We finally can set our hopes on high with a promising COVID-19 vaccine in the pipeline. However, for millions, the pandemic has created a crisis that no vaccine can save. Every 10 seconds, a child dies of hunger. Every year around 9 million people die of hunger and hunger related diseases. Every day, one in nine people go to bed hungry, whereas at the same time, 1.1 billion tons of food is wasted or lost this year alone (The World Counts, 2020).

We live in a world that is drastically divided, by the haves and haves not. The rich become richer and the poor become poorer. Any crisis, whether it is a pandemic or climate change, affects the poorest of the poor. The landslides that are affected by climate change affects the rich and the poor. When the rich lose their home, they relocate, whereas the poor, when they lose their home, they become homeless.

It is hard to believe that people die every day because of lack of food when our pantries are stocked up. Even before we feel the hunger pangs, we have our next meal ready. The first time I saw a picture of a starving child, I wept because I couldn’t understand why a child had to die from starvation when there is so much food in the world. I then realised that the child was dying not because of the lack of food in the world, but because not many people really care to reach out to that poor child. 

St John Chrysostom stated that, “it does us no good to adorn and adore Christ’s body in church if we fail to recognise Christ’s body when it stands outside, hungry and neglected”. When we gather in Church services, our hearts are filled with sentiments of love for God and with our voices, we sing hymns such as, “O Jesus we adore you, if you were hungry and thirsty I would surely feed you”. However, we fail to love Jesus in the poor and the needy. We think of almsgiving as an option and prefer not to give.

Did you know that almsgiving is not an option, but its mandatory? God knows how much you love Him, when He knows how much you love the poor. Did you know that charity leads to eternal life? Did you know that charity is a supernatural virtue? If you are not generously giving, it is because God’s Holy Spirit is not the primary supremacy in your life. If God is not the centre of your life, is money your God?

Did you know that if you are having trouble to give away part of your money to help the poor, is it because you have no eternal life within you? If you are not going to heaven, guess where you are going? Luke’s Gospel explains it plainly that just by keeping the commandment one does not inherit eternal life but giving it to the needy matters equally.

 A certain ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’”  He replied, “I have kept all these since my youth.”  When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money[a] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  But when he heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich.  Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” He replied, “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.”

Then Peter said, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you.”  And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,  who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18: 18-30, NewRSV).

If your love for money is greater than your love for God, you too will walk away from God. However, to begin with, we can start loving God for our own sake. If the love of God does not compel you to be generous, you can be generous for your own benefit, so that you can inherit eternal life and give for your own sanctification. Did you know that giving to the poor, remit forgiveness of sin, which means entry to eternal life and less time in purgatory? For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life (Tobit 12:9). As you continue to be purged from every sin through your generosity, God will create a supernatural virtue of charity in your heart for all things eternal.

I know the teaching of Jesus Christ are not for the faint hearted. You really need courage to follow Jesus Christ. You really need to love God above everything else. Sometimes, people don’t reach out to the poor because they excuse themselves saying, the poor are so many. You may also become overwhelmed on how you can possibly help all the poor in the world. You can begin by helping just one person. It will cost you the prize of one coffee a day. That is all it takes to save one person from dying from hunger every day.

The ocean is made from many drops of water. If you take one drop of water from the ocean there appears to be no difference. However, you take all the drops out, there is no ocean. One life matter and you can save the hungry. If each person helped just one person in need, there would be none that would die of hunger, because there is enough food in the world for everyone. To be human is to feel empathy for others, to be a Christian is to love God in the poor.

There are numerous charities you can donate to, such as:

  • Caritas International
  • Society of St Vincent de Paul
  • The Catholic Near East Welfare Association
  • CAFOD
  • Jesuit Refugee Services
  • World Vision
  • OXFAM

In this world, there is a hunger pandemic and there is also a spiritual pandemic. The hunger pandemic needs food, whereas the spiritual pandemic needs Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. There is a saying that goes, “You give a hungry man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” It’s important to feed the hungry. It is also important to proclaim the gospel, because only in Jesus Christ, there is eternal life, and He alone brings wholeness into our life. He satisfies our hunger, our thirst and our every need.

References

Division of Christian Education of the NCCC in the USA. (1998). The Holy Bible, new revised standard version. London: Harper Collins Publishers.

 Theworldcounts.com. 2020. the world counts. Available at: <https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/people-and-poverty/hunger-and-obesity/how-many-people-die-from-hunger-each-year/story>

(Visited 82 times, 1 visits today)