"In many ways, one of the strongest messages implicit in the Scriptures is the cry, “Do not forget the work of the Lord in your life!” This is an extremely important aspect of our faith as we are called to remember all the things God has done for us. If we constantly meditate upon these things, we will discover the truth of God’s love for us and our doubts will slowly fade away."
2 Moses said to the people: “Remember how for forty years now the Lord, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert, so as to test you by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep His commandments. 3 He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord. 14“Do not forget the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery; 15 who guided you through the vast and terrible desert with its saraph serpents and scorpions, its parched and waterless ground; who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock16 and fed you in the desert with manna, a food unknown to your fathers.”
Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
R: Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
12 Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. 13 For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children within you. (R) 14 He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat He fills you. 15 He sends forth His command to the earth; swiftly runs His word! (R) 19 He has proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and His ordinances to Israel. 20 He has not done thus for any other nation; hHs ordinances He has not made known to them. Alleluia. (R)
The actions of the Eucharist are handed down through traditional rituals. We continue to do what Christ did over 2,000 years ago. Jesus does not only speak the truth to us but He devises means by which we can remember the more important aspects of our faith through actions.
16 Brothers and sisters: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
The Eucharist is so much more than a symbol. The sacramental nature of the Eucharist means that the sacrifice of Jesus is made present on the altar through the power and grace of God. This belief is at the heart of our faith — it takes literally this text in John 6. What amazes me is that the fundamentalist Christian churches demand a literal reading of virtually the entire Scriptures except this text.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever.
51 Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” 52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in Him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
"think: We are called to remember all the things God has done for us."