Hunger Symposium: Panel A People Helping People Part 2

Side 1

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This program should emphasize the fact that less is more.
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And this program should, in the fourth stage, recognize the fact that there are hungers
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which are material on the one hand and spiritual on the other.
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Thus it is that we address ourselves to a spiritual program of implementing a material
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policy.
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Thus it is that we address ourselves not to the physical church but to the home.
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Thus it is that we address ourselves to the Father and say, Father of Family, you are
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spiritual leader.
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You are Abba Father.
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What is the embarrassment of praying with your wife and children?
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It is embarrassing because we have not exercised it in too many instances and years.
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So we must make of the dining room table an altar.
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And we must have Jesus Christ present at our table through prayer, through the image of
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Father and Mother sharing.
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We must return to a fasting experience so that our program will give witness to our
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policy.
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We must discipline self for others.
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Once we have experienced the discomfort, the nuisance of hunger, then perhaps we can appreciate
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our brother who has little or nothing to eat.
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And so, because we are a material people, the spiritual has slipped away from us.
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We must return our people to a spiritual program which sees Jesus Christ beyond the sea.
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As to the material aspects of hunger, people who are stripped of the material must totally
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rely on the spiritual for their survival.
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And so they survive in patience and in faith and in a kind of cooperation and sharing with
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each other that we have never known.
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However, they need our matter, but not in a way that will reduce them, but in a way
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that will uplift them.
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And so, they need our food, our basic rights.
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They need nutritional education, they need agricultural development, and they need industrial
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development.
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All these we have and can share with them, provided we accept their spiritual life and
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and are willing to be patient, to share, and to spend our days in prayer.
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If I may again, policy on a church level and on a governmental level, and thirdly on a
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home level.
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the program of prayer, fasting, and sharing, a program which develops and satisfies the
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spiritual hungers that our world is experiencing, and then turns around and satisfies the material
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hungers that our brother's world is experiencing.
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And then the 41st Eucharistic Congress will not have been an event but a way of life.
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Thank you.
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Thank you, Monsignor Call, for that stirring call to action.
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Action has indeed begun on the archdiocesan level,
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and I proudly present Mrs. Diane Miller, who
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has done such wonderful work in the food coordination program.
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Thank you, sister.
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And you were accurate with your introduction as sister
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because we're all sisters in Christ.
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I would like to take,
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I would like to thank the Eucharistic Congress
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for providing me the opportunity
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to address the problem of local hunger.
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A key part of the problem is lack of communication
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between people who are relatively prosperous
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and their lack of appreciation
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for their unfortunate neighbors.
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Opportunities such as this Congress are positive steps
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towards better understanding, which is the first step
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toward solving the problem of hunger.
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Those of us who have visited the third world countries
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have seen firsthand, for example, in the slums of Calcutta,
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malnutrition is a fact of life, of such scope
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that it is evident for all to see.
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No one there has to be convinced that hunger exists.
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Here in Philadelphia, on the other hand,
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hunger is not as apparent, and it becomes one of our goals
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to make people aware that it does exist.
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I can personally testify to this fact,
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because shortly before I accepted the challenge
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as director of the Community Food Distribution Program,
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an emergency aid service whose goal it is to supply food
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to people who find themselves in temporary need,
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I did not believe that there were hungry people
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in Philadelphia, let alone within a mile or two
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of my own house.
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I was amazed and shocked when I found out
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what my predecessors in the program already knew.
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The desperation in the eyes of parents
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who can't afford to buy food for their children is tragic.
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The senior citizen who invites you into their home
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and offers you ice water from an empty refrigerator
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because their social security check is late
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is indeed a sad connotation.
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The Cardinals Commission on Human Relations
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was founded by John Cardinal Kroll
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to meet the needs of people.
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The commission has established programs
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which deal with various aspects of the community,
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including housing, unemployment, ecumenism, and hunger.
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In order to understand the concept of local emergency
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feeding, we must first realize that federal and state
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governments are attuned to what are termed natural disasters,
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such as Mr. Norris was speaking of earlier.
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Floods, fire, and earthquake, because it is understood
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that these tragedies leave people suddenly homeless
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and without the ability to feed and care for themselves
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and their families.
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It is surprising to find that neither public funds or agencies
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cover personal family tragedies, which also take
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their toll in grief and despair.
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These tragedies may be as small as a row home fire
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or the loss of a social security check for a senior citizen
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that leaves a person homeless or without food.
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To the individual, however, it is a personal disaster.
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In addition to sudden disasters, a large measure
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of the problem of local hunger stems from the fact
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that some people cannot cope with our fast-moving
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and complicated world.
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In these cases, it is mostly the very young
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or the very old which go hungry,
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since they are least able to help themselves.
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The Delaware Valley is inundated
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with social welfare programs,
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which are working hard to combat the problems
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of poverty, unemployment, education, housing,
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inflation, and government bureaucracy.
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But too often, even these well-intentioned social programs
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forget that while long-term plans and solutions are being
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sought, there are emergency needs which must be met.
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In the interim, the hungry must eat.
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The magnitude of hunger and malnutrition in the five-county
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Delaware Valley area are very real and adversely affect
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thousands of people every day.
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In Philadelphia, well over 15,000 identifiable people
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need emergency food every month from two to five days
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because of a family crisis.
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No one large agency or governmental body
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provides for these emergency needs
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because they are not termed natural disasters,
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nor do they qualify under the umbrella of government public
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assistance programs.
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The purpose of the local emergency feeding program
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is to respond to these people who need food.
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What causes the need for emergency food?
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To cite a few examples, it can take up
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to three weeks for an unemployment check
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to be processed, and many families
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do not have a reserve of groceries.
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If a Social Security check is lost or stolen,
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it may take several weeks to replace it,
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leaving a senior citizen not only without food,
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but often the means to obtain it if they are housebound.
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Or a pregnant mother not able to work
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has no way to purchase quality food.
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The Community Food Distribution Centers Program,
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working through its 28 volunteer-manned emergency
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feeding centers, has found itself
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taking responsibility for this gap in services.
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It serves all people, the criteria being need.
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It's interesting to note that we as American citizens
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spend some $9 billion a year through our tax dollars
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to feed people through federally funded feeding programs.
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Yet there are thousands of children
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in the city of Philadelphia who are medically
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defined as malnourished.
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Why, I ask you, in an area where there are so many resources
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to draw upon, should we have hungry people?
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Mother Teresa has said that we are actually
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touching Christ's body in the poor.
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In the poor, it is the hungry Christ that we are feeding.
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But beyond that, economically, our society
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is doing itself a disservice by allowing underdevelopment
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through malnutrition of young minds to remain in that state,
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thus hindering them from the opportunity
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to learn and become gainfully employed.
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It has been medically shown that the most crucial time
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for proper nutrition for brain development
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is from the time a woman conceives a baby
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up to the child's fifth year.
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The brain reaches 90% of its growth during this period.
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Malnutrition during this critical time of life
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will be reflected in academic and productivity
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later in life.
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Critics of emergency feeding programs should remember
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that while they are pontificating and devising
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these long-range solutions, the hungry must be fed.
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Whatsoever you do to the least of my brother,
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that you do unto me.
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The Judeo-Christian communities can have a tremendous
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impact toward alleviating starvation and malnutrition
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because hunger cuts across all religious persuasions.
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It can be a rallying point for concerned religious
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communities to work together.
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American Christian communities have contributed
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most generously over the years to help the starving abroad,
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as well as our local hungry.
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Through the caring and sharing
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with their less fortunate sisters and brothers,
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the parishes of the Philadelphia Archdiocese
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and concerned businesses generally contributed
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tons of canned food to fill the gap.
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But we firmly believe that social accomplishments
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don't end with the donations.
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By contributing cans of food
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and delivering them to the poor,
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a sensitization to the problem is also accomplished.
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The ultimate goal of emergency feeding programs
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as I see them is to move from charity to justice,
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identifying and feeding the people truly in need.
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Once again, I quote from Mother Teresa when she said,
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"'I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion
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"'than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.'"
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However, simply supplying emergency food is not enough.
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If we truly want to help people to help themselves,
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we must give them the tools to learn
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and work their way out of the morass of poverty.
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As a Catholic community,
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we firmly believe in the right to life.
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Why then do some of us have difficulty
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believing in the right to food?
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Because without food, there is no life.
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We should be fighting for the total upgrading
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of the quality of life.
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The energy spent in legislation to save lives
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should be combined with food legislation.
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I'm sure many hungry people have asked the question,
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why was I ever born?
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As they anguish in their suffering.
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We as a human moral community
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could greatly improve their plight.
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To create change, we have to work three ways simultaneously,
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both in the third world as well as at home.
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First, we must feed hungry people
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through emergency feeding programs.
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We are our brother's keeper and the hungry must be fed.
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The planners of this Eucharistic Congress
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place the hunger of the body first
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before the other hungers
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as the conference will go along this week.
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Second, we must educate people
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and help them to help themselves
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In the third world, greater emphasis should be stressed
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on development through agriculture, medicine,
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reading, and job skills.
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A realistic distribution system is badly needed.
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In America, nutrition education,
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especially on the grassroots level in impoverished areas
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and in the schools, and in the schools.
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Our program has piloted a community nutrition
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education training program,
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patterned after the Barefoot Doctors in China concept.
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Third, we must move ahead with legislative action
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from the local, state, national, and international level.
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We have to get serious about eradicating
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the hellish cycle of poverty.
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We must begin to make our legislators
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and our national leaders accountable to us.
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We should always be moving toward justice for all.
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It is easy to become overwhelmed by the magnitude
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of the problem of hunger, but I firmly
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believe that the problem will ultimately
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be solved on a one-to-one basis, little people doing
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little things to help little people.
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And consider for a moment how many little people
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there are in our world.
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In conclusion, I would like to say
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that hunger is a physical sensation learned
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at earliest infancy.
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It is a common denominator amongst all mankind.
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It transcends ethnic groups, racial groups,
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age groups, national groups, the rich and poor,
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and people of all political and religious persuasions.
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Few other common traits are found among the human race.
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It presents to us an ideal vehicle and tool
263
00:18:22,820 --> 00:18:27,140
for people to come together and focus on a common goal.
264
00:18:27,140 --> 00:18:30,660
It is through Almighty God and this vehicle
265
00:18:30,660 --> 00:18:32,920
that we will begin to listen,
266
00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,720
to hear the voices of the poor.
267
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,320
And through God's love in action,
268
00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:40,900
begin to give power to the powerless
269
00:18:40,900 --> 00:18:43,260
in the true spirit of his love.
270
00:18:43,260 --> 00:18:44,420
Thank you.
271
00:18:46,700 --> 00:19:11,620
I invite Father Doheny to describe the marvelous work he has been doing in Bangladesh.
272
00:19:11,620 --> 00:19:13,940
Thank you, my dear friends.
273
00:19:13,940 --> 00:19:19,140
I feel very honored to be invited to address you here,
274
00:19:19,140 --> 00:19:22,300
a simple missionary priest.
275
00:19:22,300 --> 00:19:24,660
I saw so many cardinals and bishops yesterday,
276
00:19:24,660 --> 00:19:28,260
I wondered how I would raise my head at all.
277
00:19:28,260 --> 00:19:31,380
But anyway, here I am.
278
00:19:31,380 --> 00:19:33,660
Anyway, an Irishman, I'm sure, should feel very much
279
00:19:33,660 --> 00:19:35,220
at home in Philadelphia.
280
00:19:35,220 --> 00:19:43,980
We had an old song, you know, with my bundle on my shoulder,
281
00:19:43,980 --> 00:19:46,420
sure I'm off to Philadelphia in the morning.
282
00:19:46,420 --> 00:19:51,020
And I think there's a play written recently called
283
00:19:51,020 --> 00:19:53,620
Philadelphia, Here I Come.
284
00:19:53,620 --> 00:19:55,920
So I'm here.
285
00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,420
Now, I'm a field man.
286
00:19:59,420 --> 00:20:05,900
Since 1968, I have been in disaster areas
287
00:20:05,900 --> 00:20:10,420
where there have been very severe hunger crises.
288
00:20:10,420 --> 00:20:14,060
First of all, in Nigeria, on both sides of the conflict
289
00:20:14,060 --> 00:20:21,380
during the Civil War of 68 to 70, then in Ethiopia in 73,
290
00:20:21,380 --> 00:20:26,300
then in India and Bangladesh in 71 up to the present,
291
00:20:26,300 --> 00:20:29,600
and in the Yemen Arab Republic.
292
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,640
And what I want to do is to share some of my experiences
293
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,640
with you.
294
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:42,760
It's a long time ago since Isaiah wrote these words.
295
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,680
If you pour yourself out for the hungry
296
00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:49,840
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
297
00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,320
then shall your light rise in the darkness
298
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,800
and your gloom shall be as the noon day.
299
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:59,000
And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your
300
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:03,920
desire with good things and make your bones strong.
301
00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,240
And you shall be like a watered garden and a spring of
302
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:11,520
water whose waters fail not."
303
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,280
Words inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore, I
304
00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:16,560
presume, they mean what they say.
305
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:25,160
And what I would like to say to you is how at least some of
306
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,880
those words have been realized for those of us who have tried
307
00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:35,280
to do just that, to pour out ourselves for the hungry
308
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,480
and how perhaps we hope and pray that the rest of those words
309
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:40,920
will be fulfilled for us.
310
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,840
It was in 1968 that we first became
311
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,620
involved in helping the starving people
312
00:21:52,620 --> 00:21:54,340
in the Nigerian Civil War.
313
00:21:57,220 --> 00:22:03,260
And for me, this was an eye opener in the Emao sense.
314
00:22:03,260 --> 00:22:06,040
You remember that the apostles, when
315
00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:13,060
they broke bread with a stranger, recognized Christ.
316
00:22:13,060 --> 00:22:19,260
And it was by breaking the bread with these hungry people
317
00:22:19,260 --> 00:22:25,260
that I came to find Christ, but not only to find Christ,
318
00:22:25,260 --> 00:22:29,220
but to find my fellow Christians.
319
00:22:29,220 --> 00:22:31,580
Because the operation which was mounted
320
00:22:31,580 --> 00:22:35,500
to help the starving in that civil war
321
00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:38,940
was one which brought all Christians together.
322
00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:42,820
Jim Norris has told you something about it.
323
00:22:42,820 --> 00:22:45,020
And I remember it was in Trinity College, Dublin,
324
00:22:45,020 --> 00:22:48,660
when we got together for the first time, missionaries
325
00:22:48,660 --> 00:22:51,740
of all denominations to try and come to the aid of those people
326
00:22:51,740 --> 00:22:54,700
that my eyes were first opened.
327
00:22:54,700 --> 00:22:59,620
And I realized that those missionaries, Protestants
328
00:22:59,620 --> 00:23:02,780
of all kinds, and some who didn't
329
00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:05,820
seem to have any particular faith at all,
330
00:23:05,820 --> 00:23:08,380
how we all shared the same thing,
331
00:23:08,380 --> 00:23:12,220
how we all shared a love for the hungry,
332
00:23:12,220 --> 00:23:17,500
how we all shared a desire to help those who were in need.
333
00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:21,580
Now, the process that takes place between the moment when
334
00:23:21,580 --> 00:23:27,140
you or anybody else gives something for those who are
335
00:23:27,140 --> 00:23:31,860
hungry in a distant country and the moment when that food
336
00:23:31,860 --> 00:23:36,660
enters into the mouths of those people is a long process.
337
00:23:36,660 --> 00:23:43,820
It involves collection, transformation into food,
338
00:23:43,820 --> 00:23:48,520
distribution, and then the actual feeding process.
339
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,240
And it brings a whole lot of people together.
340
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:56,680
And certainly, the Nigerian Civil War did that.
341
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,360
Not only had you the missionaries,
342
00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:06,200
you had politicians, diplomats, relief workers, airmen,
343
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,320
journalists, TV reporters.
344
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,500
And we all got together very closely.
345
00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:15,120
And some, not all in the beginning,
346
00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:17,660
were dedicated to this.
347
00:24:17,660 --> 00:24:21,740
Some of them came in just for the money that was in it.
348
00:24:21,740 --> 00:24:27,980
But many who came to mock remained to pray.
349
00:24:27,980 --> 00:24:33,380
And so that developed a fellowship between us all.
350
00:24:33,380 --> 00:24:37,100
And for me, it was the great ecumenical experience
351
00:24:37,100 --> 00:24:37,860
of my life.
352
00:24:42,500 --> 00:24:52,760
The cry of a hungry child is a terrible experience to listen to.
353
00:24:52,760 --> 00:25:00,980
But when the crying ceases, the silence that ensues is more shattering to those who know
354
00:25:00,980 --> 00:25:03,840
and understand.
355
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:10,780
The moment when the child no longer cries is the worst moment of all, because the child
356
00:25:10,780 --> 00:25:17,120
has no longer desire to live, has no longer any interest
357
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:17,920
in anything.
358
00:25:20,900 --> 00:25:28,660
And I can remember in 1974 at a place called Khorigram,
359
00:25:28,660 --> 00:25:36,080
one of the worst affected areas in Bangladesh from those floods,
360
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:41,760
seeing a line of children sitting on the ground.
361
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:46,720
And their heads were down, bowed.
362
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:48,120
And I went along with my camera.
363
00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:50,960
Normally, children will get up, and they'll
364
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,080
begin to crowd around you.
365
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,400
They'll begin to get excited.
366
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:57,400
They'll begin to pose even for you.
367
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:01,760
But not a head was raised.
368
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,240
There was no sign of life.
369
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,000
there was no sign of recognition.
370
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:12,160
And I remember trying all my best by smiles and cajolery
371
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:18,040
and every possible way to get one little girl to smile.
372
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:19,040
And there was no response.
373
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,560
And finally, one of the others, who was a little bit better,
374
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:29,080
went and physically raised her head.
375
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,240
And I looked in to the saddest eyes
376
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,280
I have ever seen in my life.
377
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:43,080
And when you face that situation day after day,
378
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:49,200
when there is a crisis of hunger in any part of the world,
379
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,760
it unites you with everybody else
380
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,680
who is involved in trying to alleviate that hunger.
381
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:06,920
My second experience was in Asia, in India,
382
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,120
when 10 million refugees crossed the frontiers of India
383
00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:20,300
from East Bengal during the 1971 crisis.
384
00:27:20,300 --> 00:27:22,540
And I worked in Salt Lake Camp in Calcutta
385
00:27:22,540 --> 00:27:26,100
where there were a quarter of a million refugees.
386
00:27:26,100 --> 00:27:31,560
And that was a most extraordinary operation.
387
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:33,300
Bishop de Souza is here.
388
00:27:33,300 --> 00:27:34,780
He knows more about it than I do.
389
00:27:34,780 --> 00:27:38,060
But for me it was an extraordinary experience.
390
00:27:38,060 --> 00:27:43,660
Because the whole Church of India was mobilized to meet that situation.
391
00:27:43,660 --> 00:27:50,760
And Caritas India, helped by Catholic Relief Services, had a hospital in Salt Lake Camp,
392
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,500
and they were doing feeding programs as well.
393
00:27:53,500 --> 00:28:03,260
And all the young people of India, the novices, the young religious, the young seminarians,
394
00:28:03,260 --> 00:28:07,080
volunteered to come and help in that situation.
395
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:13,540
And I found myself walking side by side with them.
396
00:28:13,540 --> 00:28:23,420
And I remember well, one night, deep into the night, when we used to talk about things,
397
00:28:23,420 --> 00:28:30,540
to one of these young seminarians, and I must have sounded a little bit patronizing, I said
398
00:28:30,540 --> 00:28:39,500
I was amazed at the caliber of the young people that were helping in that situation.
399
00:28:39,500 --> 00:28:44,460
And he stood back and he looked at me and he said, we Indians were Christians before
400
00:28:44,460 --> 00:28:51,840
you Irish.
401
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:58,240
And he was right, because St. Thomas went there, I think, Bishop, quite a long time
402
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:04,380
before St. Patrick got to Ireland.
403
00:29:04,380 --> 00:29:06,020
This is the end of side one.
404
00:29:06,020 --> 00:29:08,300
To hear side two, turn the cassette over now.

Side 2

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,280
And I've often wondered since, and I've never been able to go back and find out the situation,
 
2
00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:18,960
what impact that getting together of all those young people must have had on the church in
 
3
00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:19,960
India.
 
4
00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:28,560
But it could not but be salutary if the prophecy of Isaiah is true, and it must be true.
 
5
00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,740
Then I went to Bangladesh with the refugees when they returned, and this was the supreme
 
6
00:00:33,740 --> 00:00:34,740
experience.
 
7
00:00:34,740 --> 00:00:42,480
I had learned in Calcutta the truth of what Bishop O'Mara said in his talk today, that
 
8
00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:49,740
feeding the hungry is part of the Christian mission without any ulterior motive.
 
9
00:00:49,740 --> 00:00:57,620
After all, Christ said, gave us the test, if we fed the hungry and clothed the naked
 
10
00:00:57,620 --> 00:01:00,320
and visited those in prison.
 
11
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:05,960
And there I learned in Calcutta that when you see a person
 
12
00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:10,540
in need, you don't ask any questions.
 
13
00:01:10,540 --> 00:01:14,500
Who he is, where he comes from, what color he is,
 
14
00:01:14,500 --> 00:01:17,340
what religion he belongs to.
 
15
00:01:17,340 --> 00:01:24,780
You hold out your hand and meet him as a brother,
 
16
00:01:24,780 --> 00:01:29,280
as a child of God, just like yourself.
 
17
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,780
And when we went to Bangladesh, which is a predominantly Muslim
 
18
00:01:33,780 --> 00:01:42,400
country, and we started to feed the hungry there,
 
19
00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,060
we didn't ask any questions.
 
20
00:01:45,060 --> 00:01:47,920
We didn't wave any flags.
 
21
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,560
We didn't use any slogans.
 
22
00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:53,120
We didn't preach anything.
 
23
00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:05,800
We just took them as our brother who was hungry, and we fed him.
 
24
00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:15,920
I would like to believe that that fulfills
 
25
00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:17,240
my missionary vocation.
 
26
00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:25,420
vocation. We fed him because Christ told us to feed him.
 
27
00:02:25,420 --> 00:02:29,580
Therefore, we were making, we were doing it for the love of
 
28
00:02:29,580 --> 00:02:33,520
Christ. Therefore, we were making Christ's love present
 
29
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,900
there. And I have heard the priest's vocation described as
 
30
00:02:38,900 --> 00:02:43,460
one who makes the love of Christ present and active in his
 
31
00:02:43,460 --> 00:02:50,740
milieu, we were making Christ's love present and active
 
32
00:02:50,740 --> 00:02:52,580
in the milieu amongst those people.
 
33
00:02:55,620 --> 00:02:57,420
And Christ's love, therefore, was
 
34
00:02:57,420 --> 00:03:00,140
working amongst those people.
 
35
00:03:00,140 --> 00:03:06,700
And perhaps this is the way the Holy Spirit is directing us
 
36
00:03:06,700 --> 00:03:10,420
to bring those people to Christ.
 
37
00:03:10,420 --> 00:03:14,860
After all, direct missionary evangelization
 
38
00:03:14,860 --> 00:03:18,260
has not had any resounding success amongst the Muslims.
 
39
00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:21,260
And perhaps this is the way the Holy Spirit is leading us.
 
40
00:03:21,260 --> 00:03:23,660
I would like to believe that it is.
 
41
00:03:29,460 --> 00:03:40,380
And when in Bangladesh I hold a hungry child in my arms,
 
42
00:03:40,380 --> 00:03:46,500
It is brought home to me what Mrs. Miller said here a few moments ago.
 
43
00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:51,900
There is something sacred about that child.
 
44
00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:53,380
He is a sacrament to us.
 
45
00:03:53,380 --> 00:03:56,580
He is Christ present there.
 
46
00:03:56,580 --> 00:04:03,260
Not in the same way as he is in the Eucharist, but in some true and real way.
 
47
00:04:03,260 --> 00:04:09,580
Remember this prophecy of Isaiah said,
 
48
00:04:09,580 --> 00:04:15,740
and the Lord, if you pour out your self for the hungry,
 
49
00:04:15,740 --> 00:04:20,220
the Lord will make your bones strong.
 
50
00:04:20,220 --> 00:04:21,860
It's only a few weeks ago since I
 
51
00:04:21,860 --> 00:04:26,300
was in one of the areas in Bangladesh
 
52
00:04:26,300 --> 00:04:29,980
where we have a feeding program, and I
 
53
00:04:29,980 --> 00:04:32,580
was absolutely exhausted.
 
54
00:04:32,580 --> 00:04:33,740
The heat was desperate.
 
55
00:04:33,740 --> 00:04:35,700
I was pouring perspiration.
 
56
00:04:35,700 --> 00:04:37,740
I hadn't an ounce of energy left.
 
57
00:04:37,740 --> 00:04:43,500
I was drooping, drooping almost to the point of giving up.
 
58
00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:45,720
When one of our young volunteers said to me,
 
59
00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,460
let's go and see Sabra Sakhira.
 
60
00:04:49,460 --> 00:04:52,780
Now Sabra Sakhira had been a quashy awkward child,
 
61
00:04:52,780 --> 00:04:58,500
pot-bellied, apathetic, more like a caricature
 
62
00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:01,660
of a human being than a real one.
 
63
00:05:01,660 --> 00:05:04,140
And I went to see Sabra.
 
64
00:05:04,140 --> 00:05:10,160
And I took little Sabra in my arms, now restored to life.
 
65
00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:11,740
Her eyes were bright.
 
66
00:05:11,740 --> 00:05:13,540
Her face was smiling.
 
67
00:05:13,540 --> 00:05:16,500
She was sleek and plump.
 
68
00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:18,820
And you know what happened?
 
69
00:05:18,820 --> 00:05:23,220
All my weariness fell from me.
 
70
00:05:23,220 --> 00:05:24,340
I forgot all about it.
 
71
00:05:24,340 --> 00:05:40,240
I was ready to take off again and keep going, because the Lord will make your bones strong.
 
72
00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:49,580
And your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall be as the noonday.
 
73
00:05:49,580 --> 00:05:58,660
And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
 
74
00:05:58,660 --> 00:06:02,660
Isn't that a nice thing for all of us to have before us?
 
75
00:06:02,660 --> 00:06:08,740
All of us, and I mean all of us, because we are all involved, at least we all can be involved
 
76
00:06:08,740 --> 00:06:12,420
in pouring ourselves out for the hungry.
 
77
00:06:12,420 --> 00:06:16,860
Isn't it a nice thing to have held before us that we shall be like a watered garden
 
78
00:06:16,860 --> 00:06:23,200
whose waters fail not, so that people who come to us
 
79
00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:25,840
will receive from us refreshment.
 
80
00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:30,000
We will be able to give them something.
 
81
00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,280
And we shall be a light to those who are in darkness.
 
82
00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:40,060
Yesterday, when the gospel was being read in the cathedral,
 
83
00:06:40,060 --> 00:06:42,160
and we were told, not the gospel, I beg your pardon,
 
84
00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,560
the first reading, we were told how
 
85
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,080
The Lord sent manna from heaven to feed the hungry.
 
86
00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:53,480
I thought to myself, that's what he did for the Jews long ago,
 
87
00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,240
but he doesn't do it that way now.
 
88
00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:01,080
We are the people who have to bring the bread from him
 
89
00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:02,640
to the hungry now.
 
90
00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,120
We have been chosen to be his instruments,
 
91
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,560
the instruments of his love, to feed the hungry.
 
92
00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:10,800
It is a great privilege.
 
93
00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,560
And you remember, he said also, Christ said,
 
94
00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:18,240
The poor you have always with you.
 
95
00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:22,840
We should strive that we don't have the poor with us, but while we have them with us, they
 
96
00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:30,760
are a great challenge to us and a great grace to us because they enable us to bring Christ's
 
97
00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:38,680
bread and Christ's love to those who are in need.
 
98
00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,840
Monsignor Call tells me that this very evening,
 
99
00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:47,500
a ship is leaving Philadelphia, a ship with a cargo of food
 
100
00:07:47,500 --> 00:07:52,140
for Bangladesh, the fruits of Operation Rice Bowl,
 
101
00:07:52,140 --> 00:07:54,960
in which the whole of this vast continent of America
 
102
00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,520
has been involved.
 
103
00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,000
And we can all be involved in that.
 
104
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,520
And here and now, all of us and everybody
 
105
00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,400
present at this Congress can send with that ship
 
106
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a wave of love that is generated here at this great gathering,
 
107
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a wave of love, a wave of concern with that food
 
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to those who are hungry.
 
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Because Christ also said, not on bread alone does man live.
 
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We must send the food, but it must be given with love.
 
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Thank you.