Hunger in Our World Today

Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gn 41:55-57; 42:5-7a, 17-24

When hunger came to be felt throughout the land of Egypt and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread,  Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them. When the famine had spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the cities that had grain and rationed it to the Egyptians, since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt.
In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain, for famine had gripped the whole world.

Back in May, my coworkers and I volunteered at the North Texas Food Bank as part of our annual Corporate Community Action Day.  We sorted canned food goods and put together after-school lunch bags for needy children.  As a group, we separated 1 ton of food to be distributed to poor families  throughout the Metroplex.  I felt proud of my service, yet I went home wondering what else I can do for the hungry.

I think about how many groceries I waste every week, and I consider the amount of fast food I consume in a month.  Sadly, I rarely think about people all over the world who go hungry each and every day.  I toss out a leftover pizza or some cooked veggies because I'm "too full."  Yet, those scraps could feed a homeless man on a street.  Shame on me for wasting food!

In preparation for my blog posts, I always search Google images for inspiration.  It's horrifying the photos that come up under search words like starvation, hunger, or famine.  Pictures of people so starved that they look like skeletons; people subsisting on rice and dirty water; flies lingering around emaciated bodies! 

Here in the United States most of us are on the large size. We worry way too much about  fad diet plans in an effort to slim down when in other parts of the world people beg for food!  I do not understand why we have such a surplus and others have a deficient when it comes to nutritious food.  Does it have to do with economics, government greed, droughts, famines, or poor agricultural practices??!

One of my coworkers is a devout Muslim who is observing the required 30 day Ramadan fast.  She is not allowed to have food or water from sunrise to sunset.  Since Ramadan happens to fall during Summer this year, the length for the daily fast is much longer.  I worry about her since she is now 4 months pregnant!  She has the option to pay a small "tithe" for each day she breaks the fast or postpone the 30 day observance until later in the year.  However, she is determined to go through with the traditional fast to honor God. She feels like He will give her the strength and energy to endure the uncomfortable work days.  One good thing is she can eat as much as she wants after the sun goes down. 

Personally, I plan to fast more often, volunteer my time at a food pantry, and be more moderate in my food consumption.

In today's first reading, Joseph devised the brilliant plan to ration food to the Egyptians as well as other communities as a result of the global famine. How can we learn to ration food in ways that moderate our consumption, leading to less waste?  How can we use our time and treasure to help the hungry in our communities?

I will let my blog readers ponder further...

"Eternal God, for whom a thousand years are like the passing day, help us to remember that life is like a flower which blossoms in the morning, but withers in the evening. Give your people manna to satisfy their hunger, and living water to quench their thirst for all eternity." 

-Divine Office, Wednesday Evening Prayer Intercessions (Week II)

-J.