My father had a ritual. He would take a ripe banana, put it on a tortilla, add hot green picante sauce and top it off with some rock salt and eat it. He would then look at us and smile. In time, he explained, in his childhood the family had gone three days without eating until the morning his aunt Carmen brought them a kilo of tortillas, ripe bananas, green sauce and rock salt! This ritual was a reminder and a celebration of the provident hand of God so many years ago.
In the of Book of Numbers, the people of Israel are commanded to put a blue fringe on the border of their garments so that by looking upon it, they might remember to keep the commandments of the Lord, apparently, because they needed a daily reminder. In a recent study on human memory noted in Scientific American, it was found that, while the short term memory in a human being seems to be more reliable than the long term memory, it may not be that distinct. Strangely enough, the study suggests that the problem is the failure of the human brain to retrieve the right data it has stored, unless it is prompted by the proper visual reminder. It ought not to amaze us then that the God of the Hebrews knew about memory and instructed Moses to attach a reminder to obey Him. Lent is like a seasonal ritual to remind us of a greater reality that we were awful sinners, and yet, the Son of God died for us on the Cross. But the salvation procured is not an automatic assurance. It must be kept alive by looking back at our salvation and responding with thanksgiving, or, better yet, with just plain responding.
“Do this in remembrance of Me. . . .”
See you in Church,
March 1, 2016