A few years ago, the bishops in the United States moved the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the feast of Corpus Christi, to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday.  About eight hundred years ago, before the feast was instituted, St. Albert the Great wrote his commentary on the Holy Mass.  Reflecting on the reality of the Body and Blood of our Lord, present on the altar, he wrote:

"He is eaten in mystery, yet remains eternal.  The Lord himself says of this: Do this in memory of me (Luke 22, 19).  As many times as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice of the Lord, you shall announce the death of the Lord until he comes (1 Corinthians 11, 26).  Thus, we use the chalice as a grave; the paten as the stone set at the mouth of the tomb; the pall and corporal for the linen that was wrapped around the Body of the Lord by the pious duty of blessed Joseph [of Arimithea].  The following verse considers these things: 'The altar has the work of the Cross; the chalice, that of the tomb; the paten, that of the stone; and the white cloth, that of the burial linen.' "  

St. Albert quotes a verse from a poem on the Mass by Hildebert, archbishop of Tours, who died in the year 1133.

The Sacred Host and Precious Blood on the altar give meaning, as well as existence, to everything there, and everything on the altar -- including the altar -- shows the Presence and the meaning of this Body and Blood.  In fact, even the steps leading up to the altar represent Golgotha, the Mount of Sacrifice.  We become the repositories of this Body and Blood in Holy Communion, and so we ought all the more to show The Lord's Presence and meaning in all of our thoughts, words, and deeds.