On the Eucharist

As faithful readers know, I recently read and re-read, The Eucharist, by one of those scary smart Dominicans, Edward Schillebeeckx. Here is one passage (among many) I want to remember:

The Eucharist is, of its very nature, an event of the period between the resurrection and the parousia, a period during which earthly realities become historical manifestations of the gift of grace here and now and--in the sacramental liturgy, within the mystery of the Church's community of grace led by its office; that is, especially in the Eucharist--are withdrawn from their secular independence, their "being themselves," to the extent of becoming the sacramental form in which the heavenly bodiliness of Christ himself--that is, of his real presence for me--appears. There is in the Eucharist, as distinct from the other sacraments, a specific earthly real presence of the Christ who is nonetheless heavenly and remains heavenly in the sacrament.
(page 84-85)