Cultivating the Memories of What Jesus Has Done for Us

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Bishop of Arlington
(From the issue of 3/18/04)

"Have you seen "The Passion"? Have you read The Da Vinci Code? These are questions many of you have likely been asked. As cultural phenomena, they have attracted much attention and spawned countless debates and ancillary discussions. Both — from albeit vastly different perspectives — challenge us as Catholics to remember, respond and invite.

"However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children," we hear Moses saying in this Wednesday’s reading from the Old Testament (Dt. 4:9).

Interwoven throughout the entire fabric of our Scriptures and Church teachings is the stirring call to "remember." Moses calls down through the ages, "Do not let them [the things you have seen] slip from your memory"! Every prophet spoke out forcefully against forgetfulness of all that the Lord has done for us. At the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples to eat His Body and to drink His Blood "in memory" of Him. Every Sunday, we are called — and indeed, commanded — to remember and imitate the Lord, who "rested from all the work he had done in creation" (Gen. 1:31).

Most of us are blessed with happy childhood memories, which we tend to recount at family gatherings, reunions, weddings and birthday parties. These memories, lovingly cultivated at regular intervals in our lives, bind us together as families.

As part of an increasingly small number of people who haven’t set aside the time to read Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, I cannot speak to the specifics of the novel. Yet based on excerpts of the novel which I have read, I am not alone in my grave reservations regarding this novel.

While it is most likely an entertaining read, the novel misrepresents core teachings of the Church, including those on women, scripture, the Church and the divinity of Christ. The novel distorts and misconstrues the Church’s core memories, all the while presenting them in a factual manner. The Church, born of Christ’s side and loved by Him "as his Bride," is presented as an institution founded on lies. One character in the novel says, "[E]very faith in the world is based on fabrication." Mary Magdalene is presented as Jesus’ wife.

The Da Vinci Code is by no means the first novel to misrepresent Church teachings, yet contemporary discussions surrounding the novel reveal an alarming trend. No longer can we as Catholics easily assume that historical and theological errors such as those conveyed in this novel will fall upon the discerning ears of a well-catechized people. Certain teachings have "slipped from our memory." So, we encounter in the best-selling success of this novel a moment which compels us to acknowledge the importance of knowing and remembering our Church’s history and teaching. The history — indeed, the historical memory — and theology of our Catholic Church need to be cultivated and remembered, such that we may respond intelligibly to such claims and, more importantly, invite those around us into the life of the Church.

Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ," which I recently saw with over 800 teenagers and college students from our diocese’s Office of Youth Ministry, has set off other debates. In this film, the familiar crucifix which adorns our churches and necklaces is rendered painfully real. The film challenges us to remember more deeply and intimately the ways in which Jesus’ suffering on the cross relates to us, how we — by our own sins — are responsible for His death, and how by His Resurrection, our lives can be radically changed.

The film takes place in First Century Jerusalem, and thus brings to the fore the topic of Catholic-Jewish relations. Hopefully, out of the many current discussions of the film, Catholics will choose to remember, renew and deepen their dialogue with Judaism, rather than neglect or damage it. Evidence of this already exists. Before the film was even released, Kevin Bohli, Director of the Office of Youth Ministry, posted the helpful "Resources for Youth Ministers and Parents on The Passion of the Christ" — which includes references to Church teachings on this topic, including the Vatican II Declaration "Nostra Aetate" — on our diocesan Web site (www.arlingtondiocese.org).

With a deepened dialogue, we might then join our voices with Pope John Paul II, who addressed the Jewish community at the Great Synagogue of Rome in 1986 with these words: "With Judaism therefore we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers."

As prominent subject matter in our contemporary cultural landscape, both The Da Vinci Code and "The Passion of the Christ" elicit from us as Catholics the realization that if we are to effectively evangelize our culture, we must start by better cultivating our own memory as a Church and responding with love and truth.

And just as we encounter and respond to phenomena in the culture around us, so are we called during this Lenten retreat to a time of interior watchfulness — of our relationship with the Lord in prayer, of our sins and His mercy which we encounter in penance, and of the needs of those around us which we address in almsgiving. Vigilant "watchers" for Christ’s coming and Resurrection, we prayerfully survey our lives, the accoutrements that surround us, our patterns and habits, our words, our relationship to those around us, and the meditations of our hearts.

As we journey toward Easter, let us "take care and be earnestly on our guard not to forget the things which our own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from our memory." Let us remember the things the Lord has done for us, lovingly respond to Him in prayer, penance and almsgiving, and invite Him more fully into our lives. "We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world."

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