Friday, 5 December 2014

SALTED FODDER

PRAYER MOMENT 


Saturday 6 December 2014, St Nicholas, ‘Santa Claus’


SALTED FODDER
             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “Your cattle will graze, that day, in wide pastures. Oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat a salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and fork.” (Isaiah 30:19…26)


Reflection. The scriptures are full of sharp images, keys to a store room for us to visit. Those of us who have not totally cut our ties to our rural roots know the value of fodder and can appreciate what salted fodder could mean to a weary animal. The ancestors had to travel to the Dande valley in search of salt. There were no SPARs in those days. Jesus too uses the image to describe his disciples and to call someone, ‘the salt of the earth,’ is the highest compliment. Yesterday was the anniversary of Mandela’s death and he was one such. Isaiah’s metaphors in today’s reading pour out in describing the new Messianic age of nourishment and plenty. Even nature and the animals will benefit from the overflowing bounty of the Lord. Our task is to bring this home to our lives this Advent.


Prayer. Lord, we thank you for your overflowing kindness to us. Help us to lay hold of the gifts you offer. Amen.  
David Harold-Barry SJ











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