The early Christians, celebrating the Eucharist, looked both forward and backward: backward to the cross, whose memorial they were making, and forward to the second coming, which they eagerly awaited. Yet that does not adequately represent the significance of the Eucharist. The memorial, or anamnesis, of Christ made with bread and cup was less a looking back to a past event than a making present of that event here and now. The early Eucharist was no memorial service for the dead founder of the community.