John 6 is more consistent with Catholic interpretation

All translations I use will come from the KJV. Now on to the debate. "so how do you respond to that, and to the Greek uses of the word "eat"? and overall, how do you respond? " I dont have to respond because Jesus himself responded to your questions. Ill use scripture to explain. As far as "the Greek use of the word ""eat"", again ill use scripture to point out what Jesus meant by the word "eat" vs. your interpretation of what is meant. First lets clear some misconceptions you mentioned. "Then, in verse 61, it is no longer the Jewish multitudes, but the disciples themselves who are having difficulty with these radical statements of our Lord. Surely, if he were speaking symbolically, he would clear up the difficulty now among his disciples. " Why? Not that he wouldnt clear it up but why "now"? And why do you say he wasnt speaking symbolically? Lets turn back to Matthew 13:9 "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that hello hath. 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:" These versus reflect how Jesus spoke to anyone(including the Jews) who, it was not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. While you may not "hear" or "see" the symbolism in John 6:50-58 it is present. To find the symbolism lets go back to John 6:26 "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. " Here we see Jesus establishing symbolism. Moving on to John 6:28 "Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 6:30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 6:34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 6:36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. " More symbolism which, the jews did not comprehend. Continue to John 6:41 "The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 6:42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 6:48 I am that bread of life. 6:49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 6:59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? " Even disciples did not understand the symbolism! But. .. John 6:61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. " Jesus does indeed explain the symbolism. More on that later. "Instead, what does Jesus do? "". .. our Lord turns to the twelve. What he does not say to them is perhaps more important than what he does say. He doesn"t say, "Hey guys, I was misleading the Jewish multitudes, the disciples, and everyone else, but now I am going to tell you alone the simple truth: I was speaking symbolically. " Rather, he says to them, "Will you also go away? " (v. 67). " . .. unlike the timeline you constructed, jesus explains the symbolism BEFORE John 6:67 "Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? " Now to adress the symbolism invovled look to Matthew 4:3 "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. " Here we find that man can eat/live off of bread AND Gods word. Combine that with John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. " And John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. " Now it can be clear that Jesus was referring to life using bread as a symbol. And how is bread absorbed? By eating it! But how are words absorbed? Ever hear the phrase "eat/swallow your words"? Just asking. The way to absorb words is to hear/listen. Faith comes by hearing, hearing the words of God.