06/07/2026
In the book of Leviticus, the people of Israel were forbidden to drink blood. Blood represented life, and life belongs to God. So when Jesus tells His followers, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you,” it is easy to understand why they were disturbed.
This was not an easy teaching. It was not vague religious poetry. It sounded shocking, even repugnant. Yet Jesus does not soften His words. He does not call the crowd back and explain the teaching away. Instead, He presses the point more strongly: whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life.
Many of His disciples could not accept this, and they walked away.
Then Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter’s answer is not the answer of someone who already understands everything. He does not say, “Lord, now this all makes sense.” He says, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
That is often where we find ourselves. Sometimes the teachings of Christ and His Church are difficult. Sometimes we do not understand what God is asking of us or why. We may even be tempted to think that the Church needs to get with the times. But Peter’s question remains: to whom shall we go?
The crowd compared Jesus to Moses, saying that their fathers ate manna in the desert. But Jesus corrects them. It was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven. It was God. Moses was the servant. God was the giver.
God fed His people in the wilderness because they could not sustain themselves. He gave them bread because they were hungry. He brought water from the rock because they were thirsty. And now He gives something greater than manna.
At every Mass, ordinary bread and wine do not remain ordinary. They become the true Body and Blood of Christ. As Saint Paul tells us, the cup of blessing is a participation in the Blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a participation in the Body of Christ.
The Eucharist is not a mere symbol. It gives what it signifies. It unites us to Christ’s sacrifice. It nourishes our souls. It draws us into communion with Him and with one another.
We do not deserve such a gift. Like Israel in the desert, we grumble, doubt, and hunger for lesser things. Yet God does not abandon His people.
He gives us not merely bread from heaven, but the living Bread come down from heaven.
Christ gives us Himself.
So when the teaching is hard, Peter’s answer must become our own: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
