Wednesday Morning Connection

For Sunday, November 8, 2009

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 17:10-16
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44

"The Widow's Mite" James Tissot, 1836-1902. Brooklyn Museum

This weekend’s Gospel, with its story of the widow dropping a few small coins into the Temple treasury, is a touchingly human account of generosity. Jesus is so moved by the tableau that he comments about it to his disciples. The story of the widow’s mite is regularly used by preachers to spur donations and call reluctant givers to reach more deeply into their pockets. While shame can be a strong motivation, I’m not convinced of its lasting effect. It may get someone to give at the moment, but you have to keep shaming them to get them to give again. Good stewardship is not built on shame.

I don’t know what the motivation of the widow in Luke’s Gospel was. I would like to think that she gave her gift because she was aware of her blessings, that even in her widowhood, God’s provident hand was at work in her life, and she knew it. The recognition that one is blessed by God can spur a willingness to share those blessings.

The harvest season may be a particular opportunity to reflect on the abundance of food that is ours (and the needs of so many around the world). Certainly we are blessed. Just walk into any grocery store in the United States and the abundance is clear. Even our food pantries that serve the poor in this nation have a variety that is rarely seen in many parts of the world.

The Food and Agricultural Organization based in Rome estimates that there are about 1 billion hungry and malnourished people in the world. From November 12-18 meetings on different levels will take place at the FAO, concluding with a World Summit on Food Security (http://www.fao.org/wsfs/world-summit/en/?no_cache=1). As FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said, “The silent hunger crisis - affecting one sixth of all of humanity - poses a serious risk for world peace and security. We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger in the world.” The private sector meetings in preparation for the summit will involve representatives from some of the largest multi-national food companies, such as Unilever, Pioneer, Nestle, Cargill, and others.

The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict will visit the FAO on November 15, the opening day of the World Summit on Food Security. The Vatican has long participated in the work of the FAO, and places special emphasis on the ways that food policy affects the impoverished people of the world.

There will continue to be much debate about the best ways to feed the hungry. Last week, the New York Times included a special section on its “Room for Debate” web page entitled, “Can Biotech Food Cure World Hunger?” (http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/can-biotech-food-cure-world-hunger/?scp=6&sq=food%20policy&st=cse). Six commentators offer different assessments, even though all agree on the need to plot a course of action. In an editorial published in the Times last Tuesday, Verlyn Klinkenborg advocated restraint, and “a far more modest idea of food prosperity, more limited and almost certainly less meat-driven than the present American model” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/opinion/28wed3.html?scp=13&sq=food%20policy&st=cse).

Maybe my local grocery store doesn’t need to be stocked with EVERY good thing. (I noted the other day that just one brand (Kemps) had eight different kinds of vanilla ice cream. It seems that vanilla is no longer “just plain vanilla.”)

I think that if we can be aware of how truly blessed we are, we will, as a country and as individuals, rise to the challenge of sharing those blessings. But the awareness has to come first. We’ve become so used to having an incredible abundance in front of us in the store aisles, that the great beneficence can go unnoticed.

God’s provident hand is at work in our lives. It’s not too hard to imagine Jesus sitting over in the corner watching to see how we will use the provender given to us.

Paul Michaels

Prayer

All-powerful Father,
God of goodness,
you provide for all your creation.
Give us an effective love for our brothers and sisters
who suffer from lack of food.
Help us do all we can to relieve their hunger,
that they may serve you with care free hearts.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Excerpt from the English translation of The Roman Missal (c) 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.

Notices

HEALTH CARE BULLETIN INSERTS FROM THE USCCB
The USCCB has prepared bulletin inserts on the health care debate for Catholic parishes. These inserts outline the bishops’ advocacy for reform and promote Catholic teaching on access to health care and the limitation of abortion. To get access to these fliers, as well as bulletin covers and promotional announcements, click here.

CATHOLIC CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
This collection will be taken up in many dioceses the weekend of November 21-22. For more information about CCHD visit: http://www.usccb.org/cchd/. Liturgical Publications Inc (LPi) has clip art and announcements from the USSCB for use in parish bulletins and newsletters. To learn how your parish can receive free access to these materials, click here.

LEAVE A COMMENT
You can leave a comment and enter the dialogue the clicking on the “Comments” link below. Leave your comment and it will be posted as soon as it is reviewed.

For Sunday, July 26, 2009

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Kings 4:42-44
Ephesians 4:1-6
John 6:1-15

Mosaic of the loaves and fishes from the remains of the early 5th-century Byzantine church at Tabgha

While eating my liver sausage sandwich for lunch Tuesday, I was scrolling through the news, as I often do. In addition to the meat, the sesame Kaiser roll I had was spread with some mayo and crammed with fresh lettuce from my garden that had been picked earlier that morning. (It’s been a good year so far for both lettuce and raspberries!) During lunch I came across an article published Saturday in The New York Times, “Foie Gras Palates, Hot Dog Pocketbooks.” Of course, the headline grabbed my attention.

The article went on to describe the intense analysis that is now being given to even the most mundane of foodstuffs. The author suggests that heightened American awareness of the vast variety of great foods is running smack up against the economic crisis. And people who once may have been excited by an unusual restaurant dish, are now finding that the best they can do is compare a Tim Hortons Timbit to a Dunkin’ Munchkin. In describing the obsessive analysis that often characterizes restaurant critiques, and what has now been passed on to food blogs that review and compare the components of drive-through hamburgers, the author opined, “Food porn begets fast-food porn.” Some people seem to care that Timbits were described as “denser, more cake-like,” but Munchkins were favored because they were “sweeter, lighter, fluffier” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/weekinreview/19bruni.html?hpw).

As I said, this article came out on Saturday. Just a month earlier, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), based in Rome, released its hunger estimates that show that, for the first time in human history, more than 1 billion people are undernourished. The full report will be presented in October, but you can review the startling statistics in the press release at http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/newsroom/docs/Press%20release%20june-en.pdf. As the FAO Web site states, “One sixth of humanity undernourished” (http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/20568/icode/).

In his new encyclical, Caritas in veritate, Pope Benedict says: “Life in many poor countries is still extremely insecure as a consequence of food shortages, and the situation could become worse: hunger still reaps enormous numbers of victims among those who, like Lazarus, are not permitted to take their place at the rich man’s table, contrary to the hopes expressed by Paul VI. Feed the hungry (cf. Mt 25: 35, 37, 42) is an ethical imperative for the universal Church, as she responds to the teachings of her Founder, the Lord Jesus, concerning solidarity and the sharing of goods. Moreover, the elimination of world hunger has also, in the global era, become a requirement for safeguarding the peace and stability of the planet. Hunger is not so much dependent on lack of material things as on shortage of social resources, the most important of which are institutional.” [CV, #27]

Before we leap into the deep Eucharistic themes of John 6, which we’ll cover for the next five Sundays, it might be good to take the miracle of this week’s Gospel at face value: a lot of hungry people got fed! We may well ask the same question that Jesus asked of Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” Today, feeding 5,000 seems easy-caterers do it all the time-compared to the more than 1 billion in the world who are undernourished. What could any one of us possibly do?

It might not be so bad to take a page from the book of those who obsess over what is the better doughnut hole. I’m not suggesting that we now critique every morsel that we put in our mouths, but it might not be the worst thing in the world if we rediscovered a certain reverence for what we eat. After all, as the prayers of Mass state, the fruit of the earth comes from God’s goodness and is the work of human hands. Recognizing that every meal is in some way a gift from God and the work of many individuals almost requires a moment of reflection and a murmured “thanks” for what we’re about to put in our mouths.

Similarly, the injunction from our mothers not to waste food can apply to far beyond what is on our plate at any given meal. As the pope implies, it’s not that we don’t have enough food, but that we have not yet put in place the institutional resources to ensure that everyone has enough food. Maybe that’s the miracle of the loaves and fishes that is still waiting to happen. Just looking at our own family’s food policy may invite us to look at what we do as a nation. Check out the USCCB Web site: http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/ to learn more.

Somebody had to bring the five loaves and two fish so that the miracle could happen. Can you perform one food-related charitable act this week? Can you start the miracle on its way?

Paul Michaels

Prayer

Most provident God,
you water the earth
and make every kind of plant to spring up to nourish your creatures.
You provide food for your people
so that we may serve you unfettered by anxiety or want.
Give a fruitful harvest to all who cultivate the land.
Ensure an abundant catch for all who fish the seas.
Guide the rulers of this world
that they may equitably distribute the goods of this earth
which come from your hand alone.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Notices

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES-Serving the Poor; Promoting Fair Trade
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) offers many ways to help the hungry. Recently, a dedicated group of Americans have pledged up to $2 million to CRS in matching donations. Watch Archbishop Dolan’s video on the CRS Web site and learn how you can double your gift now. Visit: http://crs.org/.
In his new encyclical, “Caritas in veritate,” Pope Benedict speaks of the importance of development programs (#59). Catholic Relief Services suggests ways to get fair trade going in parishes in a July newsletter from CRS Fair Trade. Promote fair trade and concretely respond to Pope Benedict’s teaching at http://donate.crs.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=14461.0.

SUMMER CONFERENCES
It’s not too late to sign-up for upcoming summer conferences:

3rd Annual Symposium on Lay Ecclesial Ministry
August 6, Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, WI
http://www.stritch.edu/Content.aspx?id=15348
Featured speaker: Dr. Edward Hahnenberg of Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH.

D+E+I Dialogues
August 13-15, Dominican Ecclesial Institute, Albuquerque, NM
http://www.d-e-i.org/dialogues/program.htm
Featured Speakers: Very Rev. Allan White, OP; Sr. Katarina Schuth, OSF; Ms. Marti Jewell

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE INITIATIVE FROM MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY
The Healing Circle is a one-hour documentary DVD to help parish members reflect on efforts to support victims of abuse and communities through the healing process. The DVD is recommended by Diane Knight, Chair of the USCCB National Review Board. Find out more at www.HealingCircleGroup.com.