Once a year, on my summer vacation, I meet up with a former student and his family. We have dinner together and we remember those lost days in high school.

It is gratifying to see his children growing up and turning into the little terrors he once was. I have to laugh as he does, remembering and in that memory be proud of the man, the husband, the  father he has become.

When someone remembers us, it makes us feel appreciated, accepted and gives us a certain dignity. The psalmist today says that God thinks of us even though we may feel ‘afflicted and poor.’  We come together this weekend as fellow Catholics also to remember that  ‘we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses so we can persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus’ alone.

This makes us fell better about ourselves, about who we are as Catholics. We remember that in Christ alone we find joy and endurance; we grow stronger and gain hope for the future.

When I join you here, I am astounded to remember that God is actually thinking of me. Even though I am just one, seemingly insignificant person in a crowd of over six billion people in the world, God remembers me at the Altar where Jesus calls us to ‘Do this in memory of Me.’

We are living in a time where the Gospel is becoming more and more manifest. And so our gathering to remember is more important.  This week we will be celebrating our Upper Merion Community Carnival and meeting up with old friends and neighbors, and welcoming new ones, remembering well that our roots are in God, in the Church with Jesus Christ in Whom we have many memories. Don’t ever forget that God enjoys His memories of us as individuals and as a People He loves.