On the twenty-first anniversary of his pontificate (2002), Pope Saint John Paul II published an Apostolic Letter, entitled Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in which he introduced five new mysteries of the rosary. He
called them the “Luminous Mysteries” or “mysteries of light.”

The fifth Mystery of Light is the “institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.” It was described by the Holy Father as the one in which “Christ offers his body and blood as food under the signs of bread and wine, and testifies to the end of his love for humanity, for whose salvation he will offer himself in
sacrifice.”

In today’s Gospel, Saint Matthew quotes the Prophet Isaiah, who declares that those who “sit in darkness” will see a great light.” That great light is Christ, whom, Pope John Paul II teaches us, we approach in the Holy Eucharist: 

“Faith demands that we approach the Eucharist fully aware that we are approaching Christ himself . . . The Eucharist is a mystery of presence, the perfect fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to remain with us until the end of the world.”