Do This in Remembrance of Me

(An excerpt from the Homily of Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao, July 16, 2021 during live streamed mass of Regional Assembly of Davao Association of Catholic Schools Inc., (DACS))

Brothers and Sisters it’s almost given for this community, this group of Catholic schools and the personnel of this organization if you call it this family, better. It’s a given that the Eucharist is a centerpiece, the Eucharist is a given, it is like as the expression, second nature of us. To begin our activity as it were anchored on the Holy Eucharist that can be articulated in many ways.

But let me continue by saying that rightly so because the work of our Catholic schools or better your work, your mission is indeed truly an overflow of the mystery of salvation, of love and the desire of the Lord for fullness of life. Shown in the giving of His Son Jesus in the sacrifice in Calvary, the source, the summit of Christian life of liturgy – the Mass. The source and life of the Catholic schools – the Eucharist.

But in particular, we come today on your first day of this conference, of this assembly of DACS and CEAP. Do we come with our little something to be offered with the Lord? I call it a little something to make us humble. We come with our little something because we return to the Lord in this Holy Sacrifice of the mass. Because He said in the Eucharist and we repeat it every time we celebrate the mass the words of Jesus, “Do this in remembrance of me”. “Do this”, let my memory, my presence be dominating in your lives and by that presence the memory of Jesus it makes our life in mission, an extended to a particular mission that we do in our catholic schools. So, I said “little”.

Today, in this first day of your assembly, we come and say to the Lord “Here is what we have been doing, this is in memory of you, which is work of every school in DACS and for that matter of CEAP”. So with Gods spirit while presenting ourselves with the little thing, the little progress with great sacrifice and creativity in times of pandemic, we say to the Lord “Lord we join you and blessed our work in the past difficult months”. But as we drew from this Eucharist as it were, with this done give us more strength, more inspiration to do this in memory of you in each of our catholic schools.

Now let me continue, what is that little thing that we are so joyful to offer to the Lord in this holy sacrifice of the mass that we can title “Lord we have been doing, we have been concretizing the Eucharist in our missions, in our schools”? During the CBCP meeting, last plenary meeting, the president has to give an address. And I gave my address and this is partly what I said to the bishops. I quoted the words of Pope Francis in his apostolic letter “Patris Corde”. And this is what I quoted, the pope said, “we experience amid the crisis how our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked, people who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines or on the latest television show. Yet in this very days are surely shaping the decisive events of our history. Doctors, nurses, storekeepers and supermarket workers, cleaning personnel, caregivers, transport workers, men and women working to provide essential services and public safety, volunteers, priest, men and women religious, and so very many others. They understood that no one is saved alone. How many people daily exercise patience and offer hope and taking care to spread not panic but shared responsibility. How many fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children in small everyday ways? How to accept and deal with a crisis by adjusting their routines looking ahead and encouraging the practice of prayer? How many are praying, making sacrifices, and interceding for the good of all?” And when I included that part of the words of Pope Francis then when I address the bishops really I was thinking of teachers in general but also in the context of church mission. I was thinking of the teachers and staff and all people involved in our Catholic schools, huge and tiny schools. Nindot kaayo pagkasulti ni Pope Francis. And today in this Holy Eucharist, the first day of your assembly of DACS-CEAP with humble hearts yet joyful hearts we offer what we have been doing in DACS for the past difficult months. And I should’ve known that we have been doing this with patience, fully aware that it is the same Lord in this Holy Eucharist who has been inspiring us, whispering to us do this in memory of me.