Then, Benedict XVI highlighted the bond between the post-synod exhortation and his first encyclical "Deus caritas est": "That’s why I called it ‘Sacramentum caritatis’ he explained , taking inspiration from a fine definition of the Eucharist by St Thomas Aquinas, ‘The Sacrament of love’. Yes, in the Eucharist Christ wanted to give us ‘His’ love, which drove Him to offer His life up for us on the Cross. In His Last Supper, as he washed the Apostles’ feet, Jesus left us the Commandment of love". But, warned the Pope, "since this is possible only if we stay bonded to Him, as shoots to a vine, He decided to stay Himself amidst us in the Eucharist, so that we could ‘stay in Him’. Therefore, as we feed on His Body and on His Blood with faith, His love enters us and enables us, in turn, to give our life for our neighbours". This, he added, "if the spring of Christian joy, the joy of love". Finally, the Pope recalled that, next to Mary, the epitome of the "Eucharistic woman", to guard the Redeemer, "God placed Saint Joseph" of which today, March 19th, we celebrate the liturgical feast. "I particularly invoke this great Saint he said , so that by believing, celebrating and living with faith the Eucharistic Mystery, the people of God may be infused with Christ’s love and may spread its fruits of joy and peace across the whole of mankind".
