"Harvest of Hope"
by Joey Capuano
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Matthew 14:20
"20 And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full."
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Many times, we hear about this miracle that was performed by Jesus all those centuries ago. I was even more inspired when I did a little reading up on this compassionate action and the different reactions to it, both from those who were there and from modern writers. The overarching theme: Compassion!
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The first act of compassion that can be seen in this is from the child who shared his five loaves of bread and two fish with Jesus. Jesus was so moved by this selfless and loving act, and had compassion with the thousands of people that were gathered there to listen to Him preach that He performed the miracle of multiplying the gifts of food so that all could be filled.
Hunger is a constant reality in our lives, and many times it is truly a matter of fighting for survival for far too many individuals. This is true even in our "rich" country. The truthful reality remains: There are over 47 million people that suffer with food insecurity in the US alone. This is unacceptable.
What makes this even more unacceptable? In the US, we waste on average between 300 - 350 million pounds of food each day, which becomes 120 - 160 BILLION pounds of food each year. What amount do I put into that? Each of us wastes on average about one pound of food every day.
Many of you know that much of my family works in education. The tragic truth regarding food insecurity in education is that so many families face the fear of not knowing where their meals will come from outside of school. And, even more, qualifying for free and reduced meals is a lengthy and challenging process because of all of the legal red tape that interferes with so much. What can we do?
We can start by being inspired by the Society of St. Andrew's Harvest of Hope! Their vision and mission statements are very beautiful.
Vision
The Society of St. Andrew envisions a world in which physical and spiritual hungers are met through God’s grace and abundance in Jesus Christ.
Mission Statement
The Society of St. Andrew brings people together to harvest and share healthy food, reduce food waste, and build caring communities by offering nourishment to hungry neighbors.
Even more, we can be inspired and live by the compassion of the child in the Gospel who shared his lunch with Jesus and all who were gathered there. A small act, taken by all of us, can have so much impact! Coming off of World Communion Sunday, let us pray that we can live as and share the Bread of Christ with the world. Forget about "who qualifies," or thoughts about "is this person working hard enough to deserve this food assistance." Everyone qualifies, has a seat at, and is welcome at His table.
Love,
Joey
