We’re learning that it takes wisdom to understand God’s simple desire that we love one another. Jesus is telling the people that God is their food, their life, their only hope for everlasting joy, but they keep wanting more signs, explanations, and clarifications.

Every preacher will have experienced a time when someone in the congregation simply took what the preacher was saying the wrong way. That’s what happens to Jesus in today’s gospel.

A lot of voices compete for our attention these days. Voices of doom tell us that all is lost—the economy has driven off a cliff and taken our future with it. And there are voices of blame saying we must point a finger at one sort of politics or another for the present state of society.

It seems that when you are hungry, your senses conspire against you. That is why some restaurants put elaborate, full-color pictures of their meals on their menus or place sample plates in their windows.

My husband went to get the car while the nurse went over a few last-minute details about how to care for our newborn daughter, who had a serious heart defect and a diagnosis of Down syndrome. The nurse outlined the telltale signs of distress that would indicate a trip back to the hospital; she advised me on the best diapers and formula (“whatever’s on sale”).

The people in today’s gospel who just “don’t get it” when Jesus tells them his flesh is the living bread from heaven remind me of a time we scared the daylights out of my younger daughter. She was just about 3 years old when she and her older sister were having trouble getting to sleep.

With all who have reverence for the living God, let us present our needs to the Lord.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. The beginning of today’s gospel picks up where last week’s left off (in fact, they overlap at verse 51), reminding hearers of the life Jesus gives in himself, but this week with a twist: to participate in eternal life, a believer in Jesus really has to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

The most holy Eucharist holds within itself the whole  spiritual treasure of the church, namely Christ himself, our passover and our living bread.