Gospel (Jn 6,51-58) - At that time, Jesus said to the crowd: «I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he will live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." Then the Jews began to argue bitterly among themselves: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will resurrect 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 live through the Father, so he who eats me will live through me. This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like what the fathers ate and died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus, with the theme of the banquet, collected the pages of Scripture and brought them to completion; he states that the bread of the banquet is himself, his body. «How can this man give us his flesh to eat?». They argued about what he meant by these words. Jesus' language is very concrete, to the point of being scandalously crude. «Flesh and blood» indicated the whole man, the person, his life, his history. Jesus offers himself to his listeners; we could say, in the most realistic sense of the term, that he offers himself up to everyone. Jesus truly does not want to keep anything for himself and offers his entire life for men. The Eucharist, this gift that the Lord left to his Church, realizes our mysterious and very real communion with him. Paul energetically says to the Christians of Corinth: «The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not communion with the body of Christ?" (1Cor 10,16). Unfortunately, how many times do we give in to that tired habit which also deprives those who approach the Eucharist of enjoying the sweetness of this mystery of love. A mystery of love so high that it must make everyone think that they are always and in any case unworthy of receiving it. It's a truth that we so often forget. It is the Lord who comes to meet us; it is he who approaches us to the point of becoming food and drink. The attitude with which we must approach the Eucharist must be that of the beggar who extends his hand, of the beggar of love, of the beggar of healing, of the beggar of comfort, of the beggar of help. Ancient stories tell that a woman went to a desert father confessing to him that she was assailed by terrible temptations and that she was often overwhelmed by them. The holy monk asked her how long it had been since she had received communion. She replied that it had been many months since she had received the Holy Eucharist. The monk responded by saying more or less these words: "Try not to eat anything for as many months and then come and tell me how you feel." The woman understood what the monk had told her and began to receive communion regularly. The Eucharist is essential food for the life of the believer, it is indeed his very life, as Jesus himself, closing his speech, states: «As the Father, who has life, sent me and I live for the Father, so also he who eats me will live because of me."