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We can imagine a group of Christians in Roman times, hearing about the privileged men who are chosen to be ordained, to serve as priests in the Church - and to make Christ Really Present in the Holy Eucharist. How fervently some might have said: "Oh! I hope I'm chosen!" It is a hard life, but most men feel honoured to be called by God, though they are unworthy.

It is tragic that when the Real Presence has been banished from a Christian group, the joy of members must often depend on whether or not a person sees a particular pastor as a congenial and helpful leader, and not on a joyful dependence on Jesus Christ, sacramentally Present on the altar and in the tabernacle.

The Real Presence is not a myth or a fairytale, but a work of God. Christ wants everyone to know the meaning of 'Real Presence'. It means that, in what appears to be bread and wine, after the Consecration, Jesus Christ is truly Present: our Risen Lord, bodily Present in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, glorious, loving, sharing His love for us. The same is true of Christ, Present in the tabernacle.

We should focus on the tabernacle, and, through it, to Heaven, if strange or distorted things are heard in church from the pulpit. We can be certain that the Father has given Christ to us, Who has spoken all His Father wants us to know; and we can rely on the Church's teaching, given through the Pope and the Catholic Bishops, easily found in our Catechism. We must be confident that the truth has been handed on, and can be known.

Some people are tempted to imagine that God is thousands of miles away, and cannot hear them - or that they are not close to Him. But just as Christ is Present in the tabernacle of a Catholic Church, even if He cannot be seen, even if the tabernacle cannot be seen, if a person walks through a church when the lights are off, so Christ is very close to every soul, even when a person feels as though she walks in darkness, alone, without any feelings of companionship.

Priests must be determined to grow in holiness. Men are called by Christ so that the faithful can have a Christ amongst them where they live, and Christ made Really Present in the Blessed Sacrament because of the priest who celebrates the Mass. Amongst pure priests, God sees, here and there, however, a gloomy figure: like an empty space, symbolising a lack of charity, when a priest is in serious sin.

If we find it hard to believe that Jesus is Present in the tabernacle of our church - sacramentally Present - we can picture Heaven as being so vast that it stretches as far as our church, over the place where the tabernacle has been placed. Christ Who is Really Present in Heaven is also Really Present, we can deduce, in the tabernacle.

We should follow the example of the holy Angels. When Christ comes to us in Holy Communion, or when we know He is Present in the tabernacle or on the altar, our attitude should be like that of the Angels, who adore Him profoundly, in His Divinity. He is worthy of their adoration, and ours. They never leave Him alone; and we, for our part, should always show Him reverence and love.

Some Catholics foolishly ignore the evidence; that the evil one has been especially active in the Church for four decades, determined to strike at Christ and Catholics by striking at the Mass. The evil one uses all sorts of people and methods to increase ignorance of the Real Presence, to confuse the laity, to discourage priests, to bring about a distorted or truncated presentation of the Faith in catechesis. It's as if he is lurking beneath a procession of the Blessed Sacrament, planning how to lessen our love for Christ and to diminish our fervour.

The priest is the man at the heart of the process of conversion. He brings good news about God's love, and the forgiveness given to repentant sinners. He brings Jesus to us: in His Word, in the Real Presence of Christ at Mass and in the tabernacle. He organises Catechesis; and he preaches, offers the Holy Sacrifice, prepares us for death, guides and helps the bereaved - and the faithful priest will be marvelously rewarded, even in this life. His greatest friend is Jesus Christ.

Imagine the sadness of a king who arranged a special event, sent out special invitations to special guests, with special food prepared, and special proclamations to be made, who then found his event disrupted, and himself insulted, by guests who ate and drank uproariously, and threw bread rolls, for fun, chatting, and ignoring the king; that is how it seems to Christ, Really Present with us, when our behaviour at Mass is irreverent or unholy, unworthy of our God.

Christ is explaining to all who are called to be celibate priests that in their celibate state they can imitate Him, by His grace, not treating celibacy as a burden but a help to total self-donation to God, in the Church. They can be confident of receiving the necessary graces; and seminarians have the inestimable privilege of having Jesus Christ Really Present amongst them in the Blessed Sacrament of the tabernacle and altar.

All the Saints love to intercede for us; and all of the Saints have loved Christ; but if we wish to seek special help for the Church we are wise to ask for the help of those Saints who have had a special love for Christ in His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament - such as Saint Thomas Aquinas, or Saint Francis of Assisi who loved to prostrate himself in adoration before his Divine Saviour, in the monstrance.

We know that Christ was made incarnate of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and it is Christ Who is now made bodily Present, in a sacramental manner, in the Most Holy Eucharist; yet He is never separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit. When we are close to Christ we are also close to the Father and the Holy Spirit: to the one God, the Blessed Trinity.

We know that Christ took flesh from the Blessed Virgin, and is both God and man. We also know that He is bodily Present with us, in a sacramental manner, in the Holy Eucharist. Yet He is never separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit: in the unity of the Blessed Trinity.

There are three more things that many Catholics need to be told about the Mass - especially children. They know about the gathered Church, the Scriptures, and Holy Communion; it is tragic that so few have learned: 1) Jesus is made Really Present at the Consecration, 2) Through Him, we are made present to the One Sacrifice of Calvary, 3) Jesus, today, prays for us: He prays for our forgiveness and our Salvation.

Christ delights in the welcome He receives in Holy Communion from those who offer Him love, reverence and gratitude, and who turn to Him, Who is Really Present, to adore Him and confide in Him. How different is that sort of approach, from that of thoughtless Catholics whose minds are preoccupied with thoughts about nearby friends, or after-Mass activities.

It is true, that Christ wants us to be His friends and companions; yet He remains our God and King. And when we make a good preparation for our Holy Communions, we delight Him, just as a Sovereign is delighted when some of her people in ordinary homes make special preparations to honour her when she asks if she might pay a visit.

Very many Catholics seem not to believe that Jesus Christ is a living Person, or that He is Really Present in our churches. They show out their lack of respect or lack of faith by the careless little bob they give, by the tabernacle, instead of a careful genuflection made in gratitude and humility.