Monthly Archives: March 2013

HOLY WEEK

Palm Sunday ushers in Holy Week. It is a week that marks the center of the Church Year. It is the most sacred time of the year for me. I find myself thinking about the life of Jesus and the risks he IMG_0141atook to promote God’s view of the world where all are loved, all are precious and equal in the eyes of God. We all have differing gifts but we are each loved and cherished by the God who created us. Sharing that message in that time was dangerous because the power structure kept the poor at the bottom suffering greatly, while those at the top basked in glory with much wealth. The message is the same today. Here in the U.S. we run the risk of falling into that same social situation if we don’t remember to care for each other and for the poor in particular. My last post showed a dollar amount that could end poverty. I was astonished and while I realize it isn’t a simple task wouldn’t it be nice if people just thought about it. If in this week of remembrance of Jesus and his commitment to God’s desire for love in the world, we would try to think in that way – that God is wanting us to build up those who are hurting even if it requires sacrifice on our part? Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, we are only asked to sacrifice a little. It might make the celebration of Easter that much more bright, meaningful and real. Maybe we will be moved to action.

Troubling statistic

A friend posted these figures on Facebook today.
The world spent $1735 Billion on war in 2012.  It would take $135 Billion to TOTALLY ERADICATE poverty.
That’s less than a tithe. We could do so much more to change the world by defeating poverty. Do you think war would be less necessary if there were no longer poverty or is it in fact war that causes (or at least maintains) most of the poverty in the world?   Food for thought.