Corpus Christi behind the walls

We keep what love cannot let go—

a photograph worn thin by years,

a treasured name passed down in hope,

a token held through joy and tears.

So too the Christ whose heart burned bright,

not bound by time nor earthly span,

left not a memory, but Himself—

the God who dwells with every man.

The Host we lift in reverent hands,

the Lord we follow through the street,

the One concealed in golden doors

is Love made present, whole, complete.

And here behind these prison walls,

where burdens weigh and sorrows start,

He waits within the broken ones,

His wounded Body, heart to heart.

For every inmate bears a face

the world may judge and pass aside;

yet Christ still whispers through their pain,

"I am with them; in them I abide."

So, bend the body, bow the head,

let faith see what the eyes cannot;

the Saving Victim opens wide

the gate for souls once long forgot.

On Tabor's height the Apostles stood,

beholding glory's radiant flame;

yet here before the Eucharist

we stand as near that sacred Name.

Reflection

As a prison chaplain, Corpus Christi reminds me that the mystery I adore upon the altar is inseparable from the mystery I encounter in the men and women I serve. The same Lord whom I venerate in the Holy Eucharist comes to me in those who are forgotten, ashamed, imprisoned, or searching for mercy. Christ did not leave us merely a teaching or a memory; He left us Himself. He remains truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, and He identifies Himself with the least of His brothers and sisters.

I am reminded that the Body of Christ is both sacramental and ecclesial. The men gathered for prayer are not spectators at the edge of grace. Through baptism and faith, they too are members of Christ's Body. Their wounds, struggles, hopes, and conversions belong to the Church.

Lord of the Eucharist, with faith supplying what the senses fail to grasp, teach me to recognize You both upon the altar and in those entrusted to my care. May I learn in Your school of love to honour the Begetter and the Begotten, loving back the One who loved us first, until every prison cell becomes a place where Your mercy is known and Your presence adored.