The Holy Eucharist is the sacramental renewal, the making present under signs of
bread and wine, of the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, by whose
blood we are delivered from sin and death. The Holy Euch arist is the Supper of
the Lamb, the Holy Communion in which Jesus feeds us with his own eternal life
and gives us in our very flesh the first payment of everlasting life. And the
Holy Eucharist is the Blessed Sacrament, the Real Presence of our Lord in the
tabernacles on our altars where he, though King of Glory, humbly and patiently
awaits our adoration and praise, where he awaits the intimate visits of those he
has called friends. Surely, this gift is such that it prompts us to borrow in
joyful gratitude the words of moses to the chosen people of old: "What
great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to
us.... (Dt. 4:7)