"Saint Paul, in his hymn to charity (cf. 1 Cor 13), teaches us that it is always more than activity alone: 'If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing.'" Source: Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love: Deus Caritas [...]
"Emphasis on the intrinsic relationship between the Eucharist and mission also leads to a rediscovery of the ultimate content of our proclamation. The more ardent the love for the Eucharist in the hearts of the Christian people, the more clearly will they recognize the goal of all mission: to bring Christ to others." Source: [...]
"The moment of communion is that special intimacy reserved to real lovers. There are three intimacies in life: hearing, speaking, and touching. Our first contact with anyone who loves us is to hear his voice, our second is to see him, the third--and this is reserved only for intimates--is the privilege of touch. We hear [...]
"Charity, furthermore, cannot be used as a means of engaging in what is nowadays considered proselytism. Love is free; it is not practiced as a way of achieving other ends. But this does not mean that charitable activity must somehow leave God and Christ aside. For it is always concerned with the whole man. Often [...]
"You should love nothing but in the Eucharist and on account of its relations to the Eucharist. Jesus Eucharistic ought to be your final love in all things. You ought to love only on account of Him." Source: St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Divine Eucharist St. Peter Julian Eymard was a priest and the [...]
"The Eucharist and the unity of Christians. Before the greatness of this mystery St. Augustine exclaims, 'O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!' The more painful the experience of the divisions in the Church which break the common participation in the table of the Lord, the more urgent are our [...]
"The love that we celebrate in the sacrament is not something we can keep to ourselves. By its very nature it demands to be shared with all. What the world needs is God's love; it needs to encounter Christ and to believe in him. The Eucharist is thus the source and summit not only of [...]
"Behold, then, how you ought to love Him by referring all that you are, all that you have, your merits and sufferings, your entire life to Him, by love. Give Him your mind, in order to think only of Him and for Him; your will, that it may be happy in obeying and serving Him [...]
"For this sin of ultimate despair is much more displeasing to me and harmful to them than all the other evils they have committed. And this is why: Other sins are committed with some selfish sensual pleasure, and sometimes they are regretted, and they can be regretted in such a way that the regret will [...]
"“Worship” itself, eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented." Source: Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love: Deus Caritas Est, Ignatius Press, 2006.