A Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy (8:2-3).
Moses said to the people, “You shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
Psalm 34:1-8. Benedicam Dominum.
I WILL alway give thanks unto the LORD; *
his praise shall ever be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD; *
the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3 O praise the LORD with me, *
and let us magnify his Name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me; *
yea, he delivered me out of all my fear.
5 They had an eye unto him,
and were lightened; *
and their faces were not ashamed.
6 Lo, the poor crieth, and the LORD heareth him; *
yea, and saveth him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD tarrieth
round about them that fear him, *
and delivereth them.
8 O taste, and see, how gracious the LORD is: *
blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
A Reading from the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (11:23-29).
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ According to St. John (6:47-58).
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”