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From the Pastor's Desk
More Than a Memory
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
There are certain words that have become part of the Church's vocabulary because no single English word fully captures their meaning. One of those words is the Greek term anamnesis, a word that is often translated simply as remembrance. Yet, in the biblical and liturgical tradition, it means something far richer than merely recalling an event from the past.
When we think of remembering, we often imagine looking backward. We remember a birthday, a family gathering, or an important moment in our lives. Those memories may be meaningful, but they remain memories. They belong to the past.
The biblical understanding of anamnesis is different. Throughout the Scriptures, God's people remember not simply by thinking about what God once did, but by proclaiming those saving acts in the present and allowing them to shape their lives today. This is especially evident in the celebration of the Passover. Each generation of Israel did more than recall the Exodus as a historical event. They confessed that the God who delivered their ancestors was still their God, continuing to act with faithfulness toward his people.
The Church has carried this understanding into its worship. When Jesus says, "Do this in remembrance of me," he is not asking the Church to hold an annual memorial or to preserve a cherished memory. The Church gathers because Christ's saving work, accomplished once and for all through his death and resurrection, continues to be proclaimed and shared among God's people. We do not repeat what Christ has done, nor do we relive the events of Holy Week. Rather, through the proclamation of the Gospel and the celebration of the Sacraments, the crucified and risen Lord continues to give himself to his Church according to his promise.
This understanding changes the way we approach worship. We are not simply recalling stories from long ago. We gather to hear God's living Word addressed to us today. We come to the Lord's Table not merely to think about the Last Supper, but to receive the gifts Christ has promised to his people. The liturgy is not an exercise in religious nostalgia; it is the Church's living participation in God's ongoing work of grace.
Perhaps this is why the liturgy continues to nourish the Church generation after generation. Its purpose is not to transport us back into history, but to draw us into the saving reality that God continues to make known through Word and Sacrament. Every Sunday, we are reminded that the Gospel is not simply news about what God once did. It is the good news of what God is doing among us even now.
As we gather for worship each week, may we do so with grateful hearts, recognizing that we come not merely to remember Christ, but to receive anew the gifts of the One who remains present with his people and who continues to call, forgive, nourish, and send us into the world.
With every blessing,
The Rev. Luis I. Echandía
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