Proverbs 9:1-6
In the First Reading, God invites everyone to a scrumptious banquet. Special places are prepared for those who are simple and lacking in understanding of God’s ways in order that they come to experience and live forth from God’s Wisdom – that is, the divine point of view. This Old Testament banquet prefigures the Holy Eucharist wherein Jesus gives Himself to us as real and sacred food in the New Testament.
John 6:51-58
In the Gospel, the love of God is made visible in the most astonishing of ways. Christ’s hearers understanding perfectly well that He means exactly what He says and says exactly what He means. Our Lord uses a stronger word that just “eating” – it could be translated gnawing or tearing. There is no questioning that Jesus establishes Communion as a real meal. There is no room for saying He is speaking symbolically. Through the Holy Eucharist we share in the life of our Lord and become one with Him.
