Gospel (Jn 6,60-69) - At that time, many of those who had followed Jesus until then said: “This language is harsh. Who can listen to it? But Jesus, knowing in his heart that his disciples were murmuring about this, said to them: «Does this scandalize you? And when will you see the Son of man ascend where he was before? The spirit is that which gives life; meat is useless. The words I spoke to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some among you who do not believe. Because Jesus knew from the beginning who those who did not believe were and who it was who would betray him. And he: "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father grants it to him." Since then many of his disciples went back and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve: "Do you also want to go away?" Simon Peter answered him: «Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life and we believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

This Sunday's evangelical passage closes the "discourse on bread", held by Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum. There, in the presence of Jesus, what happened to the people of Israel when they arrived in Shechem, the heart of the promised land and home to a national sanctuary linked to the memories of the patriarchs, was happening. Joshua gathered all the tribes and asked them: "Choose today who to serve", whether pagan idols or the God of liberation from the slavery of Egypt. And the people replied: «Far be it from us to abandon the Lord to serve other gods! For it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt." It was a decisive choice for Israel as it was about to take possession of the land given to it by God. This was not the case for those disciples of Jesus. Not everyone had understood that that "flesh" was "spirit", that that man spoke the language of heaven, which came from God and led to God. "From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer went with him", the evangelist notes bitterly. For Jesus the announcement of that intimacy was the Gospel. He couldn't give it up. He then turned towards the Twelve (it is the first time this term appears in the fourth Gospel) and asked them: "Do you want to leave too?". Perhaps we do not fully realize the drama of this moment; it is undoubtedly among the most serious of the life of Jesus. Peter speaks on behalf of everyone and says: «Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life." He does not say "where", but "to whom" we will go. Peter underlines that intimate relationship with Jesus which specifies the disciple's faith, indeed his entire life. For them, Jesus is a point of reference without comparison; he is superior to every other master; only he has words of eternal life.