we too become empty; like the rich man in the Gospel, we no longer have a face! Those who run after nothing become nothing – as another great prophet Jeremiah, observed (cf. Jer 2:5). We are made in God’s image and likeness, not that of material objects, not that of idols!

And memory is a two way street.

Chirst in turn will remember us.

In yesterday's homily to close the Year of Faith, the Pope focused on “the centrality of Christ” and how the faithful are expected to recognise and accept “the centrality of Jesus Christ in our thoughts, words and works”.

“When this centre is lost, because it is replaced with something else, only harm can result for everything around us and for ourselves,” he said.

Reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading of the good thief, who was crucified alongside Jesus, repents and asks Jesus to remember him in paradise, the Pope said Jesus responds to the man with forgiveness, “not condemnation”.

“Whenever anyone finds the courage to ask for this forgiveness, the Lord does not let such a petition go unheard.”

The Pope said everyone should ask the Lord to remember them because “each one of us has a history”, has made mistakes and sinned as well as experienced happy times and sad.

People need to say: “‘Jesus, remember me because I want to be good, I have the desire to become good, but I don’t have the strength. I can’t, I’m a sinner,’” the Pope said. In response, “the Lord always grants more than what he has been asked”.

It was profoundly moving and fitting then that Pope Francis closed the Year of Faith by taking us back to the bones of St. Peter, upon which the Church is built. It was the first time, the relics were exposed for public veneration.

During the ceremony, the Pope – the 265th successor of Peter – held the closed reliquary for several minutes in silent prayer while choirs sang the Nicene Creed in Latin.

In your moments of suffering, do not be afraid to ask God why.