Do This in Memory of Me

There were many men named “Jesus” at the time of Christ. The name was common. It means “Yahweh saves,” and even today we know men named “Joshua,” the Old Testament name that would be shortened to Yēshua, or “Jesus.”

To distinguish Our Lord from the other Yēshuas we called him “Jesus of Nazareth,” then “the Messiah,” because Mashiach in Hebrew means “anointed one,” and then “the Christ,” because Christos in Greek also means “anointed one.”

I mention this because I was struck this week by the readings at Mass which reminded us that Moses did not actually enter the Promised Land. Instead, it was Joshua who led them in. Moses died just outside, but first gave his authority to Yehōshua.

The Lord then instructs Joshua to assemble the priests to carry the Ark through the Jordan River and for the people to follow after. So, Moses represents God the Father, who gives his authority to Joshua, whose name is Jesus, who then in turn sends priests in his name to lead the people through the Jordan River into the Promised Land. What an amazing image of the Catholic Church!

Of particular interest to me is the handing-on of authority between Moses, Joshua, and the priests, in Latin, “tradere,” or “traditio,” because it helps us to see that you and I are heirs of an even more Sacred Tradition being handed on to us from God, through Jesus, and His priests.

At the Baptismal font, we are anointed with the same Spirit that fell upon Jesus in the Jordan River, and the priest speaks the words, “As Christ was anointed, so may you live always as a member of His Holy Body, the Church, sharing everlasting life.” The font is where this divine life begins in our soul.

And as Moses gave his authority to Joshua just before dying, so too Jesus, at the Last Supper said to His priests, “This is my body given up for you, my blood poured out for you,” then thinking of us who would follow after,“Do this in memory of Me.” This is how you and I follow the new Yēshua into the promised land of Eternal Life.

But was “Do this in memory of Me” spoken only to the priests in order to institute the divine liturgy? Or was it not also a command to all of us, His coheirs, to give our very lives in order to hand on the Catholic Faith? Can we who have received this life from the One who has given us everything stand justified before Him at the end of our journey if we were to give anything less? +