Today it's not so much an object as a range of possible objects - keepsakes.  The things we keep to remember people or places, but in this case especially people who have died.

I kept my Mum's pyrex measuring jug and her ancient tablespoon - practical objects that connect me with her, and with the past, but which have value and purpose in the present.

When my grandma died, my Mum decided which keepsakes we were each given, so I had some beads, long since given away. More recently, I fell heir to my grandparents fish kives and forks, which languish in a cupboard.

The 'keepsakes' Jesus left were not permanent objects but lasting ordinances (my choice of words here!) bread broken, wine poured, memories remembered.

Thank you, God, for memories, and for mementoes, for all they symbolise and signify. May memories inspire hopeful living now and always. Amen.