They heard about the Bread of life and did not believe.

"As a result of this, [Bread of life talk] many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6: 60 - 69).

Sunday 22nd August 2021, in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time.

Jesus had probably said some provocative things in His ministry but for many of His disciples, the Bread of life Discourse was the limit of their tolerance. "I am the bread of life. I am the living bread. You must eat My flesh and drink My blood."  What does Jesus mean? Are we cannibals? Many of His disciples decided to leave Him and regretted the time they invested in the enterprise.

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”

Think about this: How many people left the true Church because of the Child Abuse crisis? How many people left because they disagreed with their Bishop's teaching or regulations and decided to leave the Church to spurn the Bishop? Or left for some other petty reasons?

What will happen in the Church today to make you decide: "I have had enough. I am quitting."
Sacred Scripture says that those who leave the true Church never really belonged to the Church.
"They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number." (1 John 2: 19).

The truth of the Gospel is the fire that purifies and tests the caliber of the metal.  The "me too's" were found wanting.

At the challenge of Jesus to the Twelve, Peter replied: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
If today you have not come to believe and are convinced that Jesus is true God and true Man and that He is what He claims to be: the Bread of life, the Light of the world, the Way, the Truth and the Life, why are you still in the Church?

"My Eucharistic presence meets with coldness, with indifference, and with a chilling ingratitude, even on the part of My priests and of consecrated souls. They fail to recognize in the mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist the pearl of great price, the treasure once hidden in the field but now offered freely to all who would partake of its inexhaustible riches." (IN SINU JESU page 215).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com