This prayer encourages us to "draw...the fullness of charity [agape] and of life" from the One Sacrifice, a "sacrifice new for all eternity" that is the Paschal Mystery accomplished by Jesus and "entrusted to the Church." As Saint Thomas Aquinas expresses it: “O sacred banquet in which Christ becomes our food, the memory of His Passion is celebrated, the soul is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.” Jesus gives Himself, in the "banquet of His Love" in which we can participate wherever we are in the world today, through the ministry of the Church in the offering the Eucharistic Liturgy. Wherever we are, Jesus loves us and wants to stay with us, draw close to us, raise us up new life as God's children:
“O God, who have called us to participate in this most sacred Supper, in which your Only Begotten Son, when about to hand himself over to death, entrusted to the Church a sacrifice new for all eternity, the banquet of his love, grant, we pray, that we may draw from so great a mystery, the fullness of charity and of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.”
