 We hear in the first reading today, the first line, remember, first line in the second paragraph of the scripture today, do not forget that this isn't merely an invitation that the Lord is providing us. I want to suggest that it's actually a commandment. Only a few times in my 27 years as a priest has somebody come up to me and repented for not remembering, even though Jesus says time and time and time again, and the scriptures continually reminds us to remember. Like in my mind, I've got a million things that remind me where I'm supposed to be and how I'm swimming, all these things. My computer talks to my phone, my phone talks to my secretary, my secretary talks to me. Dave, don't forget. Why? Because I forget all the time, right? And the scripture is asking us and inviting us, and I suggest commanding us, don't forget. It seems to me that's why we are here. So many of the things that we do in the church is in order to remind us that we walk into a church and we see the stations of the cross so that we can remember. We see the cross so that we can remember, we see the nativity scene so that we can remember. Scripture reminds us. Do not forget. That's why we're celebrating this feast today. The feast of Corpus Christi, this invitation for us to remember. But this is a different kind of remembering. In the scriptures we hear in the gospel or in the consecration that we're going to do in just a couple of moments, at the end of the consecration narrative, the priest is going to say, I'm going to say, do this in memory of me. When you do this, when you take this bread and your wine, remember me when you do it. But this is a different kind of memory. When Jesus says, do this in memory, it's not just a remembering, it's not just a remembering like, okay, I want to remember what I had for breakfast. Or I remember the vacation that I took one time. That's one type of memory. But when Jesus is saying, when you do this, when you take this bread and you take this wine and you pray and you remember me, that's a different memory. It's a different way of remembering. This remembering, and this is beautiful, it's a Greek word, it's an amnesis. He says, an amnesis me. When you take bread and when you take wine, an amnesis me. And this an amnesis is not just, again, it's not just a remembering of something happened. It's actually making past events present. So Jesus is saying, make me present by remembering. Marty said this morning, she was praying and she heard the Lord say to me, you've forgotten, remember your first love, right? So that is not just merely a remembering of my first love. But when Marie reflects on that, the memory that she has makes that love present to her again, this active memory that is sacramental, that is sacramentized in this Eucharist. Amen? So Jesus is saying, remember me. And what we're doing when we're memorializing, and we find this word, the scripture, all over the scriptures, all right? So in the opening prayer at the, right before the canon, it says, established from ages come the saving memorial, the saving memory of the cross. We find in the closing prayer today, this memorial, this memory, this active memory, so that when we're an amnesis, this an amnesis is making the reality of what took place 2,000 years. It says, if we think about the past, there's this veil that separates us from the past. But what an amnesis is, what Jesus is inviting us to memory, it literally rips open that veil and makes present 2,000 years ago present to us today. I mean, that's the only way that we're saved by a crucifixion that took place 2,000 years ago. That's only the reason that we make what we're doing at this altar, right? This altar becomes the cross. And Jesus takes the bread and he takes the wine, he says, remember me. Well, that happened 2,000 years ago. What good does that do to us? He promises us today in the Scriptures, if you eat my body and drink, well, how do we do that? How is it that we're able to eat his body and drink his blood in an offering that happened 2,000 years ago? We an amnesis it. We remember it and that memory, the veil between us in 2,000 years is torn open and we make present the fundamental reality of the grace that took place 2,000 years ago is present here on this altar. Amen. Brothers and sisters, that's really good news. Amen. That's why we can stand on the promise of the Scriptures today when Jesus says, if you eat my body and drink my blood, you will have eternal life because I will make present the saving power, the saving grace that took place in the upper room when he takes bread and takes wine. I will be present to you, the saving action of Jesus Christ on the cross that actually took place 2,000 years ago is present to us today in its reality, in its effects, in its impact, in its grace. Why? Because we can an amnesis and he makes it present to us. That's why we are not offering another sacrifice. It was one sacrifice. Jesus offered himself once and for all and for all time. And then when we celebrate the Eucharist, we enter into this saving reality. So the brothers and sisters who say that we are re-sacrificing Christ every day, they don't understand an amnesis. They don't understand the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace that we are making this reality present to us. This veil is being ripped open and there is no longer the distance of time and space that the same reality is taking place on this altar that we enter into this as we an amnesis. Amen. Amen. So in a few moments I will pray and I will say take this all of you and eat of it. This is my body. I don't say take this and eat it. This is Jesus. I say I am in the person of Jesus and I say take this. This is my body which will be given up for you. In a similar way I will come once again. I will say take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and the eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. And then I will say do this in memory of me. I'm not going to say do this. We're doing this in memory of Jesus. We do this in memory of me that I acting in the person of Jesus and saying an amnesis me. An amnesis that I will be present to you. In the same way I was present to the disciples on that night when I took bread for the first time and broke and blessed and said eat this. I will be present to you again. In the very same way his body, blood, flesh, humanity, divinity is going to be present to us again and that's why we can stand on the word that the deacon preached. That if we eat this bread and drink this blood we will never die. And brothers and sisters that's hard to believe. I mean that's why I love John 6 but when Jesus the text that we read today he says it so beautifully and eloquently and they're like this teaching is hard and some don't follow. We will no longer follow you and some walk away and we know Jesus didn't say wait a minute wait a minute what a man was symbolic. I mean don't take me so literally right. He literally allows them to walk away. Where do we believe that some of the things the Lord says aren't really difficult and Jesus wasn't saying okay I want you to believe in my real body and blood and tell the Reformation and then maybe take another look at it and see if maybe right. Unless you eat my body and drink my blood and then people walk away and I love what Jesus says next right. He says for this the flesh is useless. I mean to think that in a moment we're going to take bread what looks to be bread and wine and by the power of the Holy Spirit and the priest and the community that they will pray in that that bread and wine is transformed in in amnesty. His body and blood is literally present by the power of the Holy Spirit and we consume that. Jesus is saying for this the flesh is useless. I mean you're not going to be able to cognitively understand this. What is needed is the spirit. What is needed is the spirit. If if you think that you're going to have a deeper love and appreciation and devotion to the Eucharist just by contemplating in your mind and in your intellect. No no no Jesus says for this the flesh is useless. This does not make sense. This teaching is hard. The bread the bread and wine is going to be my body and my my literally my body my blood and I'm inviting you to consume that. This teaching is hard into the flesh. It doesn't make sense but the spirit to the spirit it gives life. That when we understand in the spirit that we can eat and consume and drink his blood that we will never die. This brothers and sisters is the work of the spirit. And my concern is the familiarity breeds contempt. Is that this is just what we do right? This is what we do on Sunday. This is what we do. We go to church we go to Mass. We remember. We memorialize and we leave. To be around and I've had some wonderful wonderful blessings. To be around communities that rarely get to receive the Eucharist. To be able to have Mass in the underground church in China with people who get to have Mass every couple of years. Or an occasion that I had to have Mass in the bush in Africa where where people get to celebrate Mass once a month and they literally walk six seven eight hours to be able to go and celebrate Mass and they sit outside in the 90 degree heat and they rejoice and celebrate because they get to come to Mass. I remember at this particular time the bishop tells me I was preaching at this Mass. He says Father it is impossible for you to preach too long. So what do you mean? Back then that's not here right? What do you mean? He said these people this is like all they're doing this weekend is coming to this Mass. For the Western mind and for our sensibilities communion was a dumpster fire because when it came time for Eucharist there weren't these nice blue nice little lines where people like gather up and just kind of know it was it was honestly it was chaos and at first it was somewhat overwhelming. There was a hundred five hundred a thousand people that were around me reaching out saying Father don't forget me as I say body of Christ body no no no nice little neat lines and but people who are starving to consume the body and blood of Jesus don't forget me Father Father me and then and then moving and just all literally all around me people with their hands reached out and reaching don't forget me the body of Christ and they take as we hear in the scriptures take and eat and they take and they eat and finally their selves that again the fear of us running out is taken away unless you eat my body and drink my blood unless you remember unless you have naivetas unless unless I am present on that altar with you once again you will not have in this morning we remember and we claim the promise that if we eat his body and drink his blood we will live forever amen