communitarian dimension of the Eucharistic action allows Christians to not forget that the creation-cosmos is a common and universal good and that commitment to the same is extended not only to the demands of the present, but also to those of the future. For that reason, responsibility towards creation takes on the aspect of a caring for this dwelling place which, in a certain sense prolongs the body, and should find an adequate translation at educational, social and juridical levels which would both respect in it the value of dwelling place and resource [112].

Also the Christian temple and in it the Chapel or the area reserved for the monstrance and for adoration with the tabernacle, expressing the care for the abode of the Eucharistic and ecclesial body of Jesus Christ, can become valuable educational resources for the ecclesial assembly for a correct relationship between human beings and creation.

IV. Social dimension of the Eucharist

The total gift of Himself, Eucharistically assured by Christ for the people of all time, is for the salvation of all. In this sense the Eucharist is for the world. The synoptic Gospels remind us in the decisive parable about the good wheat and the darnel that the commitment in the following of Christ has as its field the world (cf. Mt 13:38). It jumps to the eyes how the Eucharist possesses an intrinsic social dimension, inseparable from the cosmological and anthropological one. The history of the Church, rich in works of charity and creative yeast of relevant civil and political institutions documents it with abundance of elements. In the work of these days, the occasion to have ulterior confirmation of it from the particular Churches here represented, will not be lacking.

Charity is essentially Eucharistic [113], just as the Eucharist is charity [114]. The alms that the faithful give on the occasion of the Sunday celebration indicates with clarity the importance of this bond. Among the innumerable witnesses of holiness linked to charity we want to remember that of Blessed Theresa of Calcutta. Her charism, deeply marked by the relationship with the Eucharistic sacrament, knew how to recognize the love of Christ as an inextinguishable source of sharing towards the poorest and most abandoned dying.

In today's framework, marked by the violent transition from modernity to a new cultural and geopolitical configuration (post-modernity?), social urgencies which the Christian who lives his own existence in a Eucharistic form should face, appear particularly differentiated and acute. Globalization, network society, the new horizons opened by biotechnology and the process of inevitable fusing of different peoples and cultures, unfortunately accompanied by wars, terrorism and inhuman violence, makes the urgency of social justice and peace not tolerate delay. The situation of poverty and, not rarely, that of endemic hardship, to which a large portion of the population of the globe, especially in Africa, is condemned, constitutes a wound which inescapably judges the authenticity with which Christians of every latitude live the Eucharist. To gather every Sunday, anywhere on earth, to have part of the same Body and the same Blood of Christ imposes the duty of a tenacious battle against all forms of marginalization and economic, social and political injustice to which our brothers and sisters, especially women and children, are submitted.

The forms of this battle demand adequate criteria derived from the proportional relationship between charity and justice that since apostolic times the Eucharist has demanded as necessary for life in common (cf. 1 Cor 11:17-22; Jm 2:1-6). The Christian community, conscious of its unique nature, should continue with the appropriate analysis and put into place the relevant distinctions, to see the adequate means to confront an evil which today has taken on world-wide dimensions and more than ever cries revenge in the presence of God (cf. Gn 4:10). It would seem evident that dealing with such a relevant question as is that of social justice, cannot be separated from the untiring duty of seeking peace. As well as this, the relationship peace-Eucharist, well expressed in the Latin rite of the fraternal embrace which precedes communion is based on the unbreakable conviction that Christ is our peace" (Eph 2:14). The Eucharistic root of the Christian's work for peace will keep him safe from two grave temptations in this respect. That of utopic pacifism, on the one hand, and that of a type of Realpolitik on the other, which considers war inevitable. Peace, instead, is a serious and difficult task which is ever before us and must be patiently pursued everyday in our own persons and in all our relationships, starting with those family ones, passing through the intermediate communities to finally reach international relationships.

These decisive social implications of Eucharistic action ...