Chapter 9: Do this in memory of me

Download the Parents’ Guide Sheet

In this chapter, we look at The Last Supper and how the Passover feast changed into the Eucharist. We consider how Jesus gives us the gift of His life in Holy Communion.

We reflect on how a good meal can change us for the better – we need food and drink to nourish and sustain our bodies, but Holy Communion nourishes and sustains our inner life of faith (we need to be strong in our “body and soul”).

Meals are also connected to remembering special moments – we think about the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples and remember how it was a meal connected to (or remembering) the Jewish festival of Passover.

The most important thing is to ensure that your child understands that when they receive Jesus in Holy Communion (the Eucharist) that they are receiving LOVE. Also, that there is change, the obvious one being the bread and wine, but we also change, the Eucharist give us inner strength to face life with Jesus’ power and love inside us.

Keywords in this chapter are: the Passover, the Last Supper, the Eucharist, the Eucharistic Prayer, the Host, the Sign of Peace.

Remember to do the online quiz (one for each chapter) – reading through the chapter and completing the quiz are the two things that must be completed, everything else is optional and there to support you if required.

Some questions to ask

Most of these are open ended and should be used to help your child explore these ideas/their feelings:

Q. What is the Passover?
A. This is the special meal, celebrated by the people of God, to remember God rescuing the people from slavery and bringing them to freedom. During the first Passover, lamb was offered to God.

Q. What is the Last Supper?
A. It was a Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples the night before he died. He changed the meaning of the Passover feast into the Eucharist – where he offered his life to us, as the new and perfect Lamb of God.

Q. Describe a special meal you remember.
A. A chance to share memories and for your child to recall what they ate, drank or talked about and to describe who was there and what made it so special. Encourage your child to make the connection between a good meal and the change it can bring about in us.

Q. When we receive the life of Jesus in Holy Communion, he is giving us his LOVE. What do you think Jesus’ love gives us the strength to do?
A. A variety of answers could be given here. Receiving Jesus’ love in Holy Communion gives us the strength to be more loving towards others, to be more giving, more understanding and to live as Jesus wants us to live.

The Readings

Old Testament Reading:

The Passover

There is no specific passage to read here, as the Passover is described over several chapters in the Book of Exodus. However, the key here is to go over what the Passover meal was – on page 98. It is about the connection between the Passover, the Last Supper, The Eucharist and (Calvary).

New Testament Reading:

The Last Supper

Again, there is no passage as such to read here. Even though he was about to be betrayed Jesus was full of love at The Last Supper. Jesus took the most important Jewish celebration and changed it into something new. Jesus changes the meaning of the meal, by explaining that from now it is a Eucharist; that is, a thanksgiving for the life of Jesus, which he will give up for us all on the cross. In this way, he creates a new covenant between God and us. By saying to his disciples that the bread is HIS body and HIS blood, he is identifying himself as the new and perfect Lamb of God – fulfilling his mission to save us all from our sin.

Now do the online quiz

Suggested Activities

After you have gone through the chapter and completed the quiz you may consider doing some of the following:

  • Talk together as a family about special moments that you remember as a family each year e.g. special meals such as Christmas, birthdays and remember those that are no longer with us.
  • Listen out for the Lamb of God prayer when you next attend/watch Mass.
  • Talk about Easter and Maundy Thursday – 1 April when we remember The Last Supper at Mass.

Colouring Page

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"Do this in memory of me"
"Do this in memory of me"
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