How does one combine the gospel teaching about faith from this weekend's scripture passages with a challenge to reach out in faith to those of our world who need the light of faith? Answer, weave the images of wind, storms and water with the ravages of drought. Read on or listen in to find out more:
A little friendly competition
The scripture passages today present some pretty awesome sights: Elijah on Mount Horeb standing in the midst of violent weather, Jesus walking on water, and even Peter finding his footing. Are these examples of things that belong in story books, or do they still happen today?
Two weeks ago or so, we first were made aware that the United Nations has declared a state of famine in parts of East Africa. This declaration is not something that is made lightly, and it represents a state of existence for more than 11 million people that speaks of dire need. For more than 35 years, Development and Peace, the Canadian Catholic Bishops’ outreach arm has been present in that part of the world, bringing aid to the hungry, the displaced, and the suffering.
A few weeks ago, an on-line editorial published in the magazine Celebrate challenged Catholics to join with Muslims who are currently celebrating the month of Ramadan, the traditional time of fasting during daylight hours. What wonderful things might come about if each of us were to fast for one day a week for the next four weeks? We just might become more aware of the plight of people in parts of our world like the Horn of Africa where people are currently starving, not because of a conscious choice, but precisely because they have no choice.
Father Roger Keeler, pastor of SaintMichael-Resurrection parish in Edmonton took up the challenge. In fact, he challenged his parishioners to put on their thinking caps and to raise at least $10,000 over the next month for the people in Africa. I heard about this challenge and thought that we could do the same, or maybe even better. What if we did indeed fast as a sign of union with those who fast during Ramadan? Provided that we are medically capable, what if we fasted voluntarily as a sign of our union in prayer with those who may very well die today because of hunger? What wonders we could accomplish if each of us chose one day a week for the next month and fasted from 6am to 6pm on those days, then calculated the cost of food and drink that we would have consumed and contributed that to the effort?
Any amount of contribution will help. The Canadian Government has agreed to match all donations received prior to September 16 of this year, so let’s use that as our deadline too. You can make donations to the parish, in envelopes or by cheque marked East Africa Famine Relief, or you can make donations directly to Development and Peace, either by telephone or over the web. For the purposes of our little competition, if you have already contributed, would you please write down the amount of your contribution and provide it in an envelope so that it can be counted? I’ll post a running total on our website until the deadline has passed, just so we can keep the competition going.
Elijah, Jesus and Peter accepted the Lord’s invitation to speak his word to people of their time. Will we?
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