June 7, 2026
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Lectionary: 167
Reading 1
Moses said to the people:
"Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,
has directed all your journeying in the desert,
so as to test you by affliction
and find out whether or not it was your intention
to keep his commandments.
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,
and then fed you with manna,
a food unknown to you and your fathers,
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.
"Do not forget the LORD, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that place of slavery;
who guided you through the vast and terrible desert
with its saraph serpents and scorpions,
its parched and waterless ground;
who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock
and fed you in the desert with manna,
a food unknown to your fathers."
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12) Praise the Lord,
Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
The cup of blessing that we bless,
is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break,
is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
Because the loaf of bread is one,
we, though many, are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.
Sequence — Lauda Sion
Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick'ning and the living
Bread today before you set:
From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law's new oblation,
By the new king's revelation,
Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial ne'er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow, making
Thus our sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail'd, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a pow'r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ entire we know to be.
Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation,
See how like participation
Is with unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe 'tis spoken,
That each sever'd outward token
doth the very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still the same abides,
still unbroken does remain.
The shorter form of the sequence begins here.
Lo! the angel's food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the children's bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.
Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the fathers sent.
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.
You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav'nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060726.cfm
Corpus Christi—The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Year
A)
Note: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of
Christ—also known as Corpus Christi—is traditionally celebrated on the Thursday
after Trinity Sunday. But in some countries and in some dioceses, it is
celebrated on the following Sunday.
Commentary on
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58
Perhaps the greatest gift that Jesus left behind to his
fledgling Church, apart from the example of his own teaching, life and death,
was the Eucharist. With justification, the Eucharist is often spoken of as the
very centre of Christian living. There is a very real danger for Christian
communities of collapsing or degenerating when deprived of the Eucharist for
any length of time. No one can in effect remain a committed Christian without
participation in the Eucharist.
Every persecuted Church realises this and struggles to keep
the Eucharist alive in its communities. We have seen that in countless examples
over the centuries, including our own. We have seen how Catholics in numerous
countries went to enormous lengths to celebrate the Eucharist in spite of
appalling difficulties and threats.
In Ireland, people will point out lonely outcrops known as
‘Mass rocks’ in remote parts of the country where persecuted Catholics secretly
celebrated the Eucharist at the risk of death. In England, there are the hiding
places for priests on the run who went from house to house to provide the
Eucharist for Catholics and who risked martyrdom if they were discovered
celebrating the ‘Popish Mass’.
It is sad, then, to find in persecution-free societies
(though certainly not all societies in our modern world are are
persecution-free) how many have lost this sense of the centrality of the
Eucharist in Christian living. However, it is not altogether their fault; the Church
itself must take some of the blame.
What do we do?
What do we do at the Eucharist? Basically we do two things:
First, we remember and we give thanks. The word ‘Eucharist’
is derived from a Greek word for ‘thanks’. Above all, we remember with deep
gratitude all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ, through his life,
suffering, death and resurrection. We also remember and give thanks for all our
own personal experiences of God’s love at work in our lives. It is a time to
count our blessings. And we remember and give thanks not only for what happened
a long time ago, but most especially for what is happening in our lives at this
time.
Second, we come together to celebrate our being a community
and a fellowship in Christ. The Mass, by itself, does not make community. It is
the celebration of a community already existing. For, although the Eucharist is
at the centre of our Christian life, it is not the totality of that life. It
cannot survive in a vacuum. The Eucharist is a sacrament or sign of something which
is bigger than itself—a living Christian community. In addition, the Eucharist
is, by and large, the measure of a Christian community. From the way a
congregation celebrates its Eucharist one can know immediately whether this is
a living or a dying or dead community. A dead or non-existent community cannot
have a living Eucharist.
Whose Body and whose Blood?
Today is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. But, whose Body and whose
Blood? Is it the body that died on the Cross? The body that walked and talked
and taught in Galilee? Not really. The Body we celebrate today is the Body of
the Risen Jesus. All of us who are baptised are members,
constituent parts of that Body. Some of those members are alive and healthy and
contributing to the overall life of the Body. Others are sick or dropping off,
and still others are in need of healing or nourishment.
When we approach the altar table to receive Communion, the
priest or minister says, “The Body of Christ”. When we say our “Amen” of assent
in faith, we need to be aware that the Body we are receiving is that Risen Body
of Jesus, of which each one present is a part. We may even say that we are, in
fact, eating each other! If that sounds shocking then it is not surprising that
the Jews, including some of Jesus’ own disciples were shocked, when he told
them to eat his body and drink his blood.
For we do not just ‘receive’ the Body of Christ. It would be
better to say that we share it. Paul emphasises this in today’s Second Reading:
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in
the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body
of Christ?
‘Body’ here means the whole Body of the Risen Christ—Jesus
and the community of followers. He continues by saying that the one loaf which
is broken and distributed is a sign that,
…we who are many are one body…we all partake of the one
bread.
It is unfortunate that nowadays the sense of sharing the one
loaf has been lost by the small unbread-like discs that are now normally used.
‘Communion’ is not just with Jesus, but also with all those
around us. That is why, before this ‘Communion’, we need to say the Lord’s
Prayer in which we ask forgiveness of those we have offended. Wishing each
other ‘Peace’ (sadly, less than enthusiastically at times) gives an opportunity
for genuine reconciliation so that the unity expressed through ‘Communion’ may
be genuine. It is truly unfortunate to see people, on occasion, deliberately
avoid wishing each other ‘Peace’ and then piously approach the altar. In such a
case, they have forgotten the instructions of Jesus to stay away from the altar
until they have reconciled with a brother or sister.
Of course, it is difficult to have a sense of sharing in the
one loaf as the sacrament of one Body, if, in fact, we are not one body. And we
are not one body if, outside the church building, we are not united and caring
for each other. One gets the impression that many come to Mass as a purely
personal act. They come in and out as self-contained individuals. Some come late
and leave early, apparently with no sense whatever that this could be construed
as a lack of respect for the celebrating community. Many, needless to say,
complain of their Sunday Mass as being highly boring, or too long, or too short
an experience.
If we are not already a community before we enter the place
where the Eucharist is being celebrated, we are not suddenly going to become a
community after we come in. A parish where Mass-going is basically the only
activity of its members is going to be a ‘dead’ parish and its Eucharist will
also be ‘dead’. As was said above, the Eucharist is the measure of the life of
the parish. And a parish gets the Eucharist it deserves—poor community, poor
Eucharist. A vibrant Christian community cannot have a bad Eucharist. Maybe
some of those who have stopped going to Mass are in fact acting more honestly
because the Mass in their church no longer is a source of nourishment for them.
A cautionary tale
There is a story of a parish where the people complained that it had died, so
the pastor organised a final requiem Mass with a coffin in front of the altar.
At the end of the Eucharist(?) the people were invited to file past the open
coffin. When they looked in they each saw an image of themselves in a large
mirror placed at the bottom of the coffin. Stark, yes, but if our parish is
dead, if our Eucharists are boring, it is not just because of bad sermons or
poor singing. The problem is more basic and everyone is partially responsible.
So, before we give up going to Sunday Eucharist, we might ask to what extent
are we, each one of us, responsible for the situation about which
we complain.
So our celebration of the Eucharist, of the Body and Blood
of Christ, is not simply a commemoration of what happened to the ‘historical’
Jesus more than 2,000 years ago. It is—in a spirit of remembrance and
thanksgiving—a celebration of what makes us what we are today. We today live,
as Paul told the Philippians, sharing in the sufferings of Christ, becoming
like him in his death and experiencing the power of his resurrection. The
Eucharist is the celebration of a living Body, of which we are a
part. It is up to us, with the help of Jesus—to use another image Jesus gave
us—to decide whether we are living branches on the parent Vine or whether we
are dying branches that need to be lopped off and thrown away as unfruitful.
We need to celebrate as a people who become daily more and
more aware that we are constituent parts of the Body of Christ. If people are
to know Christ, it can only be through us, his Risen Body, that they will come
to know him. The more we grow in this awareness of Christ’s living and acting
through each one of us, the more meaningful will be our gathering round his
table to share together, to eat and drink together, the Body and Blood of the
Risen Lord—which we are.
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Sunday,
June 7, 2026
Solemnity of Most Holy Body and Blood (Corpus Christi)
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help
us read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples
on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You
helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your
sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope
became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create silence in us so that we may
listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in
people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we
too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of
Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as
source of fraternity, justice, and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of
Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
Gospel Reading – John 6: 51-58
a)
A
Key to the Reading:
On the Feast of the Body and Blood of
Christ we meditate on the last part of the long discourse on the Bread of Life.
During this discourse, the Gospel of John helps us to understand the deep
meaning of the multiplication of the bread and of the Eucharist. During the
reading, we will try to be attentive to the words of Jesus which help people to
understand the sign of the Bread of Life.
b)
A
Division of the Text to Help in the Reading:
•
John 6: 51: The initial affirmation which
summarizes everything
•
John 6: 52: The contrary reaction of the Jews
•
John 6: 53-54: Jesus’ response affirms what He
said before
•
John 6: 55-58: Jesus draws the conclusion for life
c) The Text:
51 I am the living bread which has
come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the
bread that I shall give is My flesh, for the life of the world.' 52 Then the
Jews started arguing among themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?' 53 Jesus replied to them, ‘ In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54
Anyone who does eat My flesh and drink My blood has eternal life, and I shall
raise that person up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is real food and My blood
is real drink. 56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me and I
live in that person. 57 As the living Father sent Me and I draw life from the
Father, so whoever eats Me will also draw life from Me. 58 This is the bread
which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live forever.
A Moment of Prayerful Silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten
our life.
Some Questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
•
Which part of the text struck me the most? Why?
•
How many times in the text is the word life
used, and what does it tell us about life?
•
Jesus says, “I am the living Bread which has
come down from heaven”. What does this mean? Look for an answer in the text.
•
What does this text tell us about the Person of
Jesus: titles, functions, etc.?
•
In what way does this text help us to understand
better the significance of the Eucharist?
To Go Deeper into the Discourse of the
Bread of Life.
a)
Context in which our text is situated in
the discourse of the Bread of Life:
The discourse on the Bread of Life (Jn 6:
22-71) is a sequence of seven brief dialogues between Jesus and the persons who
were with Him after the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus tries to open the
eyes of people, making them understand that it is not sufficient to struggle to
get the material bread. The daily struggle for material bread does not touch
the roots if it is not accompanied by mysticism. The human being does not only
live by bread! (Deut 8: 3) The seven brief dialogues are a very beautiful
catechesis which explains to people the profound significance of the
multiplication of the loaves and of the Eucharist. Throughout the dialogue
appear the exigencies which the living out of faith in Jesus traces for our
life. People react. They remain surprised by the words of Jesus. But Jesus does
not give in. He does not change His requirements. And because of this, many
abandon Him. Even now the same thing happens: when the Gospel begins to demand
a commitment, many people abandon it. Insofar as the discourse of Jesus
advances, less people remain around Him. At the end, only the twelve remain and
Jesus cannot even count on them!
Here is the sequence of the seven
dialogues which compose the long discourse on the Bread of Life:
• John
6: 22-27: 1st Dialogue: People seek Jesus because they want more bread
• John
6: 28-33: 2nd Dialogue: Jesus asks the people to work for the true bread
• John
6: 34-40: 3rd Dialogue: The true bread is to do the will of God
• John
6: 41-51: 4th Dialogue: He who opens himself to God accepts Jesus and His
proposal
• John
6: 52-58: 5th Dialogue: Flesh and Blood: expression of life and of the total
gift
• John
6: 59-66: 6th Dialogue: Without the light of the Spirit these words cannot be
understood
• John
6: 67-71: 7th Dialogue: Peter’s confession
b)
Comment on the seven dialogues which
make up the discourse of the Bread of
Life:
The year 2005 is the Year of the Eucharist.
This is the reason why, instead of commenting only on the eight verses of the
Gospel of this Sunday (John 6: 5158), we have thought of giving a general key
to understand the seven brief dialogues which make up the whole discourse. A
global vision of the whole will help to clarify the meaning and the importance
of the eight verses of the liturgical text of this day of Corpus Christi.
• 1st Dialogue - John 6: 22-27: The people look for
Jesus because they want more bread
22 Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the
other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got
into the boat with His disciples, but that the disciples had set off by
themselves. 23 Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place
where the bread had been eaten. 24 When the people saw that neither Jesus nor
His disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to
look for Jesus. 25 When they found Him on the other side, they said to Him,
'Rabbi, when did you come here?' 26 Jesus answered, ‘In all truth I tell you,
you are looking for Me not because you have seen the signs but because you had
all the bread you wanted to eat. 27 Do not work for food that goes bad, but
work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give
you, for on Him the Father, God Himself, has set His seal.
The people see the miracle, but they do
not understand that it is a question of a sign of something greater and more
profound. They stop only on the superficial aspect of the fact, in the
distribution of the food. They look for the bread of life, but only for the
body. According to the people, Jesus does something which Moses had already
done in the past: feed everyone. And the people wanted the past to be repeated.
But Jesus asks the people to take one more step. Do not work for food that goes
bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life.
• 2nd Dialogue – John 6: 28-33: Jesus asks the
people to work for the true bread
28 Then they said to Him, 'What must we do if
we are to carry out God's work?' 29 Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is
carrying out God's work: you must believe in the One He has sent.' 30 So they
said, 'What sign will You yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe
in You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as
scripture says,“He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”' 32 Jesus answered
them. ‘In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from
heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; 33
for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life
to the world.’
The people asked, ‘What must we do if we are
to carry out God’s work?’ And Jesus answers, ‘Believe in the One God has
sent!’ That is, believe in Jesus. And
the people react, ‘Give us a sign to understand that You are truly the One sent
by God. Our fathers ate the manna that Moses gave them! According to the
people, Moses is and continues to be the great leader, in whom to believe. If
Jesus wants the people to believe in Him, He has to give them a greater sign
than that given by Moses. Jesus answers that the bread given by Moses was not
the true bread, because it did not guarantee the life of anyone. All died in
the desert. The true bread of God is the one which overcomes death and gives
life! Jesus tries to help people to liberate themselves from the schema of the
past. For Jesus, fidelity to the past does not mean to close up oneself in the
things of the past and to refuse or reject renewal. Fidelity to the past means
to accept what is new, which is the fruit of the seed planted in the past.
• 3rd Dialogue - John 6: 34-40: The true bread is to
do the will of God.
34 'Sir,' they said, 'give us that bread
always.' 35 Jesus answered them, ‘I am the bread of life. No one who comes to
Me will ever hunger; no one who believes in Me will ever thirst. 36 But, as I have
told you, you can see Me and still you do not believe. 37 Everyone whom the
Father gives Me will come to Me; I will certainly not reject anyone who comes
to Me, 38 because I have come from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the
will of Him who sent Me. 39 Now the will of Him who sent Me is that I should
lose nothing of all that He has given to Me, but that I should raise it up on
the last day. 40 It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son and believes
in Him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the
last day.’
The people said, ‘Lord, give us that bread
always!’ They thought that Jesus was speaking of a special bread. Then, Jesus
answers clearly, ‘I am the bread of life!’ To eat the bread of heaven is the
same as believing in Jesus and accepting the path that He has shown us, that
is, “My food is to do the will of the Father who is in heaven!” (Jn 4: 34).
This is the true food which nourishes the person, which always gives us new
life. It is a seed that guarantees resurrection!
• 4th Dialogue – John 6: 41-51: He who opens himself
to God accepts Jesus and His proposal
41 Meanwhile the Jews were complaining to
each other about Him, because He had said, 'I am the bread that has come down
from heaven.' 42 They were saying, 'Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph, whose
father and mother we know. How can He now say, "I have come down from
heaven?" ' 43 Jesus said in reply to them, 'Stop complaining to each
other. 44 'No one can come to Me unless drawn by the Father who sent Me, and I
will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the
prophets, They will all be taught by
God; everyone who has listened to the Father, and learned from Him, comes to
me. 46 Not that anybody has seen the Father, except Him who has His being from
God: He has seen the Father. 47 In all truth I tell you, everyone who believes
has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate manna in the
desert and they are dead; 50 but this is the bread which comes down from heaven,
so that a person may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which has
come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the
bread that I shall give is My flesh, for the life of the world.'
The discourse becomes more demanding. Now it
is the Jews, that is, the leaders of the people, who murmur, “Is He not Jesus,
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He say that He has
come down from heaven?” They considered themselves capable of knowing and of
recognizing the things that come from God. But they are mistaken. If they were
truly open to the things of God, they would feel the impulse of God in
themselves which attracts them toward Jesus and would recognize that Jesus
comes from God (Jn 6: 45). In the celebration of the Passover, the Jews
remembered the bread of the desert. Jesus helps them to take a step forward.
The one who celebrates the Passover remembering only the bread which the
fathers ate in the desert, will die just as all of them died! The true meaning
of the Passover is not that of recalling the manna which in the past fell from
heaven, but to accept Jesus, the Bread of Life who came down from Heaven and to
follow the path that He has traced. It does not mean to eat the flesh of the
paschal lamb, but the flesh of Jesus, who came down from heaven to give life to
the world!
• 5th Dialogue - John 6: 52-58: Flesh and Blood: the
expression of life and of the total gift.
52 Then the Jews started arguing among
themselves, 'How can this man give us His flesh to eat?' 53 Jesus replied to
them, ‘ In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Anyone who does eat My flesh
and drink My blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the
last day. 55 For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. 56 Whoever
eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me and I live in that person. 57 As
the living Father sent Me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats Me
will also draw life from Me. 58 This is the bread which has come down from
heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone
who eats this bread will live for ever.’
The Jews reacted, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
They did not understand these words of Jesus, because the profound respect for
life demanded that from the time of the Old Testament it was forbidden to drink
blood, because the blood was the sign of life (Deut 12: 16, 23). Besides, it
was close to the Passover and in a few days everyone would have eaten the meat
and the blood of the Paschal Lamb in the celebration of the night of the
Passover. They took the words of Jesus literally. That is why they did not
understand. To eat the flesh of Jesus meant to accept Jesus as the new Paschal
Lamb.His blood will free them from slavery. To drink the blood of Jesus meant
to assimilate His way of life which characterized the life of Jesus. What gives
life is not to celebrate the manna of the past, but rather to eat this new
bread which is Jesus, His flesh and His blood. Participating in the Eucharistic
Supper, we assimilate His life, His gift of self, His dedication.
• 6th Dialogue – John 6: 59-66: Without the light of the
Spirit these words cannot be understood,
59 This is what He taught at Capernaum in the
synagogue. 60 After hearing it, many of His followers said, 'This is
intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?' 61 Jesus was aware that His
followers were complaining about it and said, 'Does this disturb you? 62 What
if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? 63 'It is the
spirit that gives life; the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken
to you are spirit and they are life. 64 'But there are some of you who do not
believe.' For Jesus knew from the outset who did not believe and who was to
betray Him. 65 He went on, 'This is why I told you that no one could come to Me
except by the gift of the Father.' 66 After this, many of His disciples went away
and accompanied Him no more.
Here ends the discourse of Jesus in the
synagogue at Capernaum. Many of His disciples thought, ‘Jesus is exaggerating
too much! He is putting an end to the celebration of the Passover! He is taking
the central place of our religion!’ For this reason many people abandoned the
community and no longer followed Jesus. Jesus reacted by saying, “It is the
spirit who gives life; the flesh has nothing to offer. The words that I have
spoken to you are spirit and they are life”. We should not take what he says
literally. It is only with the help of the light of the Holy Spirit that it is
possible to understand the full meaning of everything that Jesus says (Jn 14:
25-26; 16: 12-13).
• 7th Dialogue - Jn 6: 67-71: Confession of Peter.
67 Then Jesus said to the Twelve, 'What about
you, do you want to go away too?' 68 Simon Peter answered, 'Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have the message of eternal life, 69 and we believe; we have come to
know that You are the Holy One of God.' 70 Jesus replied to them, 'Did I not
choose the Twelve of you? Yet one of you is a devil.' 71 He meant Judas son of
Simon Iscariot, since this was the man, one of the Twelve, who was to betray
Him.
At the end only the twelve remained. Jesus
said to them, “What about you, do you want to go away too?” For Jesus, what is
important is not the number of people who are around Him. He does not change
the discourse when the message does not please others. Jesus speaks to reveal
the Father and not to please others.
He prefers to remain alone, more than being
accompanied by persons who do not accept the Father’s project. The response of
Peter is beautiful: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal
life!” Even without understanding everything, Peter accepts Jesus and believes
in Him. Despite all his limitations, Peter is not like Nicodemus, who wished to
see everything clearly, to confirm his own ideas.
•
To deepen more: Eucharist and New Exodus
In describing the multiplication of the loaves, the Gospel
of John suggests a parallel with Exodus: Jesus who walks on the water and the
discourse of the Bread of Life. This parallel shows that through the Eucharist
a new Exodus takes place. The Eucharist helps us to live in a permanent state
of Exodus:
•
i) The multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6:
1-15):
Jesus has before Him a hungry
crowd and the challenge to guarantee bread for all. Even though Moses had to
face this challenge during the time of itinerancy of the people in the desert
(Ex 16: 1-35; Num 11: 1823). After having eaten, the people fed and satisfied
recognize in Jesus the new Moses, the “Prophet who is to come into the world”
(Jn 6: 14), according to what has been announced in the Law of the Covenant
(Deut 18: 15-22).
•
ii) Jesus walks on the water (Jn 6: 16-21):
In Exodus, the people are itinerant in order to obtain
freedom and face and overcome the sea (Ex 14:22). Jesus also, like Moses,
dominates and overcomes the sea, preventing the boat of his disciples from
being swallowed up by the waves, and does in such a way that they get safely to
the other shore.
•
iii) The discourse on the Bread of Life (Jn 6:
22-58):
The discourse evokes Chapter 16 of the book of
Exodus which describes the story of the manna. When Jesus speaks of “a food
which does not perish” (Jn 6: 27) He hears some people “murmuring” or
complaining against Jesus (Jn 6: 41), do the same thing that the Israelites in
the desert, who doubted the presence of God in their long journey (Ex 16: 2;
17: 3; Num 11: 1). The Jews doubted the presence of God in Jesus of Nazareth
(Jn 6: 42). Jesus is the true Manna who gives us eternal life.
Psalm 85 (84)
Justice and Peace Embrace One Another.
Yahweh, You are gracious to Your land, You
bring back the captives of Jacob, You take away the guilt of Your people, You
blot out all their sins. You retract all Your anger, you renounce the heat of
your fury.
Bring us back, God our Savior, appease Your
indignation against us! Will You be angry with us for ever? Will You prolong
your wrath age after age? Will You not give us life again, for Your people to
rejoice in You? Show us, Lord, Your faithful love, grant us Your saving help.
I am listening. What is God's message?
Yahweh's message is peace for His people, for His faithful, if only they
renounce their folly. His saving help is near for those who fear Him, His glory
will dwell in our land. Faithful love and loyalty join together, saving justice
and peace embrace. Loyalty will spring up from the earth, and justice will lean
down from heaven.
Yahweh will Himself give prosperity, and our soil will yield
its harvest. Justice will walk before Him, treading out a path.
Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to
understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions
and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May
we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You
who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and
ever. Amen.
