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9 DENVER CATHOLIC | OCTOBER 2022 The words and actions of a man in the last conscious moments of his life in this world are always charged with deep meaning. The last days of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God made man for us and for our salvation, also possess that special density. A t the Last Supper with his disciples, Christ left us the Holy Mass. From that moment on, it can be said that the Church lives by the Eucharist. In this mystery of love is fulfilled the promise of Christ: "the bread that I will give you is my flesh given for the life of the world." 1 In light of the Eucharistic Revival on which we are about to embark, let us approach this mystery to try to under- stand a little better its meaning, its value for our life as chil- dren of God, the way in which we are called to participate in it and the importance of making this Holy Sacrifice the source, the center and the summit of our whole life. 2 1 cf. Jn 6:51 2 cf. Second Va can Council, Lumen Gen um, 11 I S T H E M A S S I M P O R TA N T ? The Eucharist is "the greatest gift which, in the order of grace and sacrament, the divine Bridegroom has offered and offers unceasingly to his Bride." 3 Without fear of being mistaken, we say that the Holy Mass is the most pre- cious gift that God could have given us. This statement may seem surprising. It would seem that God, who is omnipotent, could always do something greater. However, it must be said quite clearly that God cannot give us something greater than the Eucharist, and the reason is, in fact, very simple. In the Holy Mass, God gives himself to us. Jesus, true God and true man, the Bridegroom of the Church, gives himself com- pletely to his bride in the Eucharist. Nothing can be greater and more precious than God him- self. It is rightly said of the Mass that it contains the whole spiritual treasure of the Church, that it is like her soul, that from it proceeds all her virtue, or that it is the center in which the whole Christian life is summed up. 4 ⊲ 3 John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae, 12 4 cf. Second Va can Council, Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 5; Leo XIII, Mirae Carita s, n. 15 R I S T , M A S S Y O U and BY FATHER ISRAEL PEREZ-LOPEZ Parochial Vicar at St. Cajetan Parish in Denver