The last 100 years has seen much progress – in technology, in healthcare, in travel, in communications – but it does us well to ponder the sad truth that more have died in those last 100 years in war than in any century before. It is right that we should remember those men and women and children whose lives were surrendered willingly, and unwillingly – all those human stories cut short. But those who died were not the only casualties – there are so many who continue to bear the scars – physical, mental and emotional – of what they have been caught up into. Add to these the dispossessed, the refugees, the asylum seekers & the numbers become so immense our minds can come nowhere near comprehending them: and every statistic is a personal tragedy – it is a family, like yours, like mine, which is left to count the cost of each act of violence.
In this process of remembering we as Catholics have a unique insight to offer. Each time a Mass is offered, the celebrant reminds us of the command of Jesus to “do this in memory of me: do this as my memorial”. The memorial that is talked of here is not like the Cenotaph in Whitehall, something static, fixed, a symbol of what has been. The Christian memorial is a living memory - referring to past events, yes, but in their remembering, making them a present reality.
We look back at newsreels to see what happened at the Somme, or Tobruk, in Vietnam or the Falklands, in Iraq and Afghanistan – but each time we share in the Mass, our looking back, our remembering, has a significantly different quality. The saving events of Jesus’ life, his death on Calvary, and his resurrection on Easter Day, become a part of our experience now. Here at our altars we are not relying on an enduring memory of past history, rather, because Christ transcends time and space, because he is Lord of past, present and future, because death no longer lays claim to his Body, we are caught up into what we commemorate.
The idea of memorial for us as Catholics is not like the re-run of a well-known record or play. Our understanding is that every time we “do this” in the Lord’s memory, he is here with us, truly, really present, and the events we call to mind are not just encapsulated in the memory, but become truth for us here and now.
In the face of human suffering, as we contemplate just how far our world is from what it was created to be, and as once again the armed forces of our nation are engaged in a cruel war, the one great contribution we have to make in our yearning for genuine and lasting peace, is our sharing in the mystery of the Eucharist. In every Mass we identity our poor, little prayers with the great prayer of Jesus, poured out in loving obedience to his Father. As one of our hymns says: “Look Father, look on his anointed face, and only look on us as found in him: look not on our misusings of your grace, our prayer so languid and our faith so dim; for lo! between our sins & their reward, we set the passion of your Son, our Lord”.
On this Remembrance Sunday we call to mind the teaching of the Church that the effects of the Mass are not just to build up the Kingdom of God here on earth, but also to make for the peace and forgiveness of those who have died, and, particularly on this day, for those who have met their death in the violence of war.
Listen to St Cyril of Jerusalem as far back as the 4th century: “We pray for all who have fallen asleep before us in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls on whose behalf the supplication is offered, while the holy and tremendous Victim is present … by offering our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, we offer Christ sacrificed for the sins of all, and so render favourable, for them and for us, the God who loves his people”. Today, and through this month of the Holy Souls, let us remember our duty to those who have died.
“Lord, in this sacrament you have given us your crucified and risen Son. Bring to the glory of the resurrection our departed brothers and sisters who are purified by this mystery. Grant this through Christ our Lord”.
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