Homily for April 30, 2023
Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday)
To Feed the Sheep
Some of
you may remember those old Fancy Feast cat food commercials, where the moist,
mouth-watering cat food – teeming with beef and chicken in a savory gravy – was
placed in a crystal bowl for the cat to eat. As I would watch those commercials
eating my microwaved hot dog, I’d be pretty jealous of the cats. It looked
delicious – even from a human point of view!
To feed
a cat such a delicious meal shows a tremendous love for a pet. In fact,
whenever we want to show our love for someone we feed them something lavish,
extravagant, special. How many hours does Grandma spend cooking in the kitchen
for Thanksgiving dinner? Isn’t it special when a friend breaks open a $300
bottle of wine because of your visit? You know you are loved if a person
prepares your favorite dish or your best-loved dessert.
And so
when Christ, the Good Shepherd, wants to feed His sheep, does He give us straw
or kibble? No, He gives us finer food than that. He gives us the most valuable,
precious thing in the universe: His Flesh and Blood. This proves the goodness
of this Good Shepherd – He will not just feed us with something to “tide us
over,” some leftovers…but He will feed us with His very self.
In many
cathedrals and older churches, you will find carved into the altar an image of
a pelican. Why a pelican? It was thought in the middle ages that during times
of famine, a pelican would pierce its own chest with its beak and feed its young
with its own blood. Our forefathers in faith saw this as a symbol of Christ
Who, when His flock was hungry and thirsty, gave us to eat and drink His own
flesh and blood.
So
what’s our takeaway? Two things. First, we have to make sure to fill our hunger
with the Food that will satisfy us – Jesus’ Body and Blood – and not with the
food of the world that will just make us hungrier. If you have a dog, you know
that dogs and chocolate don’t get along – a dog will get very sick if it eats a
chocolate bar, even though it craves chocolate! Likewise, we may crave wasting
our time playing video games rather than praying, or sleeping in rather than
going to Mass…but these things do not satisfy us as deeply as the Lord, for
whom we truly hunger.
Have you
ever walked out of Mass and thoughts, “Yeah, that was good. I’m glad I went.”
Of course! Because the deep hunger in our hearts is for God. But so often we
try to fill that hunger with other things: money, pleasure, sports, sleeping
in, whatever. But those things don’t truly fulfill us with the lasting joy
we’re yearning for. Sometimes when we’re really hungry we just grab a Snickers
or a bag of Doritos and it fills our stomachs, but afterwards we regret it and
we just feel “ugh”. It’s much more effort to sit down and make a healthy meal,
but a well-balanced meal is what our bodies truly crave, and it’s what will
make us feel satisfied. Likewise, it’s far easier to play video games than to
pray, far easier to sleep in than go to Mass – but a relationship with the Lord
is what we truly crave, and the only thing that will satisfy our deepest
hunger.
The
second takeaway should be our respect and love for the Eucharist. If Jesus gave
us only a symbol of His Body, it wouldn’t mean much. It’s like if I gave you a
picture of a steak instead of giving you the steak itself – nice idea, but
doesn’t really satisfy us. But the Eucharist is not a symbol of His
Body, it is truly His Body Itself. Therefore, we approach this Sacrament
like we would approach God! We prepare our souls through Confession, we come to
church early and spend some time in quiet prayer, we dress our finest and we
kneel to receive Him if we can – because we know Who we come to receive. It’s a
Person, not an object – it’s God Himself, not a symbol of God.
I’ve spoken
a great deal about animals and the Eucharist, so one final story. Back in the
1300s, St. Anthony of Padua was going around Italy, preaching in different
towns and trying to stir up the faith of the people, which had grown very
lukewarm. In one particular town, he was preaching about the Real Presence of
Christ in the Eucharist. One man in particular began to scoff – “Oh, the
Eucharist is just bread! Why make a big fuss over it!” St. Anthony said, “Do
you want proof that the Eucharist is truly Jesus? Let’s do a test. Give your
donkey no food or water for three days, and we will meet here again in that
time.”
So three
days later the man came, bringing his donkey, to the town square. Anthony met
him there, holding the Eucharist in a golden ciborium in his hands. At the
other side of the town square was straw and water for the donkey. Anthony
instructed, “Release the donkey, and we’ll see which way he turns.” The donkey
was released, and he first went over to the straw, sniffed it, but didn’t eat.
He then ambled over to St. Anthony, and knelt on his donkey-knees in front of
the Eucharist. St. Anthony turned to the man and said, “If this dumb beast can
recognize Jesus truly present in the Eucharist, why can’t you?” The man – and
all the townspeople – were immediately converted.
Jesus is
a Good Shepherd, and He feeds His flock with the greatest of all foods – His
very Flesh and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. Today, you will become a full
member of His flock by partaking in this awesome Food that God Himself gives to
you.
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