The touching scene in the gospel today shows the compassion of Our Lord. We have seen His compassion for the people’s physical hunger as He multiplies loaves and fishes but here the emphasis emerges as their hunger for truth, right reason, and an honest trustworthy leader they can follow. “For they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” If people back then are anything like people today, (and I imagine they are) we stumble upon an important issue of being a good Catholic in America today. If we think about it, this biblical narrative shines light on one of the most difficult conflicts in the heart and mind of a person contemplating the life changing step in becoming Catholic. Part of the American culture of course is the idea that as an individual each of us needs and wants to think for him or her self. It is often said in academic circles that “here at College x, y or z, we don’t tell students what to think, we teach them to think for themselves.” Non Catholics often resist becoming Catholic because it has always been their understanding that being Catholic means you have to follow the Pope and do what he says and think what he tells you to think. If there is anything that sounds more anti-American I’m not sure what that would be. What does this have to do with the Lord’s compassion in today’s gospel? Well, the people were like sheep without a shepherd. That means they wanted to follow someone. They wanted to follow a leader who was wise and honest and resourceful. They found what they were looking for. But here’s the important difference between a person who follows someone because that someone is popular and the person who follows someone because that someone makes more sense than all the others. This is the sense of thinking for yourself that we need in order to faithfully follow our Catholic faith. You see, it’s not abandoning the great American virtue of thinking for yourself. It’s using your mind to follow the best ideas around. Catholicism, with all our wonderful doctrines does attract anyone for whom the truth matters. When we see something as true we cannot unthink it. It grabs us like Jesus grabbed those people who felt like sheep without a shepherd. This is why one of the more disappointing aspects of our church today is the “watering down” of our doctrines. Open a book of a great Catholic author and come to the feast.