Christ, with his Real Presence in the Eucharist, fulfills his promise to be with us "always, until the end of the world" (Mt 28:20). As Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote: "It is the law of friendship that friends live together... Christ has not left us without his bodily presence on this pilgrimage of ours, but unites us to himself in this sacrament in the reality of his body and its blood" (Summa Theologiae, III q. 75, a. 1). With this gift of Christ's presence among us, the Church is truly blessed. As Jesus said to his disciples, referring to his presence among them: "Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people wanted to see what you see, but did not see, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear." (Mt 13,17). In the Eucharist, the Church receives the gift of Jesus Christ and gives thanks to God for this blessing. This thanksgiving is the only adequate response, because by this gift of himself in the celebration of the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine, Christ gives us the gift of eternal life.

Amen, amen, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. Because my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. . . . Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also he who feeds on me will have life because of me. (John 6:53-57

Taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

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