Memorial

MEMORIAL

CHRISTIAN COMMENT Some Roman Catholics refer to the Mass as a memorial. However, the Roman Catholic definition of memorial is “the making effective in the present of an event in the past” (THE ANGLICAN/ROMAN CATHOLIC AGREEMENT ON THE EUCHARIST, page 11).

If a Roman Catholic calls the Mass a memorial, one can always ask what the Roman Catholic is remembering at the Mass. He cannot remember a completed sacrificed as the sacrifice is continuing week after week. Neither can he look with assurance for the “Blessed Hope,” for he knows that when Jesus comes again He will send everyone to Heaven or to Hell.