2 December 2015 - moved with pity

[ Today's Readings ]

“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. His heart is moved with pity for us as well as the crowd. He is the high priest who sympathizes for our weakness (cf. Heb. 4:15). He knows when we are hungry. He knows when we are thirsty or tired. He and his disciples are the shepherds God promised long ago.

And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding (cf. Jeremiah 3:15)

He is the Good Shepherd who does not pursue his own self-interest. He is the exact opposite of the shepherds Isaiah condemns:

They are shepherds who lack understanding;
they all turn to their own way,
they seek their own gain.
“Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine!
Let us drink our fill of beer!

This does describe most people in power in the world. They may help those in their charge, but they only insofar as it is in their interest to do so. They ultimately come first.  Jesus, on the other hand, isn't concerned getting anything for himself. He is the shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (cf. John 10:11). So far from being concerned about his own food and drink, he gives his sheep the food and drink of his body and blood, his own life laid down for us. He spreads a table before us in the sight of our foes. There are no foods more rich than this food. There is no wine more pure and choice than this wine. 

If we don't receive this food and the strength it gives there is the real danger that we "may collapse on the way." This world is a deserted place and we cannot find the strength we need unless we receive it in the Eucharist. The world is not enough. But this feast is more than enough. There are even leftovers. After we receive it we can apply these words to ourselves, "They all ate and were satisfied."

This life which he lays down for us, this table he sets before us, removes the veil that veils all peoples. It is precisely as priest that Jesus is able to enter behind the veil and to bring us with him into that holy place. This veil, while it remains, prevents us from truly knowing God. We see him through a human lens, colored by human motivations like anger. But no longer.

This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil, where Jesus has entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (cf. Hebrews 6:19-20).