Accustomed as we are to hearing the words, "This is my body" in the consecration of the sacrament and "The body of Christ" as we receive holy communion bread, do we still draw back in surprise at hearing our Lord say "flesh"? Accustomed as we are to hearing the words "The blood of Christ" when we take the chalice, do we still find a murmur rising in our minds as we hear this text: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you"?

The gospel for today seems very straightforward. Jesus, who had said to them, "I am the bread of life," rephrases his words slightly, saying, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven." Now he alters the promise that as the living bread he gives life to the world. He had earlier said, "Whoever comes to me, and whoe…