The spiritual life is rich, beautiful and complex. Nothing can exhaust the spiritual treasury of the Church or the soul that seeks union with God. Nothing can quench the desire in the heart of man, once it is awakened to meet God and share His fellowship.

As the soul is awakened, it wants to be in the company of God and to know his nearness. Such a soul is like a person lost in the desert and desperately searching for an oasis.

In response to such a thirst, the Church offers certain oases, certain springs. Such springs are meant to be a help and rejuvenation to a thirsty soul.

The first source listed in Catechism of the Catholic Church it is the Word of God and, shortly after it, the Church highlights its holy liturgy.

The Eucharistic Sacrifice is the “summit and source” of the entire Christian way of life. Everything we do in following Jesus Christ draws its life from the Liturgy and simultaneously directs us back to the Liturgy. The new Easter, the Holy Sacrifice, is the continuous play of God’s redemptive action among us until the Lord returns in glory.

In the Liturgy, the person who prays encounters and experiences in a continuous and new way the redeeming presence of Jesus Christ. In the Liturgy and flowing from it, the praying heart carries forward the mystery of faith.

The Catechism explains: “In the sacramental liturgy of the Church, the mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit announces, makes present and communicates the mystery of salvation, which continues in the heart that prays.”

Turning to the heart that has the desire and discipline of prayer, the Church shows us its importance. The Catechism comments: “Spiritual writers sometimes compare the heart to an altar.”

We cannot grow in the inner life, if our heart does not assume and assimilate the Paschal and Eucharistic Mystery of the Lord. In this way, the heart itself becomes a type of shrine where we follow the Lord as He lives, dies and lives again.

Through this dynamic, the Eucharistic Sacrifice resonates with the person of prayer, because the sacrifice on the altar is also the sacrifice in their hearts. The person may look and say, “Yes, I know this Crucified and Risen Lord. I live his passion, death and resurrection every day of my own life.”

The Eucharistic Sacrifice thus becomes familiar and sustainable. It is something that is lived and experienced every day. It is not a cold and distant ritual, but is the living and vibrant source and pinnacle of our prayer life and our whole life. In this way, the Liturgy is an event that connects us to the Lord Jesus and to each other. It is a sacred act of communion, relationship, covenant, worship and instruction. The liturgy is where our prayer finds its origin, structure and fulfillment. The Eucharistic Sacrifice truly becomes the culmination of prayer and of a life lived entirely in the Lord Jesus and in His Paschal Mystery.

The Catechism teaches us: “Prayer internalizes and assimilates the liturgy during and after its celebration. Even when it is lived “in secret”, the prayer is always the prayer of the Church; it is a communion with the Holy Trinity”.

Flowing from the holy liturgy, our prayer continues to wonder and dwell on the sacred mysteries contained in it. Our prayer is ordered and guided by the holy liturgy itself. In this way, our prayer matures, grows and develops in the movements and flows of the sacred words and actions of the Church’s worship.

In particular, by bringing our prayer life into the Paschal Mystery made present in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, our prayer becomes more Trinitarian. A prayer that once spoke simply to “God” is led by the holy liturgy to use the intimate term “Father.” The holy liturgy also offers us a closeness to the three divine persons. Our prayer is directed to the Father, in the Son and through the Spirit. What was once a distant greeting to a generic God now becomes a family affair and a son or daughter’s greeting to their heavenly Father, divine Elder Brother and eternal Advocate and Guide. In this way, our prayer is enriched and woven into the revealed mystery of God’s identity and presence.

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