A Meal to Re-Member

Our reading this week one that we generally only hear once a year – on Maundy Thursday. This, of course, is a time set aside to remember what we call the “Last Supper” that Jesus shared with his apostles before his arrest, trial and death.

We remember, too, that this “last” meal was also a first in that, at it, Jesus also “instituted” for us the way in which we are to celebrate this meal together – by breaking the bread and pouring the cup and remembering Him and the great act of love God did for all people through Jesus.

And so, the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper as a sacrament – that is, a visible sign of God’s grace, shared in the very presence of Christ himself in a mysterious and profound and very real way. In it, we are called to “remember Him.” And it is not only the moment of His breaking the bread or pouring the cup that we are to remember. Nor is it only the work of Christ on the cross. We are to remember all of this -yes – but also, at the Lord’s Supper – we are called to remember what it means to live a life in which we are invited to dine with the Son of God. By remembering, then, we are sent to live and love in a manner worthy of the one who invited us to the table.