Author: Justice, Peace & Human Development

Survive and Thrive: Child Nutrition and Health

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Krisanne Vaillancourt-Murphy, Bread for the World

I have three kids and work full time, so like many moms, I try to maximize the efficiency of my children’s routine doctor visits. Jacob, Matthew, and Sarah file into one exam room together for their yearly check-ups. One, two, three exams and we’re finished. Done.

However, a couple of years ago, a flawlessly planned family trifecta of appointments was instead interrupted by Murphy’s Law (note my last name). It was also a profound ah-ha moment. Dr. Ratner told me that each of my children needed vaccination shots. Murphy vaccinations are never smooth or simple, and here we were with three kids getting shots at the same time.

As a mother, I thought to myself, How in the world is this going to play out without absolute chaos, tears, and drama? Short answer is that it played out exactly as I feared. There was a veritable Murphy family meltdown in exam room 2 at Children’s Pediatricians & Associates that day.

Like every mother would, I felt awful that my kids feared the needles and the pinches associated with them. I found myself crying along with my kids, but it wasn’t for their pinches or their drama. Actually, my tears were because I realized right then that the shots were lifesaving, a form of privilege that so many children around the globe don’t have. After working at Bread for the World for over a decade, the statistics related to children who die from preventable diseases are quite real and even numbing sometimes. Every five seconds a child dies from preventable causes.

So there I sat, consoling my crying (screaming) kids and giving them hugs, yet painfully aware of the privilege my children “enjoyed” that day. On the occasion of this routine doctor’s visit, my children were three little faces of the “surviving and thriving” statistic. Each born into this privilege due to a series of factors having nothing to do with them. Grateful, humbled, and horrified all at once. That was the reason for my tears.

I’ve thought of that day many times since Bread has launched this year’s Offering of Letters: Survive and Thrive. The inoculations we have easy access to are not a universal right. My children will not only survive but will thrive because their growing bodies and minds have never known a day of hunger. Nutrition is the first and foremost building block for healthy children to flourish and live into their God-given potential. My children. Our children. God’s children.

If all of God’s creation is to thrive, the U.S. Congress must invest in global nutrition. Congress should increase funding in the Nutrition Programs in the Global Health Account to at least $230 million and robustly fund the mother and child health sub-account, which includes vaccinations for children. That is why many people of faith are joining Bread for the World on June 7 to deliver our message directly Capitol Hill. You can join us-in person or from wherever you are.

Together, let’s make sure that all children can thrive.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy is senior associate for national Catholic engagement at Bread for the World.

This blog post was adapted for ToGoForth. Read the original version on the Bread for the World blog.

 

A Catholic call to end payday lending abuses

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Jean HillSay the words “payday lender” and stories of friends, family members, or neighbors who sought quick loans to make ends meet and ended up caught in a devastating cycle of debt will begin to flow. Often, these stories begin with someone living paycheck to paycheck and unsure how to make a rent payment, buy food, pay bills, and cover other expenses short term. The tales end with harassing phone calls and court filings for repayment of ridiculously high-interest rate loans, and mounting debts that now include court costs.

As Catholics, we are called not only to empathize with these stories, but to act to protect the poor and vulnerable who find themselves preyed upon by unscrupulous businesses.

Prohibitions against charging outrageous interest on loans go back to Babylonian times. More than one Old Testament prophet condemned usury, along with exploitation of the poor. Yet usury not only persists in our modern economy, it prospers. In 2010, there were an estimated 19,700 payday loan stores in the U.S. (That number does not include Internet loan sources. A recent federal agency report found at least 332 separate Internet loan providers). Thirty-two states permit loans with triple digit or no caps on the amount of interest the lenders may charge.

The Catholic Catechism insists that “economic life is not meant solely to multiply goods produced and increase profit and power; it is ordered first of all to the service of the entire human community.” In theory, payday lenders provide a service to individuals who are often barred from traditional bank loans. In practice, however, these loans are vehicles for exploiting people already in a highly vulnerable financial state.

In a typical payday loan transaction, the customer seeks to make ends meet until the next paycheck, or maybe two. Unlike a traditional loan, however, the individual will not sit down with the lender and determine a reasonable repayment structure based on ability to pay. The customer will not be able to bargain for a better rate or realistic payment plan. Instead, the astronomically high interest rates (the national average is above 400% per loan), fees and payment schedule will be based solely on the needs of the lenders.

In short, the loan is all about the profit of the business, rendering the persons seeking help, in the words of Pope Francis, “as consumer goods which can be used and thrown away.”

The social doctrine of our faith compels each of us to be involved in changing such an unjust system. We can raise our Catholic voices to remind payday lenders that their customers are first and foremost human beings, not profit centers. We can insist that our state and federal governments establish reasonable limits on the actions of the lenders to ensure they are not “so powerful as to reduce the [consumer] to subservience.”

Now, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considers regulations to address some payday lending abuses, is an opportune moment to challenge our congressmen and women to take additional actions against usury to protect the working poor, as our Pope and our doctrine urge us to do.

Jean Hill is Government Liaison for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Corpus Christi: The Eucharist Opens Our Eyes to the Body of Christ

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Rev. Graham Golden, O. Praem.

When I was seven years old, I asked if I could become a Catholic. What captured my heart and imagination at such a young age was the Eucharist; the idea that the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of Jesus Christ was physically present here and now in our midst. The celebration of Corpus Christi has held the devotion of the faithful since the feast was instituted in our liturgical calendar in the 13th century. Given that the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our life, this should be no surprise. However, the power of this feast to motivate us toward transforming our world is often hidden amidst the ritual of this devotion. This celebration holds personal significance for me not only as a Norbertine priest, but as a social worker as well.

Our tradition’s understanding of the Body of Christ is centered in our sacramental encounter, but it does not stop there. We speak of the mystical Body of Christ as the Church, as the assembly of baptized believers. We also see the presence of Christ clearly defined in our tradition as in those experiencing poverty, oppression, suffering, and marginalization. We hear this from Christ himself in Matthew 25: “whatever you do to the least of these you do to me.” This sense of the presence of Christ has also been strongly emphasized by saints and mystics over the centuries, from John Chrysostom to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Our sacramental experience of the Body and Blood of Christ is just the beginning. It becomes the window that moves our hearts and minds to yearn more deeply to know that same Christ who not only gave himself for us, but desires to be taken in by us so that we may come to share most deeply in Him. The pageantry, ritual, and exaltation of the presence of the Holy that we see in our liturgies, processions, and adoration surrounding this feast are what express for us the honor and dignity to be shown toward God’s tangible presence in our midst. This should open our eyes to then want to seek that presence in all of life—in the community we know to be Christ’s mystical Body, and in those who seem to be at the peripheries.

When I find myself struggling to respond with compassion, patience, or mercy in my ministries, I come back to the Blessed Sacrament. I remind myself of what it is to encounter our Risen Lord in a clear and knowable way. From there I can go forth, and remember that that is the same Lord I am encountering in my sisters and brothers in Christ, and in those I serve—be it formally as clients in an agency, or simply those in need who cross my path.

More so than my individual interactions, to encounter the profound unity that Christ calls us to as members of his Body, inspires me to see injustices, discrimination, and oppression not just as social ills but as violence against the will of God. If we wish to live the dignity of the sacrament we celebrate so fervently, then we must struggle to overcome the divisions and fractures that exist within God’s family.

When we come to know the power and majesty of Christ in the Sacrament, we come to see more clearly the imperative to uphold that same dignity present to us through those who suffer. When we can come to respond well to one another in our needs, struggles, and injustices, we come to see more clearly the Body of Christ who we are formed to be through Jesus’ self-gift to us on the altar.

Rev. Graham Golden, O. Praem. is a member of the Norbertine Community of Santa Maria de la Vid Abbey in Albuquerque New Mexico. He currently serves as the Coordinator of Program Development, Evaluation, and Research for the Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

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Reflect further on Christ’s presence in the Church community, his body with the U.S. Catholic bishops’ series on Sacraments and Social Mission: Living the Gospel, Being Disciples.

 

 

Party Politics and the Body of Christ

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My doctor was smiling as I woke up from the anesthesia. “You must have a very interesting job, Tom,” my doctor said. “You help people with the formation of their conscience and encourage them to take action? Very interesting.”

I finally realized I must have been giving part of a “Faithful Citizenship” presentation in my sleep. As a state Catholic Conference director, that says something about my interest in the subject!

Every election cycle brings many requests from parishes for presentations about “Faithful Citizenship” and what the Catholic bishops have to say about our political activity as laypeople.

Catholics who take the time to attend these presentations often identify strongly with a particular political party. So one of the first things I do is ask attendees to put aside their political party, and take on their identity as a member of the Body of Christ. We discuss political issues and the principles of our social teaching as Catholics first.

It’s essential we do so. Political party talking points are just that. They are shorthand sound bites designed to inflame the base and drive people to one side or the other of an issue.

On the other hand, God speaking to us through Scripture gives us some pretty clear direction: “You shall not kill.” We are to “bring good news to the poor, liberty to captives, new sight to the blind, and to set the downtrodden free.” Our cause, as Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship says, “is the defense of human life and dignity.”

The principles of Catholic social teaching – dignity of the human person, subsidiarity, the common good, and solidarity – frame how the Church considers specific issues and invite reflection on the best specific response.

Some are fearful about what this fall’s presidential general election will mean for our country. But what a critical time it is to consider why and how our Catholic faith is calling us to get involved in politics, discuss the very real challenges we have in society, and figure out what we can do to meet those challenges. The message of the Church is needed now more than ever.

Politics doesn’t need to be a dirty word. We can be the ones who help others inform their conscience, find their voice, and take their faith everywhere, even the voting booth. Maybe even talking in our sleep!

Tom Chapman is Executive Director of the Iowa Catholic Conference.

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For more on forming our consciences, see this handout in English and Spanish. Visit www.FaithfulCitizenship.org for additional helpful resources, including Part I and Part II summary of the bishops’ statement, homily helps and announcements, lesson plans, and more.

10 Tips on Dialogue from Pope Francis: A Challenge to Families…and Candidates?

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In Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis calls dialogue “essential” for family life. His guidelines on dialogue are easily applicable to civil society as well.

Can you imagine how this election cycle might be different if we challenged ourselves, candidates, political parties, commentators, ourselves, and others to follow Pope Francis’ advice?

  1. Recognize the real “importance” and dignity of the other person. Recognize others’ right “to think as they do and to be happy.” Pope Francis challenges us to acknowledge the values of the other’s “deepest concerns” and what he or she is try to say (no. 138).
  2. Try to understand where the other person is coming from: his or her pain, disappointments, fear, anger, hopes, and dreams (no. 137).
  3. Put yourself in the other’s “shoes”; try to “peer” into his or her heart. This is the starting point for dialogue (no. 138).
  4. Be ready to “listen patiently and attentively to everything the other person wants to say.” Dialogue requires the “self-discipline” of waiting until someone is finished speaking before responding. And, it means truly listening to what someone else is saying—not planning a comeback before the other person has even finished speaking (no. 137).
  5. “Keep an open mind.” We need not stick to our own “limited ideas and opinions,” but we must “be prepared to change or expand them.” Our goal is “synthesis” that enriches everyone involved in the dialogue. We don’t seek unity in diversity, Pope Francis says, but rather “reconciled diversity” (no. 139).
  6. Our goal is to advance the common good. Respect and appreciation for the “other” are necessary prerequisites (no. 139).
  7. Try not to offend, and don’t vent. We must choose our words carefully, be sensitive to how others feel, and never seek to inflict hurt. We must also avoid a “patronizing” tone, which “only serves to hurt, ridicule, accuse and offend others” (no. 139).
  8. Love everyone. “Love,” Pope Francis writes, “surmounts even the worst barriers.” When we come from a place of love, we can better understand others (no. 140).
  9. Base positions on beliefs and values, not on the desire to “win” an argument or be “proved right” (no. 140).
  10. Pray! True dialogue, Pope Francis reminds us, “can only be the fruit of an interior richness” nourished by our quiet time with God through reading, reflection, prayer, and “openness to the world around us” (no. 141).

These are challenging words from Pope Francis. How might our own families be different if we took his words to heart? Our parishes? Our neighborhoods? Ourselves? Our society? The current election cycle?

Pope Francis’ vision is a vision of joy-filled love. Let’s share it!

Jill Rauh is assistant director for education & outreach at the USCCB Department of Justice, Peace & Human Development.

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Get more tips and resources on dialogue from the WeAreSaltAndLight.org page on Encounter.

Praying as a Community of Salt and Light: Incarnate Prayer on the Border

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Praying as community of salt and light means that we bring our reality to prayer and let prayer enlighten our reality. For us here in the Diocese of El Paso, we do this in a variety of ways but one of the most special prayer traditions we have developed is our annual Border Mass.

Every year in November, around 600 people on both sides of the border celebrate the Eucharist right smack on the US-Mexico border fence. Dioceses on both sides – Mexico and the United States – come together around the altar placed against the fence and remember that we are ONE PEOPLE OF GOD. We are two nations, one faith. And, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ: not detention, not deportations, not family separation, not death in the desert, not the hardened heart of our nations, not prejudice or discrimination, not abuse, not violence, drug trafficking, nor militarized or inhumane border enforcement.

Each year, the bishops of the diocese of Las Cruces, El Paso, and Juarez come together and take turn presiding and preaching. We bring our reality of immigration, the lives and needs of our immigrant brothers and sisters, to the Eucharistic table and pray. We pray for our migrant brothers and sisters who have died in the desert, for a deeper encounter with Christ, for a conversion of hearts and minds, for communion and solidarity. We can pray that we may become more welcoming and respectful of the human dignity of our migrant brothers and sisters. We pray for courage to continue advocating for comprehensive immigration reform.

Celebrating Mass at the border makes prayer incarnate in our daily lives. I understand that this form of prayer is a bit harder to reproduce where there is no physical international border, but it is not impossible if we use our imagination and creativity.

You can celebrate a border Mass in your diocese or parish in unity with the border Mass we celebrate on the border in November by celebrating at the same time we do ours, so we can all be united. Imagine if on that day we celebrate our border Mass here in El Paso, there would be several Masses going on in our nation at the same time!

You can also celebrate a Mass for immigrants and the immigration issue where the readings, preaching, intercessions, and call to action focus on migration. You can also simulate a border either outside or inside a church by building a border out of simple building materials (a few studs and wire, for example). You can divide the church aisle with your fence or you can build the fence in front (on the side or behind the altar or another area in your church) and place pictures of all the borders we build, physical or otherwise, such as prejudice, racism, fences, or a hardened heart.

Let us continue to pray that our border Masses be always turned into bridge Masses.

headshot of Marco RaposoMarco Raposo is Diocesan Director of the Peace and Justice Ministry in the Diocese of El Paso.

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Be a community that builds bridges! Get resources on praying together as and celebrating our diversity as one body in Christ.

CSMG: The Importance of Advocacy and Faithful Citizenship

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Picture this. The biggest blizzard in years is headed towards the Mid-Atlantic, but despite this, hundreds of Catholics committed to social justice gather in Washington D.C. to pray, learn, and advocate for “Living Mercy in our Common Home” at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering (CSMG) from January 23-26. While the storm blew on, the event continued. It was my first CSMG, and I was curious to see how the days would go.

Providing a reflective beginning to CSMG, Bishop Nelson Pérez asked us to remember the encounters we had with Christ in the past that had become wellsprings for us. Christ’s love is the foundation that drew all of us together from different ministries, universities and dioceses to again encounter Him and one another.

Encounter leads to awareness and education. The days of workshops and presentations focused on community for mission, policy, and preparing for advocacy. I attended workshops on living the Jubilee Year of Mercy and Global Solidarity, Practicing Mercy in Parishes and Communities with Restorative Justice, and more.

The workshop on Faithful Citizenship reminded me that by virtue of our baptism, we are all missionaries called to evangelize and share the Good News. It struck me more deeply that there exists a connection between evangelization and participation in the political life and pursuit of the common good. Faithful citizens have a responsibility to educate themselves on current issues and the Church’s social doctrine. In Pope Francis’ address to Congress last September, the pope said, “Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility.” This, and CSMG, reminded me of that fact that to whom much has been given, much is expected, and that advocating for the poor and vulnerable, the immigrant, the criminal, the environment, and so on is an act of love connected to our faith. This love sends us forth as missionary disciples.

In the same address, Pope Francis went on to say, “It is important that today, as in the past, the voice of faith continue to be heard, for it is a voice of fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in each society.” With well-formed consciences and a spirit of charity, Catholics can and ought to speak to moral and social issues in the public square. The bishops of the United States give examples of various forms of participation, such as “running for public office; working within political parties; communicating…concerns and positions to elected officials; and joining diocesan social mission or advocacy networks, state Catholic conference initiatives, [and] community organizations.” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States, no.16)

I left CSMG empowered and excited to meet with my members of Congress and to dialogue with them. Amidst the business of life, here was one concrete step I could take to keep the momentum of CSMG going. As I have been on a few district visits now, advocacy seems less daunting and more of a worthwhile challenge to be a missionary disciple, promoting encounter, human dignity, and the common good.

Challenge yourself to take some time to read up on the issues, study the talking points, and schedule a district visit with your member of Congress. Research from the Congressional Management Foundation shows advocacy is the most effective way of making an impact on policy.

See more resources on the USCCB website: http://www.usccb.org/about/justice-peace-and-human-development/resources-and-tools.cfm

Anna Capizzi is a former intern with the Office of Domestic Social Development at the USCCB. She is graduate student studying moral theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University.