The adoration of the Magi was a homage of faith and a tribute of love to the Incarnate Word; such ought to be our Eucharistic adoration.

THE faith of the Magi shone forth in all its splendor in the two severe tests to which they were subjected and over which they triumphed: the silence of Jerusalem and the humiliations of Bethlehem.

The royal travelers acted wisely in making straight for the capital of Judea; they expected to find the whole city of Jerusalem in gala attire, its citizens in festive painful surprise! Jerusalem was silent; there was nothing indicative of the wonderful event. Had they by chance been mistaken? If the great King were born, would not all things publish the news of His birth? Would they not be an object of derision, and perhaps be insulted, if they proclaimed the purpose of their journey?

Such doubts and words would have been prudent in the eyes of human wisdom, but unworthy of the faith of the Magi.

"We have seen the star of the newborn King. We have come to adore Him. Where is He? You ought to know, you, who are His people; you, who have so long awaited His coming."

A gloomy silence was the only answer.

The silence of the world! That is the great test of faith in the Eucharist.

Suppose some eminent strangers learn that Jesus Christ dwells personally among Catholics in His Sacrament, and that these fortunate mortals enjoy thus the unique and ineffable happiness of possessing the very person of the King of heaven and earth, of the Creator and the Savior of the world, in a word, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Impelled by the desire to see Him and to pay Him homage, these strangers come from the most distant lands to seek Him in our midst, in one of our dazzling European capitals. Would they not be subjected to the same test as the Magi? What is there in our Catholic cities that manifests the presence of Jesus Christ?

This silence is also a stumbling-block to faint-hearted Christians. They notice that many scientists do not believe in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, that the great of this world do not adore Him, that the mighty do not pay Him homage; and they draw their conclusions: "Consequently, He is not there; He is not living among Catholics, nor does He reign over them."

And yet, in the Catholic world as at Jerusalem, there are the words of the Prophets, of the Apostles, of the Evangelists to manifest the sacramental presence of Jesus. Upon the mountain of God within sight of all, there is the Church who has taken the place of the Angel, of the shepherds, and of the star of the Magi; who is a sun to anyone who wants the light; who speaks as it were from Sinai to anyone who wants to listen to her law. Her hand points to the holy Temple, to the august tabernacle, and she cries out to us: "Behold the Lamb of God, the Emmanuel! Behold Jesus Christ!"

When she speaks, simple and upright souls hasten to the tabernacle as the Magi kings to Bethlehem. These souls love the truth and follow it ardently. Such is your faith, you who are here present. You have sought Jesus Christ and have found Him. You adore Him; God bless you for it!

Taken from "The Real Presence" by Peter Julian Eymart, the Founder of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers (with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur from 1940)

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