Word to the Wise
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - Wednesday in the First Week of Advent
[Isaiah 25:6-10a and Matthew 15:29-37]On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
Experience has shown that those who are starving often dream visions that that of Isaiah! Perhaps the crowd in the gospel scripture today was that hungry. Jesus fed them with very little! Food can be a symbol not only of nutrition but of hope, which is why it appears in this Advent scripture. The arrival of the kingdom of God is seen as one in which everyone will have enough to eat. Right now, we know that is not the case, even in our own country of plenty.
At Thanksgiving and Christmas time it is not unusual for us to exercise some practical charity by giving baskets of food to those who are struggling economically. I certainly would not discourage that form of generosity. However, these donations will not last a long time. Something more "systematic" is required. Our country grows more than enough food to feed the whole population and yet there are people who are starving. Could it be that we need a better system of seeing that those who cannot afford a market basket can get food? Some parishes sponsor food banks, which is wonderful. Recent newspaper articles indicate that these food banks are overwhelmed right now in the economic downturn.
If we are to give both food AND hope this Advent, perhaps we can be more generous to the food banks AND urge our Congress and legislatures to work on eradicating hunger in our land. Prayers will help too! AMEN
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