"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him" Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6:51-58.

Book of Proverbs 9:1-6. 

Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven columns;
She has dressed her meat, mixed her wine, yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens; she calls from the heights out over the city:
"Let whoever is simple turn in here; to him who lacks understanding, I say,
Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding."



Psalms 34(33):2-3.4-5.6-7.

I will bless the LORD at all times; 

his praise shall be ever in my mouth. 

Let my soul glory in the LORD; 

the lowly will hear me and be glad. 

Glorify the LORD with me, 

let us together extol his name. 

I sought the LORD, and he answered me 

and delivered me from all my fears. 

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, 

and your faces may not blush with shame. 

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, 

and from all his distress he saved him. 

Letter to the Ephesians 5:15-20. 

Brothers and sisters: Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise,
making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.
And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another (in) psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.





Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6:51-58. 

Jesus said to the 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." 

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him"

The heavenly sacrifice that Christ instituted is indeed the inheritance bequeathed to us through his new covenant. He left it to us on the night he was delivered up to be crucified as a token of his presence. It is viaticum for our journey, food on our life's path until we come to it on quitting this world. That is why our Lord said: “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you do not have life within you.” 

He wished his deeds of kindness to remain among us and the souls he redeemed by his precious blood always to be made holy in the image of his own Passion. This is why he commanded his faithful disciples, instituted as the first priests of his Church, to celebrate these mysteries of eternal life in perpetuity... Thus all the faithful would have before their eyes day by day a representation of Christ's Passion. Taking him in our hands, receiving him in our mouths and hearts, we will hold fast to an indelible remembrance of our redemption.

The bread should be made with the flour of innumerable grains of wheat mixed with water and finished off in the fire. Thus we shall find a close likeness of the body of Christ in it for, as we know, he forms a single body with the multitude of humankind brought to completion by the fire of the Holy Spirit... In the same way, the wine of his blood is taken from many grapes - that is to say the fruit of vine he planted - is crushed beneath the press of his cross, poured into the hearts of the faithful and ferments within them by means of his own power.

This is the Passover sacrifice bringing salvation to all those set free from bondage of Egypt and Pharaoh, that is to say the devil. Receive it in union with us with all the eagerness of a pious heart.