The lord be with you. A reading of the holy gospel according to Saint John. And this is a continuation of the readings we have been having, which bear upon the holy Eucharist, which is the question or the doctrine of the dogma of the real presence of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine. And by that I mean his physical reality. And so, we continue.
The Jews quarreled among themselves saying, remember our blessed Lord has just said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you can't have life. He's talking to Jews who absolutely abhor even the thought of cannibalism. Now, what does Jesus say when they take him literally? Our Lord says, the Jews quarreled among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Thereupon Jesus said to them, let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I remain in him. Just as the father who has life sent me, and I have life because of the father, so the man 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 died, nonetheless, the man who feeds on this bread shall live forever. Jesus said this in a synagogue instruction in Capernaum. This is the gospel of the lord.