Homily: Memorial Day - Unforgetting

One of the most important principles of our faith is anamnesis.  Anamnesis is the greek word which means to remember, more literally it means, to unforget.  Today our nation observes Memorial Day, a day for remembering those who died for us, and for remembering what they died for. 

Anamnesis is an important principle for our faith because it is so easy to forget: when faced with temptation, it is easy to forget the teachings of Christ, to forget our Christian dignity, to forget how much God loves us, to forget that sin does not bring us the happiness we are truly longing for. 

When we forget these things, our behavior, attitude, morality, suffers—we risk the loss of our soul, our humanity. 

The Catholic Spanish Philosopher George Santayana quipped, “Those who forget the lessons of the past are condemned to repeat it.”  What are the lessons of the past that we should remember today?  Another Catholic Philosopher, this time, the Irishman Edmund Burke, said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  The men and women who we remember today, did something.  They didn’t merely wring their hands and watch evil triumph, but laid down their lives. 

The Roman Missal does not have particular prayers and Scripture readings for Memorial Day, for really every Mass is an anamnesis, a memorial, of the One who laid down his life that we may have eternal life.  But for this Mass, I chose today prayers and Scriptural readings for the faithful departed—to remember those who fought for us at the altar. 

Remembering our loved ones at Mass is not simply an emotional or sentimental exercise, at Mass we bring the faithful departed to the cross of Christ, and on their behalf, we say, “Jesus, Remember Me, when you come into your kingdom” as we heard in the Gospel. 

It is an act of charity to pray for the dead. In fact, St. Thomas Aquinas even said that there is no greater act of love we can perform on behalf of one who has died, than to pray for them. 

Yet, today we also recall our duty to not let their sacrifices go in vain. And we commit to not wasting the freedom they died for, we commit to fighting against tyranny and injustice in our own day.

In the first reading we heard, “the souls of the just are in the hands of God.”  Who are the just? The justr remember that all the blessings they have, have their origin in the Almighty, and they seek to make a return to Him for His goodness through their own self-sacrifice.

Today as we come forward to the great anamensis, the great means by which we not only mentally recall what Jesus has done for us, but by which he is truly made present, let us do so with a spirit of profound gratitude for all who made it possible for us to be here today, and labor in this, our time, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.