FROM JEAN PIERRE PREVOST

This Week in Focus
God provides more than we need
July 26, 2009 | Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
It’s hard to believe, but the statistics are just as shocking as they are dreadful: in our day and age, some 800 million people still suffer from malnutrition or starvation, and 18,000 children die from hunger every day. How can hunger remain such a glaring plague, when our society claims unparalleled living standards and unequalled sophistication in technology?

In biblical times, people struggled with famine and starvation, and we hear the prophets speak about the unequal distribution of wealth and food. Prophets like Amos, Isaiah and Jeremiah were quick not only to denounce such inequality and inequity, but also to propose alternatives based on commitment to social justice and compassion for the poor. And they didn't just talk about social justice and compassion. The prophet Elisha multiplied loaves, as did Jesus, for the starving crowds.

Through these prophets, we learn that our God is a life-giving God, who cares for hungering crowds. And when God gives, God always gives over-abundantly: “They shall eat and have some left.”

Be it through a prophet like Elisha or through God’s beloved son, Jesus, God always provides more than we need, for God wants us to be restored to our dignity as human beings and to fullness of life. We too, who are privileged to have all the food we need and more, can make a difference by sharing with the less fortunate.

Jean-Pierre Prévost