123 Pope John Paul II's, Message for Lent 1999

The Lenten journey prepares us for the celebration of Christ’s Passover, the mystery of our salvation. Anticipating this mystery, there is the banquet which the Lord celebrates with his disciples on Holy Thursday, offering himself under the signs of bread and wine. In the Eucharistic celebration, as I wrote in the Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, "the Risen Lord becomes really, substantially and enduringly present. . . and the Bread of Life is offered as a pledge of future glory" (No. 39).

The banquet is a sign of joy, because in it we see the intense communion of all who take part. The Eucharist is therefore the realization of the banquet for all the peoples foretold by the Prophet Isaiah (cf. Is 25:6), and we cannot fail to see in it an eschatological meaning. Through faith, we know that the Paschal Mystery has already been accomplished in Christ; but it has still to be accomplished fully in each of us. In his Death and Resurrection, the Son of God has bestowed upon us the gift of eternal life, which begins in the Paschal Mystery but will have its definitive fulfillment in the eternal Easter of heaven. Many of our brothers and sisters can bear their situation of misery, discomfort and sickness only because they are certain that one day they will be called to the eternal banquet of heaven. Lent therefore directs our gaze beyond the present time, beyond history, beyond the horizon of this world, towards perfect and eternal communion with the Most Holy Trinity.

The blessing which we receive in Christ breaks down for us the wall of time and opens to us the door which leads us to a full share in the life of God. "Blessed are those invited to the wedding-banquet of the Lamb" (Rev 19:9): we cannot forget that in this banquet – anticipated in the Sacrament of the Eucharist – our life finds its final goal. Christ has gained for us not only new dignity in our life on earth, but above all the new dignity of the children of God, called to share eternal life with him. Lent invites us to overcome the temptation of seeing the realities of this world as definitive and to recognize that "our homeland is in heaven" (Phil 3:20).

124 Saint Louis de Montfort

"The Blessed Sacrament is a memorial of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and (that) by means of it men share in its fruits and work out their salvation."

126 Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"Who is Jesus to me? Jesus is the Word made Flesh. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus is the Victim offered for our sins on the cross. Jesus is the sacrifice offered at holy Mass for the sins of the world and for mine. Jesus is the Word - to be spoken. Jesus is the Truth - to be told. Jesus is the Way - to be walked. Jesus is the Light - to be lit. Jesus is the Life - to be lived. Jesus is the Love - to be loved."

127 Saint Thomas Aquinas, Verbum Supernum

"Being born he have himself as our Companion,
Eating with us he gave himself as Food,
Dying He became our Ransom,
Reigning he gives himself as our Reward"

128 Saint Basil the Great, Ch. 22

"What is the mark of a Christian? That he be purified of all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit in the Blood of Christ, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God and the love of Christ, and that he have no blemish nor spot nor any such thing; that he be holy and blameless and so eat the Body of Christ and drink His Blood; for 'he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgement to himself.' What is the mark of those who eat the Bread and drink the Cup of Christ? That they keep in perpetual remembrance Him who died for us and rose again."

129 Saint Ambrose

"Now consider which is more excellent, the bread of angels [i.e., the manna} or the Flesh of Christ which is indeed the Body of life. That manna was from heaven; this is from above the heavens. The former was from heaven, the latter from the Lord of the heavens; the former was subject to corruption if it was preserved for a second day, the latter foreign to all corruption so that whoever shall have piously tasted it will not be able to experience corruption. For the people of Israel water flowed from the rock; for you Blood flows from Christ. The water satisfied them for a while; Blood washes you for eternity."

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