John 6:52-59

Acts 9:1-20

Psalm 117:1bc, 2

John 6:52-59

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.”

These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you have generously bestowed the beginning of eternal life upon me. I did nothing to merit this grace and initial share in your life. Help me to collaborate with your grace so that I may attain the consummation of heavenly glory.

Encountering the Word of God

1. How Can This Man Give Us His Flesh to Eat? It is understandable that many of the Judeans who heard Jesus preach in the synagogue at Capernaum about the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood did not fully understand or grasp what Jesus was saying. Naturally, they quarreled and fought one another about the meaning of Jesus’ words. In response to their question, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?,” Jesus repeats three times that they need to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The first time, he says that those who do not do this will not have life. The second time, he promises the gift of eternal life and resurrection to those who eat his flesh and drink his blood. The third time, he says that this will cause a mutual indwelling: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, remains in me and I in him” (John 6:56). 

2. Eating the Flesh of the Son of Man: There is a nuance in the Greek text of John’s Gospel that we can miss in our English translation. When the Judeans ask how this man can give us his flesh to eat, they use the verb “phagein,” which refers to eating in general. And Jesus uses the same verb the first time he says: “Unless you eat (phagete) the Flesh of the Son of Man … you do not have life within you.” But the second and third time Jesus refers to this action, he uses the verb “trogon,” which was much more graphic and meant something more like “to gnaw, crunch, or chew.” Greek literature used the verb to describe the feeding of animals and, in some cases, for human eating. By doing this, Jesus doesn’t want the crowds to think he was just using a metaphor comparing welcoming his message in faith to eating bread. “The change in vocabulary marks a change of focus and emphasis, from the necessity of faith to the consumption of the Eucharist. The graphic and almost crude connotation of this verb thus adds greater force to the repetition of his words: he demands we express our faith by eating, in a real and physical way, his life-giving flesh in the sacrament” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, 1901).

3. Drinking the Blood of the Son of Man: Just as Jesus’ command to eat his flesh was scandalous to some of the Judeans, Jesus’ command to drink his blood was also a possible cause of scandal. The Old Law prohibited the drinking of animal blood and explained that life was in the blood (Leviticus 17:13-14). This law symbolized how human beings were not made to share more deeply in animal life, but were made for something else, namely, to share in divine life. Thus, when Jesus commands that we drink his blood, he is bringing the Old Law of Moses to fulfillment. We share in Jesus’ divine life by drinking from the chalice of his blood, the Blood of the New and Eternal Covenant, the blood that was shed for us, for the remission of sins.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I am a member of your Body. Help me to know my place and my role in that Body. Help me to work to build up the Church and spread the seed of the Kingdom of God throughout the world so that it may grow in justice, peace, and charity.

Living the Word of God: How am I building up the Body of Christ? Where am I called to build up the Body of Christ today? What is God asking me to place at the service of his Kingdom?