Take a moment to remember

We have a word in the Christian tradition that signifies a particular type of “remembering….” and that is “anamnesis.” It implies a depth of remembrance, not simply recalling, but bringing a past moment to life in the present. Mass is the classic example of such anamnesis as we recall the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. When we hear the words, “Do this in memory of me,” we bring to present the specific moment of the Last Supper to the current situation in a mystical way.

In that spirit, I want to challenge all of us to take a moment to remember where we were three years ago, March 2020. Many of us would simply say, “no thanks, I’d rather forget it.” To most students, where were you in your high school when your teachers told you you’d have to go home? Seniors, you were here, as first-years when we all received that fateful email: “Pack up for two weeks…” As weeks went by, schools scrambled to understand and implement online learning, young people were left wondering when they would see their friends again; meanwhile the death toll and hospitalization numbers continued to climb, and nurses and doctors were exhausted in no time. In Campus Ministry, we used our phones for Facebook and Instagram Live Mass, each Sunday at 9 p.m. Ten of us would spread out in the Abbey Church to film what might feel like a real experience. When we returned to campus and Mass was six feet apart and masked, we wiped down every pew with sanitizer to keep the monastic community especially safe.

I will never forget running down those pews with rags to get it done as fast but as thoroughly as possible. Over one million deaths in the U.S. are attributed to COVID. It still haunts us in a few ways, many of which we might all like to ignore. But also, we learned new ways of being and we affirmed what we would never again take for granted. So, three years later, let’s take a moment to pause, pray and reflect. Where were you? What were you thinking about? How did you spend your time? How does that point you to what matters to you and how you want to live today? Maybe you reach out to someone you missed or walked with during that time. Remind them how you love them or how you supported one another. Do the thing you were sad you couldn’t do. As Jesus reminds us, when we break bread and serve one another, “Do this in memory of me.”