In truth, Jesus embodies both the image of the Shepherd and of the Gate: The one calls, leads and defends his sheep, and the other selflessly lays down his life on the sheep’s behalf. Like a soldier who throws his body on a grenade to muffle its deadly impact on his comrades, Jesus’ commitment to his flock is absolute and includes the sacrificial offering of his very body. He took on a body in the womb of Mary, offered it totally in service of his public ministry, and sacrificed it on the cross at Calvary. And he generously shares it on the altar at Mass to satisfy our hungry souls.

On this World Day of Vocations, we too are reminded that when we offer our lives to God and to the service of his people, our bodies must follow. I am always a little suspicious when I hear people say: I am not religious; I’m spiritual. If you look in the mirror and see someone staring back at you ~ then you are definitely not just spiritual! You are a flesh and blood body! It is for this reason that Saint Paul exhorts the Christians in Rome: “I beg you through the mercy of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice to God our spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1).

Not until the day we die can we respond adequately to God’s call to follow him while leaving our bodies behind at the same time. When we try this in life, we reduce our worship of God to empty rituals, insincere praise, and lip service. True religion includes rituals or rites that, when honestly engaged, serve as dress rehearsals for falling on a grenade, hanging on a cross, sustaining Catholic schools, paying someone else’s tuition, carrying a child to term, staying faithful to your spouse, saying ‘yes’ to a priestly vocation, abstaining from sexual immorality, raising your grandchildren or any other means of laying down your lives and bodies for the sake of God and others.