The purpose of eucharistic contemplation is not to turn this dynamic process into a static one. The saving action of Jesus continues as the individual is taken up into the dynamic action of Jesus Christ. Open to the Scriptures, open to the Spirit, the Christian is taken up into life of Christ in the Spirit. Contemplation is not opposed to action. It calls for it.
Contemplation is the natural complement of both celebration and action.
Eucharistic prayer is not a recitation of words, it is a standing in awe before the marvelous works of God. Having experienced this love in Eucharistic Celebration and drunk deeply of it in the Eucharistic Communion, the Christian is prepared to integrate, assimilate and deepen this expression of gratitude and this communion in the atmosphere of prayer that prolongs the action of the Eucharist in the prayerful, sometimes silent awe of eucharistic contemplation. To be a Christian is to share this kind of living. And this life is possible because we are nourished by the Bread of Life. As the Protestant Reformers insisted, more than the material reception of the Eucharist is required.