Corpus Christi

Today is Corpus Christi Sunday. At Mass we hear the truth that Jesus is not just symbolically with us but is actually present in the Eucharist, which contains His body, blood, soul and divinity. When Jesus spoke those meaningful words, "This is My Body," He was not speaking in simile, allusion, parable or symbol. He simply said what it was and for over two thousand years it has been the center of our faith. This simple acceptance of Christ's gift of Himself is the foremost part of our religious practice. I see the Mass as the hub of a very large wheel that connects every ministry, outreach, sacrament and belief in our Catholic Church. The Mass is where we experience the physical reality that is Christ. His body in the Eucharist is what fuels us to be good Catholics who serve and improve the world in His name.

At Saint Joseph's School I remind students constantly that we exist as a school because of Christ and that He is truly present in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is in our tabernacle and we can receive Communion every day. Therefore Christ is truly present on our school/parish campus. That makes our school a pretty important place! At our school the Mass never actually ends. We are just sent forth to love and serve the Lord until Mass starts again. That's a good way to live and a good way to learn. Every learning task must be connected to Christ so we can use our newly learned skills to serve God's Kingdom.

Our parish school is also fortunate to have a 24 hour adoration chapel in which the Eucharist is always on display. It is important to teach students that praying in direct view of the Eucharist means you are praying in the actual presence of Christ. It is a hard concept to teach because the Eucharist can be taken for granted, especially by young people. After all, it looks like a bland wafer with the consistency of styrofoam. It doesn't taste like much either. Teaching them that transubstantiation goes deeper than surface appearances takes awhile. Cognition is a developmental process and it is rewarding to us as catechists to see kids finally understand that what appears as bread and wine is actually body and blood. It is an "Aha" moment that leads to deeper faith and understanding of the Savior.

We also teach the students that priests are important first and foremost because they are needed to perform this miracle of transubstantiation at Mass. Priests are, of course, important for a thousand other reasons but nothing works in our religion until Christ is present because He is our religion. As more priests are needed to make Christ available in the Eucharist, it is our fervent hope that some will come from Saint Joseph's School. We certainly encourage them to follow that sacred vocation as a way to build tomorrow's leaders today.