The first reading for today concentrates on the blessing of God and the responsibility that accompanies that blessing. God’s graciousness is not to be squandered. Moses directs the people to remember events of their past and from them learn the lesson of total confidence in God. The manna was meant to teach them that the source of their life was not merely the bread, but the promise of God. A recital of various examples of the providence of God completes this reading.

The psalm highlights God's protection of and solicitude toward the people of Israel. God protects them by fortifying the city of Jerusalem. The psalmist calls the people to praise God who has strengthened that city precisely at its most vulnerable spot, at its gates (v.13). Protected as they are, the people of Jerusalem/Zion are truly blessed. God’s peace has enabled them to prosper. Prosperity is symbolised by the wheat, which is abundant and is of the finest quality. The psalmist paints a dynamic picture of the powerful word of God. God merely speaks, and God’s word is accomplished. God promises to protect and to provide for the people, and the promise is realised. God’s special word is the law which ensures God's continued protection and care.

‘Cup of blessing’ was a common Jewish expression for the cup of wine taken at the end of a meal. At the Passover meal, the third of the four cups taken is called ‘the cup of blessing’. Here the significance of the cup of wine is not in its material substance but in its incorporation of the partakers in the blood of Christ. It is through Christ’s death-blood that we participate in his life-blood. Community is established with the breaking of the bread, not with the subsequent eating of it. Paul insists that when we partake in the Eucharist, it does not so much become part of us as does other food, but we are transformed into it.

In today’s gospel Jesus identifies his flesh as the bread of heaven, and he alludes to his death given for the life of the world. He declares this four times (vv.53-56). Jesus is ‘flesh and blood’ first as the sacrificial victim on the cross and then as food and drink. Like the manna, the flesh and blood of Jesus have become the source of life for those who partake of it. Eternal life comes from feeding on Jesus, not simply from believing in him. Jesus teaches that eternal life is not merely something that believers hope to enjoy in the future. Rather, those who share in this meal already possess eternal life. Jesus further maintains that just as we and the substance that we eat and drink become one, so Jesus and those who feed on him form an intimate union. They abide in him and he abides in them.