Eng.

HOMILY (Fr. Mizael Donizetti Poggioli, CM)

First Reading – 2 Kings 4:42-44 A narration of the miracle of the bread. The prophet Elisha asked that the bread be distributed: Give it to the people to eat. The bread was distributed and there was some left over.

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:1-6 Paul invited the Christians to lead a life worthy of the vocation that they had received. He exhorted the people to cultivate the virtues of humility, kindness and patience … Christians should have a profound love for their neighbor.

Gospel – John 6:1-15 Jesus multiplied the bread just as Elisha had done in the first reading. We should not consider this narration as simply a miracle because the multiplication of the bread is first of all a sign of the Kingdom. In this case there was also some left over: twelves baskets of left overs.

What are we being inspired to do? This Sunday’s liturgy inspires us to share. There is no need “to go any further” in order to buy food, in order to satisfy the hunger of the people. There is no need to go to some extreme in order to alleviate those who are hungry. The Word of God teaches us that only one thing is needed in order to satisfy the world’s hunger, namely, sharing. There is enough food for everyone in the world; food is stored is so many different parts of the world. Anyone familiar with the phrase “equalization reserves” knows what I am talking about.

Why, then, is there hunger in the world? Why do millions of people go to bed at night hungry and wake up early in the morning because their hunger does not allow them to sleep? Hunger throughout the world has been a concern for various sectors of society and yet this problem is far from being resolved.

Each year some thirty million people die of hunger and that reality is directly opposed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that every person has the right to an adequate level of life that enables him/her to provide for the heath and the well-being of his/her family. Food is a basic requisite in order to achieve that level of human life.

Hunger can have various causes; some are natural causes (drought, floods, earthquakes, plagues of insects) while others are caused by human beings (wars, abuse of natural resources, inadequate distribution of food, disproportionate demographical growth, poverty, income disparity, etc.). Nevertheless, the primary cause of hunger in the world is the fact that people are unable to obtain sufficient food because of the situation of poverty in which the live.

Depending on the region that is analyzed, such poverty can have various causes. Some countries have been involved in war and conflicts for decades. Afghanistan, the Congo and Somalia are examples of countries that have experienced constant conflict and as a result large numbers of the people in these countries are hungry.

In underdeveloped countries and in countries on the way to development, poverty is primarily the result of inequality with regard to income. The great majority of people do not have access to education and work and are unable to earn a wage that will enable them to satisfy even the most basic human needs, such as food.

Therefore, the great cause of hunger in the world can be called “the industry of hunger”. Hunger is created by those who have power. Hunger is the creation of oppressive powers and ideologies that have no respect for the right of people who are poor and vulnerable. Hunger is the creation of those who are greedy, those who accumulate large sums of money at the cost of those who die of hunger.

Hunger on both the local and the international level is the result of the selfishness of the upper class, those who are not concerned about their brothers and sisters who are immersed in great suffering.

As members of the Vincentian Family we are called to join in the struggle that will enable men and women to move out of their situation of poverty. We are called to be prophets in the midst of a world of injustice and oppression; we are called to restore dignity to men and women who are created in the image and the likeness of God.

As members of the Vincentian Family we are called to proclaim the Word of God through that practice of charity … and the practice of charity must be joined with justice.

In conclusion we are all invited to adapt the charism and the spirituality of Vincent de Paul and the witness to Catherine Laboure to our own particular situation. We are invited to look beyond our own four walls and to make the evangelization and the promotion of poor young men and women the focus of our service and our commitment. We are called to deepen our understanding of the social dimension of the gospel.

Like Vincent and Catherine we are called to change our lives and to change the structures of society … we are called to contribute to the building up of a more just and human society.

Translated: Charles T. Plock, CM

[Category:Vincentian Marian Youth]]