Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

At the end of the discourse on the bread of life there is drama among Jesus' listeners, "this discourse is too hard". The disciples face a decision, to leave or to stay with Jesus. Jesus doesn't impose himself and always keeps the doors open. Only those who really want to stay do so, nobody is forced.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

As we journey through chapter 6 of the Gospel according to Saint John, we are brought to a deeper sense of the great gift God has given to us in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.

We are in front of a gift, a mystery, a reality which surpasses our human understanding. In fact, only when we realize who the Giver is will we be able to understand and accept the Gift. The Giver is our Triune God who out of love for us does not desire our failure in discipleship but rather that we become like the image of the Son. The Gift is the Son himself who not only became one of us in the incarnation, in the proclaimed Word we hear in Church, He goes beyond and offers His own life (body and blood) as food for our journey in discipleship, remedy for immortality to heal our soul and broken heart and a pledge of eternal life.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Jesus' statement, "I am the bread that came down from heaven", was misinterpreted by his adversaries, as we already expected. They interpret it in the literal sense, to accuse him of encouraging anthropophagy.

The metaphoric language of Jesus, even though the Eucharist is not a metaphor, brought to his listeners a theme very dear to them, the manna that came down from heaven, as food for the hungry people in the desert.

Do not work for food in the parishes rather work for the food that endures in eternal life. When we think about obtaining food, we think about the here and now. That means what we will eat as a way of nourishment, and suitable for consumption, while others think about what is in it.