We are Monstrances

            What does it mean to have an encounter with someone? Pope Francis has been calling everyone to reach out and build a culture of encounter. But what does this mean? As I was sitting and listening to Bishop Ricken give a homily at the Leadership Convocation Conference, I was struck again with the thought of what my temporary vocation is here at SPIRITUS. Our mission is simply this: to be that encounter with Christ to all we minister to, whether it is the students, their teachers, our families, the staff or each other. I then wondered: how do we do this? How can I understand what this should look like? How do I ask for the grace to fulfill this call?

As I received the Eucharist and gave thanks, Christ gently whispered the way that He wants us to be His instruments of encounter: we are called to be His monstrance! A monstrance is a gold casing that holds the consecrated Host to be displayed for all to see. The name monstrance comes from the Latin word monstrare, which means “to show.” The monstrance’s job is not to be impressive or to cause one to get lost in its own beauty, but to focus the viewers on its center who is Christ. Its very existence and vocation is to show Christ to all and to be lost in the background as the adorer has that encounter with the One it displays. The monstrance is a necessary instrument for the Exposition of Christ because it is what holds Christ up for all to see and it is beautiful because of its closeness to Christ and to point to the Beauty that it holds.

We are called to be these display cases for Christ. As a monstrance, we are called to bring others close to Christ and bring Him to all we meet; and then, when they have had the encounter with Christ we fade into the background and Christ becomes the center of their attention and love. We also must reflect the love of Christ and that is where our beauty comes from, from the closeness we have to Christ. Whenever one pictures a great saint, they picture someone who has a surreal beauty that shines forth from him or her But this beauty comes only from the proximity that he or she has to Christ, who polishes and brightens all of our lives and makes us into His instruments of love. This is the vocation of all of us on SPIRITUS and for all Christians: to be the instruments of an encounter with Christ and to recognize Christ in others. To be His monstrance! 

Elizabeth Verges