HANDOUT

2018 NATIONAL GATHERING WORKSHOP

ACTING AGAINST POVERTY AND MARGINALISATION(Priority 3)

Scripture: Mark 6:38 “How many loaves have you? .…Go and See”

Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy themselves some food.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. It would take a small fortune to buy food for all this crowd!” How much do you have?” he asked “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.” The Jesus told the crowd to sit down in groups of fifty or a hundred. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up towards the heaven, and asked God’s blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the people.

Quotes from Pope Francis on Poverty and SocialJustice

  1. “I recognize that globalization has helped many people rise out of poverty, but it has also damned many others to starve to death. It is true that global wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities have also grown and new poverty arisen.”
  2. “When money, instead of man, is at the centre of the system, when money becomes an idol, men and women are reduced to simple instruments of a social and economic system, which is characterized, better yet dominated, by profound inequalities. So we discard whatever is not useful to this logic; it is this attitude that discards children and older people, and is now affecting the young.”
  3. “We cannot wait any longer to deal with the structural causes of poverty, in order to heal our society from an illness that can only lead to new crises.”
  4. “Without a solution to the problems of the poor, we will not solve the problems of the world. We need projects, mechanisms and processes to implement better distribution of resources, from the creation of new jobs to the integral promotion of those who are excluded’.”
  5. “Jesus tells us what the ‘protocol’ is, on which we will be judged. It is the one we read in chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel: I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was in prison, I was sick, I was naked and you helped me, clothed me, visited me, took care of me. Whenever we do this to one of our brothers, we do this to Jesus. Caring for our neighbour; for those who are poor, who suffer in body and in soul, for those who are in need. This is the touchstone.”
  6. “If I repeated some passages from the homilies of the Church Fathers, in the second or third century, about how we must treat the poor, some would accuse me of giving a Marxist homily.”
  7. “This concern for the poor is in the Gospel, it is within the tradition of the Church, it is not an invention of communism and it must not be turned into an ideology, as has sometimes happened before in the course of history.”

PERSONAL REFLECTION: 20 minutes

In what ways and to whom do I distribute my loaves and fish?

2018 NATIONAL GATHERING WORKSHOP

ACTING AGAINST POVERTY AND MARGINALISATION (Priority 3)

Reflective Music

INTRODUCTION:15 minutes

Perhaps we should start by asking ourselves– What is Justice for the poor? Let listen to what Scripture tells us

Scripture: Mark 6:38 “How many loaves have you?..…Go and See”

Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy themselves some food.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. It would take a small fortune to buy food for all this crowd!” How much do you have?” he asked “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.” The Jesus told the crowd to sit down in groups of fifty or a hundred. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up towards the heaven, and asked God’s blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the people.

Poverty is about more than just a lack of income (the ability to fulfil basic needs) it also includesspiritual, social and political elements-

Perhaps we should start by asking ourselves–

Who are the poor and marginalised?

What does poverty really mean?

What is Justice for the poor?

What does it mean to be spiritually poor?

Poor in spirit -In the beatitudes, Jesus is concerned with spiritual realities (our need for God), not material possessions.

  • Food security and agriculture – tackling hunger is more than just supplying food; challenging the structures which prevent food security is critical.
  • Education – is key to freeing people from poverty
  • Shelter, Water and sanitation – unclean water, poor sanitation and hygiene have claimed more lives than anything else.

Millions of people across the world do not have access to adequate food, education and housing,

  • Freedom- Millions of people are under threat from conflict, ethnic violence or internal.
  • Indigenous rights – the disproportionate number of developments and justice issues they face.
  • Gender/Ethnicity - the systematic discrimination in education, employment, healthcare, control of assets and participation.
  • Health- access to basic healthcare
  • Those in the community who have been excluded; the aging; those with disabilities...... and the list goes on

Caring for the poor is everyone’s responsibility.

Preferential care should be shown to poor and vulnerable people, whose needs and rights are given special attention in God’s eyes.

Our (CLCer’s)aim is to work to change hearts and minds towards the poor and marginalised and in action be inclusive and welcoming by:

  • Supporting & publicising the works of CLC members;
  • Supporting the ministries of Jesuit Social Services (JSS), Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) and Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA) and other like ministries; and
  • Prioritising refugee support and integration into the wider community.

And all this requires effort...... Give examples with personal stories.

Share the personal stories People seeking refuge(Doreen)

Timor Leste (Chris)

PERSONAL REFLECTION: 20 minutes

Using Mark’s Gospel and Pope Francis quotes for personal reflection time reflect on......

In what ways and to whom do I distribute my loaves and fish?

I wonder if the questions in the Gospel asked the same thing

SHARE IN SMALL GROUPS: 15 minutes

PLENARY: 10minutes

Close: Pope Francis writes:

Blessed, therefore, are the open hands that embrace the poor and help them: they are the hands that bring hope.

Blessed are the hands that reach beyond every barrier of culture, religion and nationality, and pour the balm of consolation over the wounds of humanity.

Blessed are the open hands that ask nothing in exchange, with no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’ or ‘maybes’: they are hands that call down God’s blessing upon their brothers and sisters.