Deer have been frequent visitors during our mild Fall season this year, especially at dusk.
A favorite spot for them is the little shrine of Our Lady of Grace on the north side of the Hermitage where, during summer, they feast with the flowers at her feet.
Now that winter has settled spreading a white garment over the landscape, deer have been around again leaving lots of prints in the snow.
In recent days they haven't come anymore to this spot, probably because they have very little to feast on here and they keep moving on searching for food in other places.
A week ago a friend explained to me that deer need salt, and brought a block of salt to be strategically placed by the shrive.
Apparently deer can smell the salt so this blue brick is meant to lure them into the area where a feeder is also waiting for them with nourishing and favorite seeds - all courtesy of the same good friend.
And yet I've seen deer prints even inside the carport of the Hermitage where they have taken good care of the few seeds fallen from the bird feeder.
This is puzzling because the prints show that they have been as close as three feet from their own feeder without noticing or using it.
This little feeder story makes me reflect on the Divine Feeder that God has set for us as the nourishment for our Journey home.
At the Incarnation, Emmanuel [God-with-us] is put to lie on a manger [feeder] in Bethlehem [House of Bread].
How, when do we come to the Divine manger to feed our deepest hunger?
How do we pray for our daily Bread during this season of Advent when we prepare anew for the Birth of Christ in us and in the world?
The Memorial of Christ death and resurrection, the Eucharist, is made from a piece of ordinary bread.
We can eat Divine Life in holy communion every time we attend mass.
We can feed ourselves through prayer from the Bread gathered in the tabernacle of our churches or exposed for prayer and adoration.
Jesus is there, day and night, waiting for me, for each one of us, calling me by name, expecting and waiting to give His very Self and Life to me.
How come that I am oblivious to the Divine Feeder?
Where do I go to satisfy my hunger? What do I feed myself with?
