Entrance Antiphon
He fed them with the finest wheat
and satisfied them with honey from the rock.
First Reading: Deuteronomy 8:2-3. 14-16. A reading from the book of Deuteronomy
He gave you food which you and your ancestors did not know.
Moses said to the people: ‘Remember how the Lord your God led you for forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to make you understand that man does not live on bread alone but that man lives on everything that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
‘Do not then forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery: who guided you through this vast and dreadful wilderness, a land of fiery serpents, scorpions, thirst; who in this waterless place brought you water from the hardest rock; who in this wilderness fed you with manna that your fathers had not known.’
Responsorial Psalm: Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
- O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
he has blessed the children within you. (R.)
- He has established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command. (R.)
- He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees. (R.)
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:16-17. A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians
Though we are many, we form a single body because we share this one loaf.
The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia! I am the living bread from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live for ever. Alleluia!
Gospel: John 6:51-58. A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
Jesus said to the Jews:
‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give
is my flesh, for the life of the world.’
Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’
Communion Antiphon: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.
REFLECTION
by Nick Brodie (Leo’s Lens)
Pope Leo wants us to remember the connection between Communion, unity and change. ‘Christians are truly born from above, regenerated by God as brothers and sisters of Jesus,’ he says, ‘and the Church that nourishes them with the sacraments is the welcoming bosom for all peoples.’
Being called to unity is something we cannot do alone. This is why the Pope encourages us to reflect on ‘the lifestyle that characterises humanity when it has been renewed by the Holy Spirit.’ We are called to be people who love each other, even those who may despise us or rattle our complacency.
The Pope encourages us to reflect on what such ‘spiritual unity’ looks like in practice. Surely it flows from ‘harmony of faith, affections, ideas and life decisions centred on the love of God who became man to save all the peoples of the earth?’ Ours is therefore a unity which ‘embraces peoples of every language and culture.’
The Pope also reminds us that ‘in the face of poverty and oppression, the guiding principle above all for Christians is charity: let us do to those around us, as we would have them do to us.’ In doing so, we become authentic witnesses of our Communion with Christ.