It is the sacrament par excellence. It introduces us early to eternal life. It contains the whole mystery of our salvation. It is the source and summit of the action and of the life of the Church, as the Second Vatican Council recalled ("Sacrosanctum Concilium," No. 8.)

It is therefore particularly important that pastors and faithful dedicate themselves permanently to furthering their knowledge of this great sacrament. Each one will thus be able to affirm his faith and fulfill ever better his mission in the Church and in the world, recalling that there is a fruitfulness of the Eucharist in his personal life, in the life of the Church and of the world.

The Spirit of truth gives witness in your hearts; you also must give witness to Christ before men.

Participation in the Eucharist, then, does not distance us from our contemporaries. On the contrary, because it is the expression of the love of God, it calls you to be involved with all our brothers and sisters to address the present challenges and to make the planet a place where it is good to live.

To accomplish this, it is necessary to struggle ceaselessly so that every person will be respected from his conception until his natural death; that our rich societies welcome the poorest and allow them their dignity, that all persons be able to find nourishment and enable their families to live, that peace and justice may shine in all continents.

These are some of the challenges that must mobilize all our contemporaries and for which Christians must draw their strength in the Eucharistic mystery.