Third Sunday of Lent

03-12-2023Pastor's CornerVery Rev. Robert J. Deehan, VF

You may see startling images of poverty in the media and, for a moment, are moved by the reality depicted. But, how often does what touches your heart on these occasions result in a change in attitude and behavior? This is a central challenge provided by the Lenten practice of almsgiving. How are you doing in your effort to grow in your habit of charitable giving? Is it something you think much about? There needs to be an intentionality to charitable giving that calls us out of ourselves and includes sacrifice. This Lent, as we seek to reflect ever more the image of Christ in our world, two questions arise that invite a personal response: “If not you, who? And if not now, when?” Here are some statistics that prompted me to pose these questions.

Statistics from the 2022 Fordham Pope Francis Global Poverty Index

• 10% of the world’s population, about 787 million, could not access clean water.
• 9%, about 710 million people, were malnourished.
• 17%, about 1.3 billion people, lived in substandard housing.
• 13% of the world’s adult population, about 776 million people, were illiterate.
• 23% of the world’s labor force, about 804 million people, were without work or were employed at a wage lower than $3.20 per day.
• 51% of women in the surveyed countries faced discrimination.
• 59% of the world, nearly 4.5 billion people, lived in countries “where religious freedom is severely restricted.”

https://www.fordham.edu/info/26662/fordham_francis_index

– cited in America, January 2023

God bless you!

Fr. Bob