Justice Matters: 

Today, Christ in the most human of ways reassures the apostles that he is not a ghost – he asks for food.  Afterwards Jesus tells them, they are witnesses to his new life.  Through them we are witnesses also, speaking for and being Christ in this world.  We are told that we cannot be witnesses and not keep Christ’s commandments.  Strong words but with them comes Christ’s love.  Pope Francis encourages us to use the See Judge/Reflect Act process in our efforts to be witnesses. Prompted by the readings, let’s look more closely at the process which requires us to be curious.   

See – We need to ask questions - What is happening?  Who are involved? Who wins? Who loses? Why is it happening?    Look at poverty, a visible part of which is food insecurity.   The Trussel Trust  say that 1.9 million people used food banks in 2019/2020, that approximately 1 in 7 of these were also in work but the majority were on benefit.  It is easy to see who loses and many tell of feelings of humiliation.  Arguably society loses as we become more divided into the haves and have nots.  Who wins?  The Trussel Trust say that a main reason for food banks is insufficiency of the benefit scheme. They have changed their focus to removing food banks “It has seen its network grow from about 50 to around 1,400 over the past decade, largely in response to austerity cuts to the social security system, but it insists it now wants to reverse that expansion”.  We perhaps have to consider that low taxes may be a vote winner but there are consequences.    Much food is given by huge shops allowing for some re-distribution but can hide the fact that the nature of our supermarkets create great difficulties. 

Reflect - We should pause, not be overwhelmed. Christ’s instruction to be witnesses can only be achieved with a faith which leads to action not paralysis. How does the situation make you feel?  Angry but determined to witness your belief in a just world?  Do you have a view of what could be happening?  Is that view informed by your faith?  Is poverty a part of God’s plan?

Act – What can we do to move towards what we want to happen?  What action can we take?   Who can we join with or who can we ask to help?  We are preparing for elections – what do we know of our parties’ views on food banks?  A necessary evil or an indication that there is a need for systemic change?  We are lucky we live in a cluster which offers us ways of helping – St Vincent de Paul Society is now present in each parish. There is also the Diocesan Justice and Peace group which tries to deal with issues such as poverty and inequality. There is the eco – circle group and the Israel/Palestine group which meet weekly on a drop in basis. Finally on April 24th there is a session which is concentrating on practical responses to Laudate Si which highlights the call to climate and social justice.