In the stained glass over the main doors of my native parish church, St. Joachim in Trenton, there appears a simple phrase in Latin: Magister adest et vocat te. Being in Latin, these words are easily overlooked, but they contain a powerful message. They mean, The Teacher (the Master) is here and is calling you. They are the words of Martha to Mary in the Gospel of Saint John. Jesus had arrived in Bethany, and he sought out Martha’s sister who remained at home.
What appropriate words to place at the entrance to a church! For they express our great belief that the Lord really and truly dwells inside that church and that he calls each of us to come to know him. This is the belief that the Church celebrates today, on this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ—Corpus Christi—Corpus Domini.
Today, the Church joyfully reaffirms her faith that during the Mass, at the words of consecration, the Bread and Wine are no longer what they appear to be but are changed into the very Body and Blood of Christ. Upon the altar at Mass the Lord makes Himself really and truly present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
We might say that this great feast is a call to awaken us from our “slumber of indifference” and to rekindle what St. John Paul II called, our “sense of Eucharistic amazement.” Should it not amaze us that the Eucharist is not some “thing” but indeed “Someone?” Should it not amaze us that in his sublime humility, He who created the whole world, and Whom the whole world cannot contain, contains Himself, makes Himself small in the Eucharist for love of us—to be our companion during our pilgrimage of life?
One of the most serious dangers in the spiritual life is that of growing so familiar, so accustomed to the Eucharist that we take it for granted or even trivialize it. Routine can be the death of reverence. Corpus Christi is a summons to consider our attitude toward the Most Blessed Sacrament, a summons to ponder the degree of our reverence and discernment in receiving Holy Communion or acknowledging the Lord’s abiding Presence in the tabernacle. I encourage you to read the article on Corpus Christi in today’s bulletin. I hope it serves as a helpful guide.
Pope Benedict reminded us that the happiness we seek, the happiness we have a right to enjoy, has a name, and a face, it is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist.” How true and overwhelming are St. Martha’s words: “The Teacher is here, and he is calling you.”
