Poverty and Hunger Part III Moving to Action: What Can We Do to Help?

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1 Poverty and Hunger Part III Moving to Action: What Can We Do to Help? This is our third website Column on Hunger and Poverty. We will be concluding our remarks about these topics in the first part of this Column. Then in the second part we will begin a discussion about actions we might consider taking as parishioners either individually or collectively - to help those suffering from these injustices, or for that matter, any injustice, wherever they might be taking place. We are hopeful that our suggestions about actions will stimulate a dialogue among us which will lead to a new Parish initiative - Just Action Ministries - with wide parishioner participation involved in many different Justice actions. Therefore as you read this Column, please give this some serious personal thought and prayer. The Holy Spirit may be calling you to help enrich the rest of your life. As we proceed with our Justice Corner in the future, we will continue to discuss additional Catholic principles of Justice beyond those we have discussed to date - dignity, responsibility and solidarity. We will also address additional critical Justice issues, such as human trafficking, care of God s creation, and so on, as a follow-on to our discussions of poverty and hunger. In addition, each future Justice Corner Column will include some element of action that we as a Parish are taking or might take on behalf of furthering Justice or combating injustice of ant type.. This as a reminder to all of us that not only do we need to learn more about our faith, especially Jesus call to us about Justice, but that we need to practice it by putting it into action. A Brief Review In our first website Column dated May 21, 2017 (which is still available on as are all of our Columns), we presented some sobering facts about the extent of hunger and poverty among adults and children in the developing world, and also in our own country. In our June 11 website column we reviewed the extraordinary United Nations Millennium project, which helped cut extreme poverty in the developing world by

2 half from 1.6 billion people in 1990 to 800 million today and also dramatically reduced malnutrition in the same period. The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Program Millennium, which finished at the end of 2015, is now being followed by another U.N. program called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Program, which will run through The SDG Program, significantly larger and more ambitious than the Millennium project, has a goal of eliminating extreme poverty in the developing world in its entirety from 800 million people today to none by the year Another goal is to end malnutrition in the same timeframe. There are 15 other goals for this initiative, including goals on health, education, climate control, gender equality, and so on. To get a more complete overview of this Program, all 17 of its goals, and some current statistics related to them, search the internet for SDG Program Goals. You will find the U.N. material both easy to read and very informative. It is too early in the SDG Program to predict what will happen, but given the accomplishments of its predecessor program Millennium, we expect that it will bring forth positive and very significant results. The U.N. Commitment A most encouraging aspect of both of these Programs has been the commitment of the U.N. management team at all levels to their goals. Once the decision to go forward with Millennium was made back in 2000, the U.N. managers pulled together in unity to make it happen. And while there were undoubtedly some setbacks and foul-ups both big and small - during the 15 year Millennium effort, the results speak for themselves. The same U.N. Management commitment that was developed in the Millennium Program seems to be working again with SDG. The U.S. Challenge It is ironic, but the fact is that while the United Nations pulled together as a team to make Millennium happen, and now is doing the same with its follow-on SDG Program, our politicians in Washington have been doing the opposite on our important poverty programs for poor Americans. Despite Washington s persistent criticism of the United Nations over the years, from both sides of the aisle, as being an organization less than competent and trustworthy, our own

3 Congress has shown itself to be incapable of coming together to bring the kind of hope and opportunity that all poor people in our country deserve. The U.S. is greater than this. As Pope Francis has said Among our tasks as witnesses to the love of Christ is that of giving voice to the cry of the poor. We need to do more of that as Catholics. Prayer Our First Action Moving to Action: What Can We Do to Help? Our country needs help in overcoming its divisiveness - the serious fracture that exists in our nation s spirit that is damaging our ability to do what is right for the common good. Perhaps, as parishioners of St. Jude s, we could start to pray for the unity in our country and among our representatives that needs to be restored. We could begin praying about this now as individuals; then maybe in small groups; then possibly as a Parish; then even as a Region and beyond. We submit this to you as our first suggestion for the Just Action Ministries. Please let us know by at tom@saintjudetheapostle.org, or at , whether you would like to participate, and also if you are able to become involved in helping plan and implement such a prayer effort, or one of the other Justice efforts that we hope will come out of our dialog. If you are, we ll get back to you. Thank you. Other Types of Just Action we Might Take There are many types of Just Action besides prayer that we can take in support of the poor and the hungry, as well as in support of people suffering any kind of injustice. In the remainder of this Column we will provide a brief overview of two areas: Things we might do. Organizations we might work with in doing them. These will just scratch the surface. We hope that with these thoughts we can stimulate interest among ourselves and identify many opportunities for Just Action Ministries in St. Jude s Parish. Please give them some serious thought, and let us know what you think. We will expand our discussions about possible Justice actions in the weeks ahead, and will add your thoughts and suggestions as we receive them.

4 Things We Might Do (A Starter List) Pray and reflect about overcoming divisiveness in our nation. Find out about and attend a Justice event. Donate to an organization doing good work to promote Justice and combat injustice. Write a letter or send an to your Congressman or Senator, or to others of influence, or to the President, about taking action on a Justice issue. Learn more about the rich variety of Ministries in St. Jude s and consider joining one if you haven t already. Thank Fr. Jim, a Deacon, a member of our Parish staff, or one of our many ministers - for what they are doing for our Parish. Best to do so in writing. Thank a Sister or a Community of Sisters you know who continue to do the Lord s work, either actively or in retirement. in Just Action. Organizations We Might Work With ( Also a Starter List) Do some individual study on Justice issues that are important to you. Read more about what Pope Francis and the U.S. Catholic Bishops are saying. Talk to your friends about injustices that are occurring in our country or our world. Sponsor a child through a bona fide organization to help him/her receive more effective education or health care. When you think about helping others, think about teaching them how to fish, not just handing them one for the moment, also a very good thing. Participate more actively in Justice Corner suggestions and talk to others about taking a more active Parish role Our own St. Jude s Ministries, or work to start a new one. Local, national and international Interfaith Organizations, and Microloan organizations. Catholic Organizations such as Catholic Charities (domestic) or Catholic Relief Services (international) and others. Be sure to check out the credentials of any organization you want to work with. We can help you with this.

5 Please send your comments to us. We are all in this together.