Thank you Fr Bryan and hello everyone. One of our LiveSimply promises is to Live in Solidarity with the poor, and we have been doing that with our support for the village of Kainmari in Bangladesh. With the help of parishioners, including the Brownie pack, and the Firm Believers group, we raised nearly £1,600 for this good cause. Last year’s Year 6 children at our school wrote letters to the children of Kainmari. We had very short but poignant messages of thanks from community leaders of the village.
The sad news is that our involvement with Kainmari will not continue. The GOOD news is that CAFOD has decided their work in that part of Bangladesh has been so fruitful that they can now move on to another part of the world where their help is needed. A poster at the back of church shows a photo taken when the director of CAFOD, Chris Bain, said farewell to the village. It also lists the good things that have happened to Kainmari because of the help given by St James’ and other UK parishes. So a big thank you to everyone who supported this part of LiveSimply.
Continuing with our promise to live in solidarity with the poor, today we are collecting for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan which struck the Philippines two weeks ago. The money raised will be sent to CAFOD for their relief work in the Philippines and will be much appreciated by those who are suffering the effects of that disaster. CAFOD works through its partner, Caritas Philippines, who in turn is distributing food, water and shelter kits through the huge network of churches in this predominantly Catholic country.
Today we are also asking you to support those who are hungry every day, not because of big disasters but because that’s just the way life is for them. I should like to talk to you about the CAFOD campaign called “Hungry for Change”. One thing to mention before I start – we are not asking you for money! What CAFOD wants us to do is send a message to our Prime Minister, David Cameron, telling him that we do not believe it is acceptable for ONE in EIGHT people in God’s world to be perpetually hungry.
The “Hungry for Change” campaign has been running throughout 2013 and will end next Lent. Parishes up and down the country have been signing postcards to remind the Prime Minister that it is not acceptable for anyone to go hungry in this world. To his credit David Cameron has shown that he believes in the importance of international aid – but not all his cabinet colleagues agree. This is why it is important for organisations like CAFOD to keep up the pressure.
One in eight people in the world go to bed hungry every night. But the scandal and absolute injustice is that the world produces enough food to feed everyone. This is just wrong. And it is offensive to our Christian beliefs. Matthew’s Gospel tells how Jesus explains, to those listening, that when we feed the least of God’s people then we do it for him. Our Lord gave us a new commandment: to love one another, as He loves us. If we ignore the hungry then we are surely ignoring Our Lord’s commandment. But the hungry don’t want continual hand-outs, what they want is a fair deal.
Research by agencies, including CAFOD and its partners throughout the developing world, shows there are systemic failures in the food system, which is broken and needs to be fixed. Unfair trade agreements, food price speculation, unscrupulous middle men, all contribute to the plight of the hungry. We need to give the poor a chance to feed themselves and this is what international aid can do if there is a level playing field.
The postcards ask the Prime Minister to support two objectives:
1) giving help to small-scale farmers so they have fair access to markets;
and
2) encouraging the G8 to put a check on the power of global food companies so all producers and workers get a fair deal.
Please don’t regard this as a political message – it is meant to be neutral – because all governments need to be reminded of this message.
Thank you for listening, and if you are prepared to pledge your support, please pick up one of the postcards we have placed on the benches. [Hold up the card then……PAUSE…]
We can bring you a pen if you need one. [……PAUSE…]
All you need to do is fill in your name. CAFOD would like you to fill in your postal address as well, but if you would prefer not to then that’s OK. Before we send the cards to CAFOD we shall add the parish address to any card that doesn’t have one. [……PAUSE…]
Children can do this if parents consent. Please do this individually not as families. We want as many postcards to send to Mr Cameron as possible.
Finally, please hand in your card to parishioners waiting at the church exits. We shall deliver the cards to the local CAFOD office to save postage. And thank you very much for showing that you care.
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