First reading
Deuteronomy 8:2–3, 14–16
He fed you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known.
Responsorial psalm
Psalm 147:12–15, 19–20
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Second reading
1 Corinthians 10:16–17
That there is only one loaf means that, though we are many, we form one body.
Gospel acclamation
John 6:51–52
I am the living bread from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live for ever.
Gospel
John 6:51–58
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
Images from the Word
- For the life of the world
- His flesh
- Will live for ever
- Your inmost heart
- Form a single body
Liturgical notes
Above all, the Second Vatican Council, which recommended ‘that more perfect form of participation in the Mass by which the faithful, after the priest’s Communion, receive the Lord’s Body from the same Sacrifice,’19 called for another desire of the Fathers of Trent to be realized, namely that for the sake of a fuller participation in the holy Eucharist ‘the faithful present at each Mass should communicate not only by spiritual desire but also by sacramental reception of the Eucharist.
—General Instruction of the Roman Missal, §13
Full participation at Mass requires the priestly people of God to share in physical communion with the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ. For this reason, Communion should only be given from the altar, not from the tabernacle. By this eating and drinking, the priestly people of God exercise fully their priesthood in Christ.
‘Grant, O Lord, we pray, that we may delight for all eternity in that share in our divine life which is foreshadowed in the present age by our reception of your precious Body and Blood.’ —prayer after Communion