Pigeons are seen next to a face mask discarded on the ground as a man eats outside of a community soup kitchen in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Oct. 15, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters)
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“America, America! God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!” (America the Beautiful, Katharine Lee Bates)
What a blessing it was to celebrate the long July 4th holiday weekend as people across the United States were finally able to come together for outdoor family feasts and fireworks! These lines from “America the Beautiful” lyrically expresses a prayerful hope for the blessing of brotherhood (and sisterhood) that is more profoundly developed in Pope Francis’s latest encyclical “Fratelli Tutti”: “We are called to dream together, fearlessly, as a single human family, as companions on the same journey, as sons and daughters of the same earth that is our common home, sisters and brothers all.”
Independence Day reminds us of what our country is truly called to be: “One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” Our Holy Father’s writings and actions call for a deepening understanding of the phrase “for all” our brothers and sisters.
At the beginning of July for the past seven years, the Vatican has commemorated Pope Francis’s first papal visit in 2013 with migrants and refugees fleeing hunger for a better future, survivors of deadly desert crossings and drowning disasters in the Mediterranean Sea. This year, the Vatican released material to help parishes around the world celebrate the World Day for Migrants and Refugees (WDMR 2021). The theme for WDMR 2021 is entitled “Towards an ever wider we” and is a vital part of the pope’s basic message of “Fratelli Tutti,” which is an invitation for all “to commit ourselves to restoring the human family.”
The material includes a monthly COVID-19 bulletin “Towards a future together” with a special focus on the issue of hunger and food security for millions of migrants. Pope Francis also suggests establishing a “global fund” where money now used for weapons and other military expenditures would be reallocated so as to “finally put an end to hunger and favor development in the most impoverished countries, so that their citizens and families will not have to leave their countries in order to seek a more dignified life.”
According to the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), the COVID-19 pandemic further worsened the already severely fragile global food system. The ICMC reports that about “270 million people in 79 countries are without access to adequate food supplies. Of these, 34 million face acute food insecurity in emergency situations and are at high risk of hunger.” Many around the world, including Catholics, are responding to this need and their faith’s call to “feed the hungry.”
For example, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Philippine Diocese of Kalookan in the Metro Manila region, has launched a local initiative of community pantries to collect food for people in need. He said, “Our task as human beings is to take care of the survival of the weakest and most needy through actions of kindness, concern, compassion, generosity, and a sense of solidarity and co-responsibility.”
Here in Hawaii, similar initiatives continue to address hunger through parish food pantries and recently through community food distributions during this difficult pandemic period.
However, according to the most recent data provided by Feeding America, one of five children in Hawaii still face hunger. With help from the Department of Education’s Hawaii Child Nutrition Program (HCNP), Grab ‘n Go meals are provided for all keiki in need. Currently the Kau Kau 4 Keiki program provides a box of food with fresh produce for 8,000 children, particularly those who live in rural areas. Mahalo to the following key partners who make these meals possible: Malama Kauai serving Kauai County; Vibrant Hawaii serving Hawaii Island; Maui United Way serving Maui County; and Kahumana Farms serving Oahu.
Still, more than 6,000 names remain on the waitlist this summer! The demand far exceeds available funding. To donate to the Kau Kau 4 Keiki program serving the local county/island community of your choice, please go to www.kaukau4keiki.org.
Another way to help is to give to Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl. Twenty-five percent of Rice Bowl contributions fund a range of programs here in Hawaii. While the pandemic severely limited the Rice Bowl Lenten collection this year, anyone can donate year-round at www.ricebowl.org.
As we celebrate our many blessings, let us move together toward an ever wider “we” as one Ohana by doing our part to build a better future for all “as a single human family, as companions on the same journey, as sons and daughters of the same earth that is our common home, sisters and brothers all.”
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
