Talk 1 | Holy Angels Catholic Church – 40 Hours and Advent Mission
Advent is all about longing. We must understand and enter into the longing that God’s people had for the coming of the Messiah. We have to really want God. In order to desire the Savior of the World, we have to know how much we need saving. In the United States, we don’t have to go very long with waiting for anything. We can have most things we want right away. Yet, despite all the material wealth and availability, there is still a longing in our hearts that is not at peace. We really do long for God if we are brave enough to admit that not everything is ok.
In the very beginning of the book of the prophet Isaiah, we read the following striking statement:
The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.
Animals are smart enough to know who feeds them. Even animals we might consider not all that intelligent, like an ox and a donkey, are at least smart enough to know where the food is at. But, in striking accusation, the prophet is saying that Israel is not even as intelligent as these two barnyard animals when it comes to knowing God.
This verse from the prophet Isaiah is actually the reason that we have an ox and a donkey in our Christmas manger scenes. St. Francis created the first living nativity in 1223 and he specifically wanted these two animals near the baby Jesus to call to mind the passage from Isaiah. Are we smart enough today to know who really feeds us?
At the beginning of this 40 hours devotion, I place the Christmas ox and donkey next to Jesus in the Eucharist. If surveys are to be believed, then among Catholics that actually go to Mass, as many as 70% do not know that the Eucharist is really Jesus. The ox and donkey are smarter than this. God himself becomes our very food in the Eucharist, but my people do not know. During these 40 hours, may we stir up our longing, our hunger, and then have faith enough to know where the food is at.