When a priest in the medieval Christian church stood before the altar of God and raised the bread of holy communion above his head, he said in Latin, hoc est corpus, "This is the body." That was the supreme moment of mystery; that was the moment of miracle; that was the moment of change. At that moment the medieval Christian believed that ordinary bread became the body of Christ.

Hoc est corpus, "This is the body." What the ordinary person way back in the corner of the cathedral thought he heard was not hoc est corpus, but "hocus-pocus." That word soon came to mean magic, mystery, seeing the unbelievable happen before your very eyes. The medieval priest felt that mystery very deeply when he spoke those words. It was a solemn and scary moment. Martin Luther was so frightened the first time h…