Acts 13:14, 43-52 / Apocalypse 7:9, 14-17 / John 10:27-30
Earlier this week, for almost two days, the eyes of the Church, and also the eyes of the world, were looking at something rather ordinary and even archaic.
The object of interest was a chimney, an ordinary old-fashioned chimney.
But of course, it is more than just that chimney. It was the smoke, and specifically the colour of the smoke, that comes out of that chimney.
That chimney goes down to the fireplace where the ballots for the election of the next Pope were burnt.
And the focus is on the colour of the smoke. Black smoke indicates a negative result.
White smoke means the next Pope is elected.
But while the focus was on the chimney and the colour of the smoke, something else appeared, and it lightened up a rather sombre and anxious atmosphere.
Close to that chimney, three seagulls, including a baby seagull, flew in and perched on the roof.
So, while all the attention was on that Sistine Chapel's chimney, and on the colour of the smoke, those three seagulls took the attention for a while.
It seems like those three seagulls got a first row seat as they sat perched on the roof around the chimney, just moments before the chimney bellowed out the white smoke.
The conclave was a moment of deep mystery and spiritual significance.
But in an age of livestream and news commentaries and interviews, it was the seagulls who seem to know exactly where to look, as well as bringing about a lively and affectionate feeling.
In the gospel, Jesus talked about sheep, and specifically the sheep that belong to Him.
They will listen to His voice and they will follow Him.
This weekend, as we give thanks to God for the election of the new Pope Leo XIV, the voice of the Good Shepherd rings out again in the Church.
Pope Leo XIV listened to the voice of the Good Shepherd and accepted the call.
We the Church must also listen to that same voice and follow the Good Shepherd.
And we pray for our mothers and all mothers, that they will listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and echo that voice to their children.
And we also pray for those whom the Good Shepherd is calling to serve Him in the priesthood and religious life.
May they respond willingly and generously.
But the voice of the Good Shepherd is difficult to listen to, and also difficult to follow.
The world has many noisy voices, but the voice of the Good Shepherd calls us to make a sacrifice of love, just as He Himself made that ultimate sacrifice of love to save us.
And since seagulls appeared at the recent conclave, here is a story about a man and seagulls.
Every Friday evening, almost without fail, an elderly man would stroll along the beach to the pier, carrying a bucket of shrimps.
He would stand at the end of the pier, alone with his thoughts and his bucket of shrimps.
But after a while, seagulls would appear from the evening sky, flying towards that elderly man.
And that man, surrounded by hungry seagulls, would toss the shrimps to feed them, and as he does this, he would keep saying, “Thank you, thank you.”
That elderly man was Eddie Rickenbacker, who was an ace fighter pilot in World War I, and in World War II he was an advisor to the US Air Force in the Pacific.
While he was flying with a bomber crew over the Pacific Ocean, the plane developed engine trouble and crash landed into the sea.
Eddie and seven other crew members managed to get on a lifeboat. After 3 days, the food ran out, and life was draining away.
They prayed for help. On the 8th day, after prayers, Eddie leaned back to rest.
As he was dozing off, he felt something landed on his head. Instinctively, he knew it was a bird, and he quickly grabbed and caught it. It was a seagull.
The men ate the bird, and caught fish with the seagull’s remains. They survived with that, and were rescued 16 days later.
But Eddie Rickenbacker never forgot how that seagull appeared out of nowhere, and saved them, physically and emotionally.
From then on, every Friday evening, Eddie Rickenbacker would walk along the beach to the pier, and feed the seagulls from his bucket of shrimps, remembering that seagull which he believed was sent by the Lord.
So those three seagulls on a roof of the Sistine Chapel told us where to look.
The sheep in the gospel tells us who to listen to and who to follow.
May Pope Leo XIV show us who to look at and who to listen to.
And may we respond to God by offering Him our hearts that are filled with love and thanksgiving.