Seeing is Believing. Believing is Knowing.

John 4: 46-54
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine.  Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death.  Jesus said  to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.  
While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.  He asked them when he began to recover.  They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”  The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe.  This was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.


I believe the forecast for tomorrow is partly cloudy with a high of 48 degrees. I know we had sunshine this morning.  Some things we believe, and some things we truly know.  And sometimes these words mean the same thing, as in the Gospel of John which you just heard.
Is Jesus present in the Eucharist?  Yes, we are taught as very young children to believe that Jesus is always with us.  Which is a very wonderful thing to believe, that Jesus is always here with us, spiritually.  But, in the real presence of the Eucharist, He is also PHYSICALLY here in our midst.  In the monstrance (new vocabulary word for some, the monstrance is the big gold object on the altar holding the consecrated Eucharist during adoration), in the monstrance,  Jesus is ACTUALLY, PHYSICALLY, here with us!  It may “look” like bread.  To us who receive Him, it “tastes” like bread, but it is important to BELIEVE, to KNOW, that we are looking at Jesus.
The royal official you just heard about BELIEVED.  Let’s replace that word with KNEW.  
Jesus, in His loving mercy, healed the man’s son, because the man KNEW that Jesus is the Lord, the Son of God, who can do all things.  Jesus, in His loving mercy, can forgive, can heal us, can heal our souls.  But... for this to happen, it is necessary for us to look at Christ, the real Christ, on the altar, with us, and not only say, “I BELIEVE that is you, Lord,” but to say, “I KNOW.”