"The Father who does not forget us."

The ground began to shake, buildings crumbled, and--within four short minutes--over 25,000 people were dead, many others were severely disabled and more than a half-million were left homeless. The place was Armenia, and the date was December 7, 1988--the date of the massive earthquake which devastated that country.

In the midst of the chaos and confusion, a frightened father ran to the school where his young son had gone earlier that morning. When he arrived, all he found was a pile of rubble. But he remembered the promise that he had made to his son so many times: "No matter what happens, Armand, I will always be there."

And so he began to dig--with his bare hands. He pulled up bricks and plaster and wood and metal, while other people watched in disbelief. They said, "Forget it, mister. Don't waste your time. They're all dead." He said to them, "You can stand there and grumble, or you can help me carry these heavy bricks." A few did pitch in to help, but most of them gave up once their muscles began to tire.

But the man didn't. He couldn't stop thinking of his son--and his promise--and so he continued to dig: for 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours. Finally, after 38 hours of hard labor, he heard a muffled groan from down below. He picked up one final piece of wallboard and he called out, "Armand!" Out of the darkness he heard a quivering voice, "Papa!" Then he heard other voices--14 in all. Of the 33 students who had gone into the school that morning, incredibly 14 were still alive.

When they were all safely out of the demolished building, Armand turned to his friends and proudly declared, "See, I told you my father wouldn't forget us!"

My brothers and sisters, this is what Christians say to the world during these last days of Holy Week. In the midst of the devastation caused by sin--devastation which we see all around us and experience personally and contribute to at least in small ways--in the midst of all that we point to the Crucified and Risen Jesus and we say, "See, we told you that our Father wouldn't forget us!"

That is what the Paschal Mystery is all about.

But it even goes beyond the Paschal Mystery itself. That one simple line actually provides us with an accurate commentary on the whole history of salvation: from the time of Adam and Eve, until the present moment in the life of the Church.

Fr. Ray, what are you getting at? Well, let me explain it in this way: when Adam and Eve sinned, our heavenly Father had to make a choice. And, basically, he had only two options to pick from. Option #1: let Adam and Eve and all their descendants die in their sins; let them experience strict justice and burn forever in hell. (Not a very good option from our perspective!) Option #2: have your Son take on mortal flesh so that he can pay the price for sin, since he's the only one who can possibly do it! Because he'll have a human nature, he'll be able to represent the entire human race; and because he will be God, his actions will have infinite value. Thus he'll be able to pay the infinite debt caused by human sin.

Well, thankfully, the heavenly Father in his great love chose option #2. And he made that choice clear at the very beginning. Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord said to Satan: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." That was the first promise of redemption--way back in the book of Genesis. That was God's first promise that he would send us his Son. And so as Christians we should read that text from Genesis 3 and respond by saying to the world, "See, we told you that our Father wouldn't forget us! He promised to save us way back at the beginning; and he has delivered on that promise."

As I said a few moments ago: that one line about God the Father not forgetting us provides an accurate commentary on the whole history of salvation, going back to Genesis 3. That means that when we read the Bible, which recounts the history of our spiritual ancestors, we should always have that thought in the back of our mind. It will help us to understand all that God has done for us throughout the centuries. For example, very early on the world became exceedingly wicked. God then raised up a righteous man named Noah, and preserved the human race. When we read that story of the flood, we should say, "See, this shows that our Father did not forget us. Even when most of the world became evil, he didn't give up on us." Later on Scripture tells us that God chose a man named Abraham to be the spiritual father of a nation. Through this nation he intended to reconcile the whole world to himself. When we read about Abraham, our response should be, "See, our Father did not forget us. He continued to fulfill his plan through Abraham." Still later a famine gripped the entire known world, and God raised up Joseph to save his children: "Once again, in our physical hunger, our Father did not forget us." Then Pharaoh enslaved the Lord's people, and God raised up Moses to lead the Israelites to freedom. We heard about that in tonight's first reading from Exodus 12. The Hebrews were on the brink of extermination, and God came to their rescue. That's why our Jewish brothers and sisters say to the world on this Passover and on every Passover: "See, we told you that our Father wouldn't forget us. Look what he did for us in rescuing us from Pharaoh!" And we join them in that affirmation.

And so it is throughout the Old Testament and into the New, culminating with the Passion and Death of our Lord. I ask you, then, to remember that line today and tomorrow as you meditate on the sufferings of Christ: "See, we told you that our Father wouldn't forget us!" God remembered us in our greatest need--our need for forgiveness--and he's made that gift available to us by offering up his only begotten Son.

But--believe it or not--it even goes beyond this! Yes, it's true, God has remembered us and has sent his Son to pay the price for our salvation. But in and of itself that is not enough to get any of us into heaven! In order for us to get into heaven, the grace of salvation must be applied to our lives--individually. Which is precisely why Jesus instituted the sacraments. Through the sacraments, the grace of salvation which he won by his Passion, Death and Resurrection comes into our lives and makes us capable of entering God's eternal kingdom.

Tonight the Church focuses on two sacraments in particular: the Eucharist and Holy Orders--specifically the priesthood--because both were instituted at the Last Supper. Now think about what a priest does. His entire ministry is a reminder that God has not forgotten us, is it not? The priest baptizes--he is the ordinary instrument through which God first brings the grace of salvation into our lives. And so, through the action of the priest, the Lord remembers us and gives us new life in his Son. Then, when we forfeit that grace of salvation through mortal sin, the priest is the instrument through which it's restored in the sacrament of Reconciliation. Thus we can say that the Lord does not forget us even when we forget him by sinning grievously. Then, when we need a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit to be a witness to Christ in the world, the bishop (who possesses the fullness of the priesthood) confirms us. In our special need of empowerment, God does not forget us. Even in sickness and at the end of life, the Lord remembers us. Through the hands of the priest he anoints us for healing and for our entrance into eternity. And, of course, to sustain us on our journey through this life, the Lord gives us himself in a radically unique way--he gives us his own flesh and blood to consume. And he does it through the words and the hands of the priest. This means that every time we receive the Eucharist, we should look at that host and say to ourselves: "Almighty God is coming to me right now under the appearance of bread and wine: See, my Father has not forgotten me! His own Son is here before me to give me strength."

And so tonight, in a particular way, we thank the Lord for the Eucharist and the ministerial priesthood, and we pray for all priests--because they need it! Priests are weak, sinful men with an awesome calling, and so they need many prayers. The other day a seminarian sent me a beautiful letter in which he said this: "When I think of how the Father has pulled me out of darkness and now has asked me to lead others on the right path, I feel unworthy, amazed, shocked and excited at the same time. I think that is what keeps me going: that God has called me to pull others out of the darkness by means of his infinite mercy and grace in his holy sacraments--especially Confession. I just sat there today in my chair and stretched out my hands as I will in the future to absolve the sins of a penitent. I think I will pass out when that first day comes. It is too unimaginable, yet so close to becoming reality."

That is a good word to use in describing all that we believe as Catholics. Yes, in a certain sense, it is unimaginable! It's unimaginable that God would choose to become man. It's unimaginable that God would love us enough to die on a Cross for our sins! It's unimaginable that he would raise up ordinary men like Fr. Ray to act in his person. It's unimaginable that he would give us his own flesh and blood to eat and drink!