A reading from the holy gospel
according to John (Jn 6, 51-58)
Jesus said to the crowds: "I
am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will
live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the
world. The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give
us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life
within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I
will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true
drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks
my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I
have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life
because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your
ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live
forever." (Jn 6:51-58)
Often, when I meet friends and
they ask me “How are you?”, I answer them “I am older than
yesterday!”. Once I said this to a Roman friend, he answered “Yes, of course,
but you are younger than tomorrow!”. I enjoyed this and I have been repeating
it ever since. Others try to console me, and tell me that I am still young; and I hope that they know that I know that they are
lying. One young lady asked me if I wanted to grow younger. I answered
sincerely: “No, I do not want to grow younger, even
if this were possible!”.
Why should I want to return to my youth, if I have
a better offer?