An international —and personal, because it touches the conscience— issue which plagues all people no matter of faith is that of hunger. It is a wretched thing to be without food even for a night. Some 800 million do not have sufficient food. How can I share, live in justice and care for the other person?
As President of Caritas Internationalis Oscar Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga SDB, wrote a letter recently from which I excerpted the following:
Caritas Internationalis launched the ‘One Human Family, Food for All’ campaign before Christmas. The campaign offers an opportunity to answer Pope Francis’s invitation.
We believe that it is a fundamental injustice that over 800 million people in the world are hungry. These people wouldn’t be hungry if there were greater equality in wealth and resources were shared more fairly. Each of us can live more simply, consume less, waste less and be more conscious of our choices. Sharing – our bread, our resources, ourselves – is the cornerstone of our faith and a solution to global hunger.
In the run up to Lent here in Rome, all the children dress up for the tradition of ‘carnivale’. The face of Jesus Christ is also present in many guises and we may not recognise him at first glance. We may ignore his call if we’re not attentive. “He does not reveal himself cloaked in worldly power and wealth but rather in weakness and poverty,” said Pope Francis.
Lent is a call to taste people’s hunger and touch their poverty with our very fingers. It is a time to join hands with our brothers and sisters who are part of the 3.5 billion poor in the world. As the Americans would say, it’s time to “do the math”.
Please support the Caritas One Human Family, Food for All campaign to eliminate global hunger by 2025. You can act by donating online at www.caritas.org or by doing something large or small in your community to help the poor and vulnerable.
Can we support the Caritas Internationalis campaign ‘One Human Family: Food for All’, working towards ending hunger by 2025?