In his talk “This do in Remembrance of Me” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland discusses the sacred significance of the sacrament and the importance it should have to us. He speaks of it as the commemoration of the passover, when the blood of the lamb protected the ancient Israelites from the destroying angel. “How sacred and how holy is it? Do we see it as our passover, remembrance of our safety and deliverance and redemption? If remembering is the principal task before us, what might come to our memory when those plain and precious emblems are offered to us?”
The sacrament is the time to reflect and to remember—to remember Christ, his ministry, his miracles, and his atonement. This can be hard because for all of us, we have no primary memories of these experiences on which to draw. None of us were there when angels proclaimed to shepherds Christ’s birth. None of us where there when healed the leppers. None of us were there when he calmed the sea. And none of us were there when he suffered in the garden or on the cross. How then, do we remember what we never saw happen?
May I suggest that is the perfect time to remember instead the times that we felt the joy of the Gospel and redemption, that we remember the times that we were healed from illness or from spiritual and emotional pains, when Christ calmed the tumultuous seas that raged in our lives, and when we have felt of his forgiveness and grace that come because of his sufferings for us. It is wonderful to reflect on what we know of Christ from the Old and New Testaments, but when it comes to remembering, it is, in my opinion, even more impactful to remember our own experiences with him. As we think on these experiences, “we could—and should—remember the wonderful things that have come to us in our lives and that “all things which are good cometh of Christ” (Moro. 7:24).
Additionally, we are told in 1 Corinthians 11:28 that we are to examine ourselves. Often I am inclined to dwell on my misgivings, short comings, and sins. But a full examination would look also at my progress. It would look at how I have improved since the previous week, and then at what I could do the coming week to continue in my efforts to come unto Christ and be perfected in him.
As we think on the coming week, it’s appropriate to think of those close to us and how to serve them as well. “We could remember that Christ called his disciples friends, and that friends are those who stand by us in times of loneliness or potential despair. We could remember a friend we need to contact or, better yet, a friend we need to make. In doing so we could remember that God often provides his blessings through the compassionate and timely response of another. For someone nearby we may be the means of heaven’s answer to a very urgent prayer.”
In the very least, we can be the answer to one urgent request given by the Savior so many years ago to his three disciples on that night of deep anguish and grief, “Could ye not watch with me one hour?” (Matt. 26:40). I think he asks that again of us, every Sabbath day when the emblems of his life are broken and blessed and passed. “Could you not think of me, just in this moment?” When I picture the savior suffering in the garden, or when I picture him administering the broken bread to his disciples, or when I picture him inviting people to come and feel the marks in his hands and see him, I imagine and long for the moment that he would spend just with me. That moment that he would look into my eyes and know me. But even that moment can happen only if I, too, spend a moment with him, look deeply at my life for traces of him, and know him too.
