Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 271

When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”



Nature wastes nothing. Though a plant produces a million seeds and few of them germinate, each of them will find its place in the earth as nourishment for other creatures. We have all watched the nature programs and the darling baby sea turtles skittering out to sea, and felt horror as the gulls, terns and fish gobbled them up. But they were not wasted; predators need to eat too.

Unfortunately we humans are not so careful. Half the food distributed through grocery stores and restaurants in the United States is not eaten. Much of it is dumped in landfills where its nutrients will be buried under debris; it will not compost or return to topsoil.

When the Lord fed the crowd in the desert he instructed his disciples to “gather the fragments so that nothing will be lost.” Catholics have obeyed that command with our extraordinary reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. Even with the relaxations since the Second Vatican Council we still maintain clean purificators, ironed corporals, and locked tabernacles out of respect for its holiness. Despite the ease with which we offer Communion to millions of people, none goes to waste.

This reverence for fragments of the Eucharist, of course, should go well beyond our ritual scruples. When discussions about immigration, pollution, climate change, industrial waste and dangerous shortages arise, Christians should bring our reverence to the table.

Reverence is hospitable. It tends to seep through the boundaries that strict rationality might put around it.  Reverence for the physical Body of Christ honors all bodies, and the matter from which they are made. Consecrated bread teaches reverence for food in general, and the people who eat it, and the people who don’t eat it. Reverence for human beings opens to the Earth on which we live and all its creatures. The Eucharist teaches us to pay attention to the Earth and its cycles of fertility and sterility.

Hostility to people also bleeds through its boundaries. Hatred and fear of enemies degenerate into suspicion of loved ones and contempt for whatever does not suit one’s immediate purposes. Retreating armies rarely return to disarm and remove the landmines they laid. They are left to kill humans, livestock and wildlife long after the conflict has ended.

We must ask for the gift of reverence and a proper understanding of its practice. The Lord demonstrates enormous reverence for us. Father Urban Wagner used to say, “The Lord is so very courteous; he will never interrupt you while you’re talking.” Translation: be silent and listen!

Listen to the Lord’s silence. Listen to his grief for our violence, cruelty and indifference. Listen to his horror at our wastefulness. Listen to his compassion for the least among us, and learn from him. 

Listen to his invitation, “You shall be holy because I the Lord am holy.”