-
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This weekend (September 14th/15th) throughout the Catholic Church in the United States, and therefore at OLG also, the annual collection to support the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) will be taken up. This yearly collection offers support for Catholic-sponsored programs and initiatives that provide education, job-training and community organizing efforts to help families and neighborhoods win the fight against poverty. The CCHD works to change the structures of our society that perpetuate poverty, and to help build an economy based on justice and the dignity of all human persons. CCHD funds are not a handout, but a hand up, to those who face the challenges and difficulties that poverty entails.
In the face of all the challenges that confront us, we must remember that in any tragedy or calamity effecting large segments of society—war, natural disaster, famine and drought, disease and illness, etc.—or simply in the day to day challenges that confront the human family, it is always the poor who bear the greatest burden, and whose resources are the most meager. As Christians, we are called to show compassion to everyone. As we strive to do so, let us not forget that it is the poor who have the greatest claim on our compassion, simply because it is the poor whose burden is the heaviest and whose path is the steepest. This “preferential option” for the poor is rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, who was anointed and sent by his heavenly Father “to bring glad tidings to the poor”. As we respond, whether to unexpected crises or to problems that are chronic and endemic to society, may our contributions to the CCHD show that we have not forgotten or neglected the poor whose daily burdens, whether in times of crises or in times of calm, is the greatest.
Grace and peace to all,Fr. Kevin