Gospel (Jn 6,52-59) - At that time, 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." Jesus said these things, teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

This evangelical page takes us into the second part of the speech that Jesus pronounces in the synagogue of Capernaum on the bread of life. The listeners, when the words of Jesus ask for their involvement in the very mystery of Jesus, interrupt him and begin to murmur against him: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?". They feel satisfied with the life they lead. Even if it's not true. He who is full of himself does not ask, he who is full of his own "I" does not extend his hand. In truth, even if we were full and surrounded by goods, food and words, we would still be hungry, for happiness, for love, for attention, for support. We should imitate more the poor who stretch out their hand to ask for help and do so insistently. In a society that believes itself to be sated and consumerist, but in reality is fragile and full of fears, they can become the teachers for a new life. They bring out what we are hiddenly: beggars of love and attention. The poor are hungry, and not only for bread, but also for love. So do we. Jesus continues to tell us: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." To have life it is not enough to want, it is not enough to understand, it is necessary to eat, nourish ourselves with the Gospel and the love of our brothers. We must become beggars for a bread that the world does not know how to produce and in any case does not know how to give. The table of the Eucharist is given to us free of charge, we can all take part in it. And every time we participate we anticipate heaven on earth. Around the altar we find what feeds us and quenches our thirst today and for eternity. And from this food we learn what eternal life is, the life that is worth living: "He who eats me will live for me". This is why the ancient Fathers said that Christians "live according to Sunday", precisely, with the logic of the Eucharist, of Jesus who came to serve and to make love grow between men.