In Father Barron's book on the Eucharist, he offers the following reflection, which illuminates the centrality of this Sacrament in the lives of the faithful:
"In the Spring of 2007, I was privileged to be a scholar in residence at the North American College in Rome. During that period, I had the opportunity, on three occasions, to distribute communion at Mass in St. Peter's Square. Standing on one side of a partition, I watched as scores of people came forward to receive the Eucharist. In the typically Italian style, things were a tad disorganized, and the faithful were compelled, in the press of the crowd, to stretch out their hands toward me. I saw all sorts of hands-- old and young, dirty and clean, lined and unlined-- reaching out for the bread of life. When I would move along the partition, some would cry out to me plaintively, 'Padre, Padre, per favore (Father, Father, please).' Never before in my priesthood, though I had distributed communion to thousands, had I had the sense of carrying food to those who were desperate for it. Those faithful in St. Peter's Square embodied a truth that is deep in our Catholic tradition, though too infrequently stated: the Eucharist is not a luxury, but a necessity, for without it, we would, in a spiritual sense, starve to death..."