VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN NEWS) — Pope Benedict XVI continued his series of reflections on prayer at his Jan. 11 general audience by explaining why the Eucharist stands at “the apex” of all Christian prayers.

“By participating in the Eucharist, we have an extraordinary experience of the prayer which Jesus made and continues to make for us all,” he told the 7,000 pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

Jesus offers us this prayer, he taught, so that “the evil we encounter in our lives may not triumph, and that the transforming power of Christ’s death and resurrection may act within each of us.”

He explained the deep significance of the Last Supper in salvation history, with “its overtones of the Passover and the commemoration of Israel’s liberation.”

This connection is why the prayer of Jesus “echoes the Hebrew berakah, which includes both thanksgiving and the gift of a blessing.” Christ’s act of “breaking the bread and offering the cup on the night before he died” thereby becomes “the sign of his redemptive self-oblation in obedience to the Father’s will,” the Pope said.

In doing so, Pope Benedict taught, Jesus revealed himself as “the true paschal Lamb,” which brings the ancient worship of the Jewish people to fulfillment.

It was also Christ’s wish that the supper be “something special, different from other gatherings,” and so he “gave something completely new: himself,” in anticipation of his cross and resurrection.

“He offered in advance the life that would shortly be taken from him, thus transforming his violent death into a free act of the giving of self, for others and to others. The violence he suffered became an active, free and redemptive sacrifice.”

The Pope said that in contemplating the words and gestures of Jesus, “we can clearly see that it was in his intimate and constant relationship with the Father that he accomplished the gesture of leaving to his followers, and to all of us, the sacrament of love.”

He also gave support to his disciples, knowing the difficulty they had “in understanding that the way of God had to pass through the paschal mystery of death and resurrection, which was anticipated in the offer of bread and wine.”

Pope Benedict noted that even today the Eucharist is “the food of pilgrims,” as well as “a source of strength” for those who are “tired, weary and disoriented.”

He concluded his reflection by praying that the Eucharist “always remain the apex of all our prayers,” especially through proper preparation for it, including receiving the sacrament of penance.

Among the more noticeable guests at the general audience was a live Cuban crocodile brought to the Vatican by the staff of Rome’s zoo, the Bioparco, which is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The Cuban crocodile is an endangered species and can only be found in a small part of Cuba. It will be returned to the country in March, which, by coincidence, is also when Pope Benedict visits the Caribbean island.