"When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the memorial of her Lord’s death and resurrection, this central event of salvation becomes really present and 'the work of our redemption is carried out'. This sacrifice is so decisive for the salvation of the human race that Jesus Christ offered it and returned to the Father only after [...]
"Therefore the Eucharistic Celebration is much more than simple banquet: it is exactly the memorial of Jesus' Pascal Sacrifice, the mystery at the centre of salvation. Memorial does not simply mean a remembrance, a mere memory; it means that every time we celebrate this Sacrament we participate in the mystery of the passion, death and [...]
"Only the Eucharist, the true memorial of Christ's paschal mystery, is capable of keeping alive in us the memory of his love. It is, therefore, the secret of the vigilance of the Church: it would be too easy for her, otherwise, without the divine efficacy of this continual and very sweet incentive, without the penetrating [...]
"The Eucharist is thus the memorial of Christ's death, but it is also the presence of his sacrifice and the anticipation of his glorious coming. It is the sacrament of the risen Lord's continual saving closeness in history." Source: Pope St. John Paul II, General Audience - October 4, 2000
"In the Old Testament, the 'memorial' par excellence of God's works in history was the Passover liturgy of the Exodus: every time the people of Israel celebrated the Passover, God effectively offered them the gifts of freedom and salvation… The interweaving of God's remembrance with that of man is also at the centre of the [...]
"Prominent among the many aspects of the Eucharist is that of 'memorial'...this is not the mere commemoration of a past that is no more, but a zikkarôn, that is, a 'memorial'. It 'is not merely the recollection of past events, but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men. In the liturgical [...]
"Therefore the Eucharistic Celebration is much more than simple banquet: it is exactly the memorial of Jesus’ Pascal Sacrifice, the mystery at the centre of salvation. Memorial does not simply mean a remembrance, a mere memory; it means that every time we celebrate this Sacrament we participate in the mystery of the passion, death and [...]