Thank You, Father Patrick Conroy

"As legislation on taxes continues to be debated this week and next, may all Members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great Nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to achieve great success, while others continue to struggle. May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans."  -Rev. Patrick Conroy, S.J.,(former) chaplain of the House of Representatives.

As a graduate of a Jesuit institution and an anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocate, I am proud of Father Patrick Conroy for the genuine and substantive prayers he offered during his tenure as chaplain of the House of Representatives.

Father Conroy's words went beyond the generic prayers of wishing for well-being.  In much the same way as fellow Jesuit, Pope Francis, Father Conroy's prayers carried a deep desire for justice  and the concept of shalom (the well-being of all society).

By all accounts, Father Conroy was ousted by Speaker Paul Ryan for making his prayers "too political." (If we think of the concept of universal well-being as "political," then The Beatitudes fell in that category, didn't they?)

Regardless, Thank You Father Conroy!

For more background, read what others have written (or tweeted):

If the comments by the congressional aide quoted by @thehill are accurate--"[T]he speaker was dismayed by a prayer Father Conroy gave"--then a Catholic Speaker of the House fired a Catholic chaplain for praying for the poor. https://t.co/eDdzeaKexI

— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) April 26, 2018

• Barbara Williams-Skinner in Sojourners magazine
• Syndicated Columnist Dana Milbank of The Washington Post.

Article Confirms Threat of SNAP Cuts on New Mexico

Photo NM Voices for Children

We posted information from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) this week on how President Trump's budget proposal would gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). We previously provided data from the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty on the impact that the cuts would specifically on New Mexico.  

The New Mexico Political Report, an online news site about political developments in our state, posted an article on Thursday quoting the director and deputy director of the New Mexico Voices for Children about this topic as well as a senior policy analyst for the Center on Budget Policy Priorities. In the interview, Director James Jimenez and Deputy Director Amber Wallin confirmed what the NMCLP and FRAC. (We are proud to count the NMCLP and NMVC among the endorsing organizations of the Interfaith Hunger Coalition).

 Here are three quotes from the article.

“We have one of the highest percentages in the nation of children who receive SNAP. But even given our high SNAP participation rates and the high coverage rate in New Mexico, we still have the second-highest rate in the nation of childhood food insecurity.” -Amber Wallin, Deputy Director, New Mexico Voices for Children

“This is in an environment where people are already going hungry. In a nation like ours where there’s so much wealth, it’s criminal that we have people going hungry,” James Jimenez, the executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said. “And we’re not willing to help people adequately feed themselves.” -James Jimenez, Director, New Mexico Voices for Children.

“When I look at the different provisions, I see proposals to force states to require people in high unemployment areas to find jobs, or cut them off after three months,” Bolen said. “That’s the provision that limits the waivers for childless adults who have a three month time limit with SNAP.” -Ed Bolen, senior policy analyst for the Center on Budget Policy Priority.

(The New Mexico Political Report notes that New Mexico, which has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, has received a waiver for that problem).

Read full article by Matthew Reichbach of The New Mexico Political Report.

As we mentioned earlier, Congress will have the last word on reductions in these programs. But given that the House of Representatives is led by Speaker Paul Ryan, an advocate of major reductions in social spending, the programs that help low-income families in our country are going to undergo some sort of transformation, and not a a good transformation. They may not be as drastic as those proposed by the president, but cuts are coming (especially since Ryan's party holds a majority in the House).

The IHC recently worked on a bipartisan basis with Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes, Rep. Joanne Ferrary and Rep. Debbie Armstrong on a Memorial that would create a Hunger Council to discuss long-term solutions to persistent hunger in New Mexico. The impact of cuts in SNAP on families in our state is  going to have to be one of the topics that we address as we go forward. 

Report. New Mexico Ranks First in Hunger Among Working Adults

The main cause of U.S. hunger is that people simply don't earn enough money to meet their living expenses.  -Hunger Free America

In November, the New York City-based organization Hunger Free America released a report pointing to the correlation between a low minimum wage and a hunger. The report, entitled Working America's Still Hungry, put New Mexico at the top of states with highest food insecurity among working adults. New Mexico's rate of 15.3% (where the minimum wage is $7.50) was almost one and half percentage points above the the two states with the next highest rate, Louisiana and Mississippi (both of which were at 14% and had a minimum wage of  $7.25). In contrast, food insecurity was recorded at 6.7% in the District of Columbia (which has a minimum wage of $11.50) and 6.1% in Massachusetts (where workers earn a minimum of $11.00 per hour).

According to the report, which which is based on an analysis of federal data, 15 million adults in our country lived in food insecure households with at least one person employed in the years 2014 to 2016,  Of this total, almost 131,000 food insecure employed adults live in New Mexico, which has a minimum wage of $7.50. 

"This shameful data is the latest evidence that the American dream is seriously at risk unless we change our current economic and political policies nationwide," Hunger Free America CEO Joel Berg said in a press statement shortly after the release of the report in mid-November.  "Low wages are still the top cause of U.S. hunger and malnutrition."

Governor's Veto
The minimum wage was one of the issues considered in the New Mexico State Legislature during the 2017 session. The Senate approved an initiative to raise the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour, while the House approved a measure to raise the rate to $9.25 an hour.  Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed the two measures, according to the online new site New Mexico Political Report.

Click on image to enlarge

We must note that some communities in New Mexico (Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, Santa Fe/Santa Fe County and Las Cruces) already have a higher rate than the state minimum wage, according to the graphic on the left provided by the New Mexico Restaurant Association's Employment Policy Institute and published in Santa Fe's The New Mexican newspaper in December 2016. I'm not sure how these numbers factor into the conclusions made by the Hunger Free America report.

Albuquerque Journal Coverage
The Hunger Free America report caught the attention of The Albuquerque Journal, which wrote an article on Dec. 18 quoting CEO Berg and a couple of business associations in the state. As Berg suggested, "The good news is this data proves that states that hiked their own minimum wages were less likely to have workers struggling against hunger."

Carol Wright, chief executive officer with the New Mexico Restaurant Association, pointed out that the minimum wage in Texas is $7.25 per hour, and the state has "fewer people living in poverty than there are in New Mexico.”  Wright, of course, misinterpreted the numbers, as Texas has1.4 million working adults who suffer from food insecurity, or about 11% of employed adults (a number that is still high).

Similarly, Jason Espinoza, president and CEO of the New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry, suggested that increasing the minimum wage is not the answer to New Mexico's economic woes, but rather the promotion of initiatives to create jobs.  While I don't disagree with the second part of his statement, the first part is just as important.  It's not a question of "apples or oranges," but "apples and oranges."

While I commend Journal reporter Rick Nathanson for his effort to present both sides, quoting Berg on one side and Wright and Espinoza on the other side, he failed to get the perspective of organizations in New Mexico that directly track the challenges of the working poor in our state. Surely, someone from The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, New Mexico Voices for Children, the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-New Mexico or the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops would have wanted to make a statement on this issue.

The Interfaith Hunger Coalition advocates raising the minimum wage as one of the important elements to help address the problem of our high level of food insecurity in the state. The needs of the working poor should be  considered alongside programs targeted at children, seniors and rural communities.  At the End Hunger Summit in Albuquerque in October, we proposed the creation of some sort of committee or caucus in the State Legislature to take a broad view at hunger in our state in propose long-term and lasting solutions.

Advent, 'Happy Holidays' and Other Joys of the Season

For those who complain that Christ has been taken out of societal Christmas celebrations, I have one answer: individuals, families and communities of faith can add meaning to the season and not depend on society.  For  Catholics, Lutherans and other Christian denominations, the weeks leading up to Christmas Day are just as special as Christmas Day itself.

The Advent season offers us a great counterpoint to the immediate gratification that often comes with our activities during this time of year. There is a sense of beauty in waiting and anticipation and the celebrations that accompany Advent. In Latin American countries, people celebrate posadas for eight days, commemorating the search for shelter by Joseph, Mary and Jesus. When I lived in Mexico City as a child the whole block was invited to a posada, and this was a great opportunity to get to know our neighbors. This was a beautiful part of my Christmas season growing up.

This is  indeed the season of recognizing our connections to  everyone around the world, regardless of their beliefs. So, when a person wishes you Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, let's appreciate the good wishes from that individual instead of lamenting that this person is not celebrating the birth of Christ.

This brings me to my other point. Even as we celebrate Christmas, we have to recognize that not everyone is a Christian. Our Jewish brothers and sisters are celebrating Hanukkah close to the same time period, but this is only one of the holy days for Judaism.  The bigger celebration in Judaism comes in the fall and includes Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. The Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Baha'i communities all have holy seasons  during other parts of the year.

So, how do the people who are not Christian adapt to the Christmas holidays? Every year, the Congregation Albert Brotherhood sponsors a latke brunch to address this question.  Here are the details for the brunch and panel/forum this year.

Being Non-Christian in Albuquerque
Sunday, December 17 
10:00am
Congregation Albert 3800 Louisiana Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM

The latke brunch. including Chanukah latkes, eggs, corned beef hash, sufganiyot (jelly donuts) and fruit, will be followed by a thought-provoking panel discussion of leaders from the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Atheist communities.

Cost for the brunch and program is $12 for Brotherhood and Sisterhood members and $14 for non-members. Proceeds go towards the Brotherhood’s community service projects

For reservations: Please call 883-1818 ext. 3203 and leave your name, telephone number and the number of people that will attend OR email your reservation to brotherhood@congregationalbert.org by December 14.

Love of Neighbor (Particularly the Most Vulnerable)

“We must not allow fear to destroy our ability to make our home, America, a safe place for our families to prosper in peace."  - Faisal Nabulsi, President of the Islamic Center of New Mexico

Faisal, Eiffert, Daniel, Baz with moderator Richard Wood

Where do we draw the line between a desire to come together and listen to all points of view and the need to stand up for what we think is right and just? The tension between those two religious values was evident in the room as speakers from four major faith traditions: Judaism (Rabbi Evelyn Baz, Congregation B'nai Israel), Islam (Faisal Nabulsi, Islamic Center of New Mexico), Evangelical Christian  (David Eiffert, Believers Center of Albuquerque), and Roman Catholic (Rev. John Daniel, Archdiocese of Santa Fe), addressed a forum on countering hate. All the seats in Ballroom A of the Student Union Building at the University of New Mexico were filled on Thursday, January 26.

A major tenet of the four Abraham traditions is that love of neighbor, particularly those who are most vulnerable in society, should take priority. This value must not be separate from an even more important tenet of our faith traditions, which is loving our Creator with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Still, we cannot stand by passively while our neighbors are being oppressed. How do we respond appropriately from a perspective that tells us that we are all created equal in the Creator's eyes? We cannot love our God completely unless we love those who share this Earth with us.

"What is to stop a congregation from declaring itself a sanctuary?" was a question posed to the panel. Father Daniel of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe said, "Nothing" As far as individual parishes, he said this was a decision of the pastor, the church leadership and the congregation. Rich Wood took the position of the Devil's advocate, saying. "What if the federal government decides to take your 401CR status?" Father Daniel thought about it for a while, and said "So be it." Still, a very difficult decision

The forum on a Thursday evening was a precursor to two other related events on Friday, January 27: a press conference at the Islamic Center of New Mexico decrying President Donald Trump's new punitive measures for refugees, including an indefinite ban for Syrians.  Read article in Albuquerque Journal about press conference at Islamic Center.

Later that Friday, controversial speaker Milo Yiannopolous, who has publicly expressed overtly bigoted and racist views, spoke at UNM to a crowd of supporters and hundreds of protestors. See article in Albuquerque Journal entitled UNM speech draws hecklers, protesters and an interview on KOAT-TV with Sandra Akkad, a protestor who stood up to Yiannopoulous (and was ejected from the forum).  "The hate speech that he was spewing incited violence, and when you cross that boundary you no longer have the privilege of what free speech was meant for," Akkad told KOAT. 

So, What's the Deal with Speaker Paul Ryan's Anti-Poverty Plan?

Image from NETWORK

This is a classic case of a half-empty glass versus a half-full glass. Regardless, the glass needs to be full, which it clearly is not. (And perhaps it's going from half full to a quarter full).

I'm speaking about the blueprint that Speaker Paul Ryan released on June 7, 2016. The plan, entitled “A Better Way to Fight Poverty, has a few nuggets of good news (which is why the glass is half full).

A willingness to dialogue
First, the good news. (Don't we all want to hear the good news first)?  A feature of the plan is that it opens the door to dialogue, launching a bipartisan discussion on hunger and poverty and the policies required to end them.

Secondly, the proposal from the leader of the House of Representatives seems to run counter to a piece of legislation that was introduced in the House during the current session, H.R. 5003. This initiative would block grant school meals and and make it more difficult for tens of thousands, if not millions, of children to access meals at school and during the summer months.

Speaker Ryan's plan promises that none of the important nutrition programs are going to be block-granted, so that's huge!

“Bread for the World applauds Speaker Ryan for giving poverty the attention it deserves and offering a plan to address it,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “We have disagreements with some of the proposals. But we are pleased that the plan doesn’t propose to cut or block-grant anti-poverty programs, and we welcome the emphasis on making programs as effective as possible.”  Here is Bread for the World's full statement

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) offered similar comments."As Christians, loving God and loving our neighbors includes commitment to any who suffer from hunger or poverty," said the Rev. Amy Reumann, ELCA Director for Advocacy. "We are pleased that the plan doesn't propose to cut or institute block-grants for anti-poverty programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and that it focuses on areas of importance to ELCA hunger work, including housing, childhood education and criminal justice reform as part of the larger picture." Read full statement in the ELCA Advocacy Blog

Beckmann, Reumann and other Christian leaders, who form the core of the Circle of Protection, have repeatedly met with Ryan and his staff. They recently wrote to members of the task force about what they hoped to see – and not see – in the Republican poverty plan. Read the letter
 
Okay, that's the good news.

The downside
The bad news deals with the actual proposals that Speaker Ryan put forth in his plan. Bread notes that the Republican plan stresses work without offering any solution to the fact that many people cannot find jobs. The plan fails to address the disparate impact of poverty on people of color and the racial bias that underlies this reality. The Republican plan also fails to mention global hunger and poverty, even though Republicans and Democrats have worked together on some global poverty issues.

Others offer a harsher assessment. "House Speaker Paul Ryan’s poverty plan ignores the realities of the struggles of millions of individuals and families across the country who need federal entitlement programs to make ends meet," said said the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). "By diminishing these crucial supports, the Ryan proposal actually would make poverty in America far worse," 

"To be clear, the Ryan proposal is not just about drastic cuts to proven programs; it’s also about dismantling the stable and effective structure of our nation’s safety net," added FRAC.  "It is downright dangerous. It is dangerous because, by abandoning the proven strengths of the key parts of the nation’s nutrition safety net, it will increase hunger and poverty, harm health and learning, and pull resources out of low-income communities."  Read FRAC's full statement

Image from the NETWORK blog

NETWORK Lobby (and specifically Sister Simone Campbell) also raised objections to many of the elements in the plan.

In response, NETWORK released a list of 10 Things Speaker Ryan Could Do to Address Poverty Right Now, but yet again, Speaker Ryan’s plan falls short.

Sister Simone Campbell suggests the resounding disinterest in the Speaker’s plan stems from the fact that this is D+ work at best. To illustrate the point – graphically, and with a little bit of sassy Sister-Spirit – Sister Simone offers this annotated, graded copy of the plan’s summary (see the illustration on the top of this blog post). For a clearer view, download the PDF

In Summary
Okay, let's summarize.  Bipartisan approach and dialogue. Good.  Taking block grants off the table. Also good.  Emphasis on job creation. Also good.  Emphasis on job creation in an environment of few jobs. Not good.  Reduced funding for crucial programs. Terrible.

On balance, the speaker's intentions are good. There was a time when he was speaking about simply making the cuts and not engaging in dialogue. But there is an old adage, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Perhaps our programs need a lot of tweaking, but please don't gut them in the name of making assistance more streamlined.  The next question is whether the bipartisan House Hunger Caucus is going to engage in this discussion.  I hope so.

“We believe we can end hunger and extreme poverty in our country and around the world if our leaders make it a higher priority," said Beckmann. "We look forward to seeing the Democrats’ anti-poverty plan, and to having a real debate about solutions.”

Wishes for an Abundant New Year

As the pages of the calendar turn to a new year our tendency is to wish our friends and family a Happy New Year.  And if you are in Latin America and other places around the world, the wish is for a Prosperous New Year.  Happiness and prosperity are good things to wish for our relatives, friends and acquaintances. The symbolic transition, however, gives us a great opportunity to make an alternative kind of wish: an Abundant New Year. On this day we celebrate God's abundant love for us (Isaiah 49:15-16 and Jeremiah 31:3) and we resolve to share this abundant love with others (John 15: 9-14)

So, as 2016 begins, I wish everyone God's abundant love in our hearts, our minds to guide us as we live our lives in the coming year.

An Unfortunate Choice of Words for the Local Holiday Food Drive

At the risk of being called a "Debbie Downer" during this time of giving, I feel I must add my two cents to the otherwise noble effort by a group of businesses to partner with Roadrunner Food to collect non-perishable food items during the holidays.

The image on the left is a scan of the paper bag that was inserted in between the various sections of The Albuquerque Journal  this week. The paper bag presented a misleading message to the public:"Solve Hunger" by donating food. A better word would be "Help Alleviate Hunger."

To actually solve hunger, we must solve some of the structural problems that cause hunger, one of which is poverty and related factors like unemployment, underemployment, low wages, lack of access to affordable and nutritious food, a high level of debt and other causes. There are 50 million of our neighbors who do not know where their next meal is coming from, including 360,000 in New Mexico who are at risk of hunger.

"Despite the end of the Great Recession and a falling unemployment rate, the nation continues to be plagued by a very uneven recovery; low employment rates; stagnant wages; inadequate public investments; and inadequate public safety net programs. Yes, there has been progress. But it has been too slow," the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) said in its recently unveiled Plan of Action to End Hunger in America.

And how much difference does the food drive make?  It certainly helps increase the amount of food available to Roadrunner Food Bank and all the Feeding America affiliates around that country. That is an important reason why we all should participate in this holiday drive. Go to your local grocery store (instead of emptying your pantry) and buy $10 or $15 worth of non-perishable food items and leave them by your mail box on Saturday. Or better yet, take them directly to your nearest post office.

"More than half the households in New Mexico have to make really tough decisions every day," said an editorial in today's edition of The Albuquerque Journal, one of the sponsors of the food drive.  "Sixty-one percent choose between spending on food and utilities. Sixty-six percent between food and transportation. Fifty-nine percent between food and medical care. Forty-eight percent between food and housing. But there’s an easy choice more fortunate New Mexicans can make today and Saturday. That’s to fill the brown grocery bag in Thursday’s Journal with nonperishable food,"

The brown paper bag also contains some handy tips to help Roadrunner Food Bank, including signing up for programs where retailers donate a portion of your holiday purchases to our local food bank. And you are also given an opportunity to text a donation.  Here is why the financial donations are important.

"Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, annually serves 46.5 million people across the U.S. through its network of 200 food banks, according to its "Hunger in America 2014" study," said an article The Huffington Post. "But what you may not know is that these organizations have limited resources themselves. While approximately 100 million pounds of food is donated to Feeding America food banks each year via canned food drives, these items alone won’t solve the issue of hunger that so many Americans face. Tight budgets, limited volunteers, finite donations, and the short turnarounds required between receiving fresh foods and distributing them to families in need can be challenges in addressing the issue of hunger – and doing so with nutrient-rich foods."

The holiday food drive should give us at least a small opportunity to show solidarity with those who receive the food. One way to do this is to be aware of the reasons why families are in their current predicament.  It doesn't help when the campaign tells us that we are actually solving hunger through our holiday donations.

Averting Hunger in Nepal

Video: Emergency coordinator Erik Johnson from from ACT Alliance at a food distribution in a school in Jharuwarashi in Lalitpur - 45 km outside Kathmandu.

The United Nations sent a  disaster response team  to Haiti in the aftermath of  the devastating earthquake that hit Port au Prince and surrounding areas in 2010. The team sent to Haiti included peacekeepers from Nepal.  The participation of Nepalese troops in the aid operation would have gone unnoticed were it not for studies linking them to the outbreak of cholera in Haiti.

I don't want to dwell on the cholera question, other than to point out that the disease is more likely to appear in poor countries with deficient water-treatment and sanitation systems. "Industrialized countries have seen practically no cholera cases for over a century because of their good water and sewage treatment infrastructure. However, the causative agents (Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139) continue to thrive wherever crowded housing conditions exist and water and sanitation facilities are suboptimal," said the World Health Organization.

What I want to underscore is that Nepal, a relatively poor country, readily sent troops to assist with disaster assistance in another poor country across the globe to be part of a UN recovery operation  Five years later, Nepal is the country that desperately needs assistance. The global community has responded generously with emergency aid to provide immediate food and shelter for the victims of the quake.

The full extent of damage to the agriculture sector has not yet been assessed, although the FAO believes that families probably lost livestock, crops, food stocks and valuable agricultural inputs, in a country where roughly two-thirds of people of Nepal rely on agriculture for their livelihood.

The efforts should focus on longer-term recovery, particularly efforts that allow the Nepalese people to continue to grow food and to preserve current stocks.

One of  the  most immediate problems is that the planting season is around the corner for rice. If farmers are unable to plant their crop in late May and into June, they will  be unable to harvest rice, a principal staple for Nepal,again until late 2016. “There is a critical window of opportunity to help crop producers plant in time to have a rice harvest this year and regain their self-sufficiency,” said Somsak Pipoppinyo, the representative for the Food and Agriculture Organization in Nepal.  Read full report from FAO

Why a Bowl of Beans Could be Just as Good as Fish on Lenten Fridays

Image: yves_guillou via openclipart

Eating fish on Friday during Lent is a longstanding tradition in many Christian communities. By eating fish, this meant that you were foregoing  consumption of red meat, and in a sense fasting. This symbolic practice was more significant when red meat was more common on the dinner table. In more recent times, fish has become the more healthful option, particularly if it grilled or broiled. While fish remains a powerful symbol of Lenten Fridays, the food itself is not as important as what it represents: fasting.  I would argue that soy patties and meatless bean dishes are a good alternative to eating fish in fulfilling our fast.

Rev. Ken Collins,  a United Church of Christ minister in McLean, Va., points to another symbolic aspect of eating fish on Fridays. In the first century, meat was a luxury food.  "You either had to buy it in a market or you had to own enough land to keep cattle," Rev. Collins said in his Web site. "On the other hand, anyone could grow vegetables or forage for them, and anyone could catch a fish in a lake or a stream. You could buy better fish and vegetables, but the point is that you could eat without money if you were poor. So meat was rich people's food and fish was poor people's food. That is why the most common form of fasting was to omit meat and eat fish."  Read his full post on Why Christians Eat Fish on Friday and During Lent.

A Fish Fry to Help Feed Our Neighbors
No doubt many Christian congregations in Albuquerque and around the country will put together meals on Fridays during Lent that will feature fish (along with prayer and reflection).

One congregation, St. John's United Methodist Church (map), will serve a fish meal every Friday from Feb. 20 until March 27, 4:00-7:00 p.m. for a modest cost of $12. There is an important reason for the charge: The proceeds will be donated to two local worthy organizations Albuquerque Rescue Mission and Project Share. 

Spending less of our income on meals means that we have more money at our disposal for another of the important actions during Lent, which is to give to our neighbor. Or we can spend more on a meal (as is the case with the Fish Fry Dinner at St. John's UMC) in order to give to our neighbor. In our Lenten practice of charity, we are called not only to give of our excess but to show solidarity with our neighbor in a prayerful manner. Rice Bowl, the Catholic Relief Services' Lenten program, offers opportunities to pray, give and more importantly to learn about neighbors in our community and around the world who are in need. The program even offers you an app to engage in these practices via your smartphone.

Walking the Lenten Journey with Bread for the World

Ash Wednesday is about 10 days away, which means that the Lenten season is just around the corner. There are many parallels between Lent and Advent. They both offer an opportunity to step outside ourselves and make a deeper connection with our Creator. In a way, they both are seasons of hope (anticipation of the birth of Christ and the resurrection of Christ), although Lent urges a deeper reflection of our failings to our God and our neighbor.

In an essay entitled Ash Wednesday,  which is part of the book  Seasons of Celebration, Thomas Merton describes how Lenten prayers and reflections can become a true gift. “Once again, Lent is not just a time for squaring conscious accounts: but for realizing what we had perhaps not seen before. The light of Lent is given us to help us with this realization." 

“Nevertheless, the liturgy of Ash Wednesday is not focused on the sinfulness of the penitent but on the mercy of God. The question of sinfulness is raised precisely because this is a day of mercy, and the just do not need a savior.”

The mercy of God.  What a powerful gift. God urges us to practice mercy every day of the year, but the Lenten season is an important time to remember our obligation to those who share this Earth with us. "Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy if anything can," Thomas Merton  wrote in a letter to Dorothy Day.

For us whose ministry is walking with those who are hungry (whether we use advocacy, direct service, blogging or other gifts), every year Bread for the World offers us a handy tool entitled "Lenten Prayers for Hungry People." The reflections come in the form of  "table tents" that include a prayer for each of the six weeks in Lent, Bible scriptures and actions that will help in the fight to end hunger. The weekly reflections, Scripture readings and prayers for this year are available online through a PDF download.

"I am ready for Lent, and my table tent is ready to inspire me. I’ve put it near my coffee pot, where it is sure to be seen each Sunday," Robin Stephenson, national lead for social media and a senior organizer at Bread for the World,wrote in a piece entitled "Traveling in the Wilderness," published in the Bread blog.

One Thousand Bloggers to Write about Compassion and Social Justice on February 20

Social justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations. We uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.  

Eight years ago, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed February 20 as World Day of Social Justice.  In issuing this declaration, the UN invited all member states to promote national activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development, whose guiding principle is to put people at the center of development. The International Labor Organization (ILO), working with the UN, has taken this principle a step further, developing the link between the rights of workers and communities with the increasing trend toward globalization.  In June 2008, the ILO released the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization.

The World Day of Social Justice has also given a group of bloggers an opportunity to come together on a single to post a piece about compassion. One Facebook group called 1000 Voices for Compassion has recruited 1000 bloggers to write posts about compassion, kindness, support, caring for others, non-judgement, care for the environment and other similar issues exactly two weeks from today. The number 1,000 is a target, not a limit. As of February 6, 1,107 people (including yours truly) had signed up for the group.  This means there could be 1,107 blog posts with the Twitter and Facebook hashtag #1000Speak on that day. 1000 Voices for Compassion also has a Facebook Page.

We do not often seem to think of social justice and compassion as compatible. Our thoughts about social justice are often about righting a wrong or fighting inequality. Those actions are often identified with angry protests by the oppressed and those who advocate for the oppressed against an oppressive economic system. February 20 is not about protests (even though they are certainly justified in most cases). By setting aside our anger about global inequalities (at least for a day), we are best able to enter into dialogue about the principles that should underlie economic and social relations within each country and among countries.

Here is a quote from the ILO's Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization.
The Declaration provides leaders and decision-makers with a balanced approach that connects with people and productive solutions at home, while also offering a common platform for governance at the international level. It contributes to policy co- herence for sustainable development in national policies, among international organizations and in development cooperation, bringing together social, economic and environmental object- ives. In this regard, it highlights that international and regional organizations with mandates in closely related fi elds can play an important role in the implementation of the integrated approach required and invites them to promote decent work. 

Stay tuned for 1,000 or more blog posts about compassion on February 20.

Will Fighting Hunger and Poverty be a Priority During Gov. Susana Martinez's Second Term?

"In the fall of 2003, I stood on a stage very similar to this one at another hotel in Albuquerque. The occasion was then-Governor Richardson’s Hunger Summit, a gathering attended by about 300 people. That summit, by the way, was precipitated by USDA statistics that found New Mexico ranked number one in the U.S. in food insecurity.  

The story I told then is the same one I’ll tell today. We must shift our attention from only addressing the symptoms, namely hunger and food insecurity, and stop ignoring the disease, namely poverty."   -Mark Winne (excerpts from keynote speech at End Hunger Conference, July 2014)

The other day I received an envelope containing  a shiny, glossy brochure with a long list of Issues and Challenges addressed during the End Hunger in New Mexico Summit 2014.  The brochure also contained a list of Action Areas discussed at the summit, as well as a long list of highlights. On the same week, while cleaning out some files in our office/computer room I happened to have come across a report entitled The State of Hunger in New Mexico, dated October 16-17, 2003.  Mark Winne, a keynote speaker at the End Hunger in New Mexico event in 2014, was also a major participant in the 2003 summit. He offered a comparison of the two summits and pointed out some areas of progress, but also indicating that we really haven't done a lot to solve this ongoing problem that has prevailed during the administrations of Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson and Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

What role will Human Services Department play?

Martinez was reelected by a broad margin in November 2014, and we hope that she will take the problem more seriously during her second term. Eliminating hunger and poverty in our state did not appear to be a top priority for her in her first term. In fact, the very opposite was true. She hired a secretary of health and human services who said there was "no evidence of significant hunger in New Mexico." That secretary, Sidonie Squier, recently submitted her resignation.

Martinez has an opportunity to rectify this mistaken by appointing an individual to the post who truly recognizes that there are structural problems that perpetuate hunger in New Mexico. That individual must take a broad view of the problem, recognizing that hunger not only affects children and seniors, but also  working families, rural communities, Indian reservations and border communities. I wrote about taking this comprehensive view following the July 2014 summit.

An important step would be for the Human Services Department (HSD) to participate in any statewide anti-hunger efforts. The  agencies most involved with the anti-hunger summit in July 2014 were the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District and the Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging. Where was HSD? The organizers of the July summit spoke of holding  a follow-up summit, perhaps in the summer of 2015. Will the new head of HSD be a major participant?

And while we're looking to develop long-term solutions to hunger in New Mexico, our state should continue to support and strengthen our safety net. Near the end of Martinez's first term, HSD proposed  quite the opposite: a change in the work requirement to limit food stamps available to adults by expanding mandatory job search requirements to include households with children and work requirements for all childless adults.

The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and the Southwest Organizing Project filed a lawsuit, claiming that  the agency did not follow proper procedures in adopting new work-related requirements. In response to the lawsuit, a state district judge put a temporary halt to the new requirements, which prompted the HSD to announce that it would redo the plan for imposing work requirements. An HSD spokesperson said the change was an attempt to bring "increased transparency and accountability" to the process.

While the effort to bring stakeholders into the process is important because there will now be public debate, the administration is still intent on imposing the work rules. We hope that beyond bringing more "transparency" into its directives, the administration makes a serious attempt to address hunger and poverty in our state. Martinez needs to put her muscle behind a plan that brings in all the relevant agencies.  A good first step is to ensure that HSD is part of the solution and not an obstacle.

From brochure from July 2014 conference

Table of Contents from report following 2003 summit

'Classroom Crusader' Keeps First Graders from Going Hungry

As a first-grade teacher in the Albuquerque public schools, where he's been working for 21 years now, Callahan has seen too many children coming to school hungry. When he first started working, Callahan says, he had no idea that so many kids and families were suffering to the degree of being homeless or unable to feed their children dinner each night.  from an article in The Huffington Post

I was going to put together a  blog post to simply celebrate Marvin Callahan, a teacher at Comanche Elementary School in Albuquerque, who has been recognized for his efforts to address hunger in the classroom. The Huffington Post wrote a great article in September about his efforts to ensure that his first graders and their families would have enough to eat on weekends. He recently appeared on the Meredith Vieira's Classroom Crusaders (see video below).

I want to take that a step further and talk about how the social safety net in a country as wealthy as ours is full of holes. But first, let me recognize the creative and dedicated Comanche Elementary School teacher. According to The Huffington Post, Callahan  learned that many of the students at the school lived in households where the family did not have enough to eat on  the weekends. Even though the school is located near Comanche and Pennsylvania--not necessarily one of  the poorest areas of town--statistics who that over 60 percent of students qualify for the federal free or reduced-priced lunch program.

Two years ago,  Callahan, with the help of school counselor Karin Medina and other community members, started a backpack program (using their own funds)  to send kids home with food on Friday afternoon. The backpack had enough food for families to  prepare two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners.

"Callahan does everything he can to provide for his students, at least during school hours," said the article in The Huffington Post, posted on Sept. 24. "Every morning, he begins the day by asking the 18 students in his first-grade class if they've eaten breakfast that morning, and if they haven't, he sends them to the cafeteria for a meal or gives them a snack from his supply closet--paid for out of his own pocket."

Holes in the Safety Net
Now, to the problem with the inadequate safety net. The situation at Comanche Elementary School is a microcosm of what is happening in our country. "One in seven Americans, more than 46 million people, including 12 million children, rely on food pantries and meal service programs to feed themselves and their families", according to a study that Feeding America released in August. Some 200 food banks are affiliated with Feeding America, including Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque.

"Together, charitable food assistance and federal nutrition assistance programs weave a nutritional safety net for households in need; however, despite participation in one or both of these modes of assistance, many Feeding America client households continue to struggle with food insecurity, which can lead to difficult choices, including spending tradeoffs and coping strategies," said the report.  Here is the Executive Summary See the  Full Report

There is no excuse for families to go hungry in a country as wealthy as ours.  We need to strengthen the social safety net and fully fund programs that allow families to have access to nutritious food. There is no reason why Marvin Callahan would have  to step in. And yet, in  the absence of  a national commitment to end hunger, we give thanks to God for the Marvin Callahans of the world.

KOAT link

Bringing Attention to a Debilitating Disease (Without Having Ice Water Poured on Me)

From ALS Foundation Web site

Thanks to the  Ice Bucket Challenge, I am planning to sendi a donation to Doctors without Borders (Medicins sans Frontiers, MSF). Wait a minute, you say, isn't the Ice Bucket Challenge all about raising money for ALS?  And what does Doctors without Borders have to do with ALS?

There is a  common thread between the ALS Foundation and MSF: both organizations care deeply about raising awareness and taking action on debilitating diseases.  The focus of ALS is on what is commonly known as Lou Gherig's Disease (a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

MSF, of course, is involved with a broad range of diseases, illnesses and health-related concerns, but primarily those that occur as a result of emergency and poverty-related situations.  Health professionals and others who volunteer with MSF  provide medical treatment, support and medication for people facing health emergencies. The organization is currently working in the area where the outbreak of ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic has occurred.

MSF: Global Effort on Ebola 'Inadequate'
Since a good part of the work of Doctors without Borders is to raise awareness, there is concern about the general lack of international action on the ebola outbreak. "Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration that the largest-recorded ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic is an international health emergency, the global effort to stem the outbreak is dangerously inadequate," said Doctors without Borders.



"Working in response to the epidemic since March, MSF currently has 1,086 staff operating in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, treating a rapidly increasing number of patients," said Doctors without Borders. "MSF’s top priority is to provide care for patients infected with the virus. The organization has already deployed the maximum number of its experienced human resources." Read More

Photo: The ONE Campaign

ONE: Let's Stop 'Scary' Disease
Other organizations like the ONE Campaign are also working to bring attention to the ebola crisis."This virus is hitting countries with some of the weakest health systems in the world. Places that don't have enough trained doctors and nurses. Clinics that don't have enough supplies to run labs," adds ONE. "Villages that don't have running water or reliable electricity. This outbreak is showing just how important it is to have strong health systems in place. And it shows why ONE members like you continue to fight for long-term investments in health...We need to work together now to stop ebola in its tracks. Yes, this is a scary and infectious disease - but it can be stopped. And although you may feel removed from the crisis, there are still ways you can help."

ONE lists four worthy organizations providing support on the ground, including MSF, Catholic Relief Services, Africare, and Samaritan Purse.(Note" Donations are not necessarily earmarked for the ebola fight--they simply support the organization)

On the surface, the Ice Bucket Challenge seems like a big summer gimmick. But there was a lot of good that came from the campaign. The activity has brought  people from all walks of life and political persuasions to raise a whopping $23 million in donations for the ALS Foundation.  Heck, even my brother, a Jesuit priest, took the challenge while wearing his Roman collar (and I have a video to prove it).

I am concerned,  however, that the effort to raise money for ALS is overshadowing the urgency of the Ebola outbreak. Therefore, instead of having  a bucket of ice water dumped on my head, I have personally decided to write a check to MSF and write blog post about supporting efforts to address the ebola outbreak.  But I thank the ALS Foundation and its Ice Bucket Challenge  for inspiring me to take this action.

(Note: While I've chosen to focus on the eboloa crisis, some folks are using the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for both the ALS Foundation and MSF.  Check out this video)

End Hunger in New Mexico Summit a Great Success. Now What?

During his keynote address on the first day of the End Hunger in New Mexico summit, Mark Winne mentioned a previous effort in 2003 to address hunger in our state. At that time, New Mexico  was among the states with the highest rate of hunger/food insecurity. What did that effort a decade ago accomplish? Our ranking and statistics did not improve, and in fact they worsened. In 2002, 14% fo the state's population suffered poverty, and that rate rose to 15% in 2012.

There are mixed results from the last effort. A task force that was created to follow up on the 2003 conference managed to keep behind-the-scenes work alive for some time--and even issued a report that was circulated widely.  Then after several years, the task for ceased to exist (and as Winne would tell you, "ask a dozen people, and you'll get a dozen different responses."

Another thought from 2003. The statistics do tell a story of our progress or (lack of progress).  There were many factors beyond or control, especially the last few years--when a major recession and the mortgage crisis that began in 2008 and has never fully ended,  hammered New Mexico.

So let's measure progress in other ways besides the statistics. As Winne pointed out, that 2003 conference  spawned intense efforts  in areas that hadn't been addressed before, including improvements in the nutritional levels of school meals and direct efforts to connect farming communities with various government feeding efforts.

AARP Foundation Campaign

A relevant, timely conversation
So what about this year's summit and it's follow up? First, let me say that the conference was a great success in making the conversation about hunger relevant and bringing together many stakeholders, although I do think the number of participants could have been broadened a little more. So kudos to the organizers: The North Central New Mexico Economic Development District, the Non Metro Area Agency on Aging, and the New Mexico Aging & Long-Term Services Department.

While the summit succeeded in bringing together those individuals, agencies and organizations who care--we have long ways to educate the public at large--which would mean greater media efforts. But this could come with the follow up

As one of the persons who participated in thatt he first summit and who has been involved in efforts to end hunger in New Mexico (and in our country and overseas), I have some thoughts on how to move forward.

Before I do that,  let me acknowledge that there is the impetus for a follow-up.  People were asked to sign up to be part of the effort to move the process forward. And Gene Varela from AARP/AARP Foundation put together the "Take Action on Hunger in New Mexico Workshop Report," summarizing Issues and Challenges and Recommendations or Action Areas (Awareness & Education, Advocacy, Support for Existing Programs, Community Collaboration and Coordination). And there was a sign-up sheet for those who attended the summit to participate in crafting solutions to hunger in New Mexico.

So hopefully, those efforts will take root and create mechanisms to begin to address the problem.

Here's what I propose...
I myself propose a different and simpler approach. My thoughts came in response to a question from summit participant Ari Herring from United Way during an informal conversation outside of the Isleta Conference Center after the summit had ended.  My response was insticntive--and not the result of sitting down and giving the matter deep thought. However, I think there is something to instincts when one has been involved in any effort for a long time.

I told Ari was that our response must start with a sense of focus. The document that Gene Varela handed out was filled with proposals and valuabe input from the various participants at workshops and during plenary sessions.  All of that is a good starting point. The question is how  we make the best use of those resources and expertise.

Commemorative Pot

There are various ways in which hunger and poverty affect New Mexicans, and we must take this into account into our solutions. There isn't a one-size fits all approach, so let's examine the various how hunger affects different New Mexican populations and respond accordingly.

Most of the public officials (including Gov. Susana Martinez and all of our congressional representatives) who spoke at the plenary sessions, mentioned two populations in particular: children and seniors. 

There are three other populations that merit serious discussion, not only on immediate solutions but on sustainable long-term responses. For example, working families are hit hard by hunger, and a solution would be to address the issue of low wages in our state. My proposal would be to  form task forces to look at the problems and draft a set of steps to address hunger for each of these populations.

• Children and Mothers
• Seniors
• Working Families
• Rural Communities
• Native American/Indian Communities

I admit there is the extreme likelihood of overlap. And yet, each of these populations merits its own study and set of solutions that will be part of the overall effort to address hunger in New Mexico.I think the unique (and common) problems in each of these communities are what is contributing to our poor rankings.

I also would like to bring in a suggestion that I made to conference moderator Myles Copeland in an earlier informal post-summit conversation. Just so we can build on what was discussed in the 2003 conference, it would be useful to bring in individuals and organizations that participated then. The one natural ally should the New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council (which would include Mark Winne and Pam Roy).

A final word about those rankings. As a person who also looks at the national picture, I don't think we should be measuring our progress in relation to where we stand against other states, but more in regards of where we have been and how we have improved since that time.

A word from two speakers
At this point, I think it would be useful to share a couple of quotes from presenters at this year's summit, Ellen Teller from the Washington, D.C.-based Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and Terry Brunner, USDA's Director of Rural Development for New Mexico.

Ellen Teller, FRAC

On Income Disparity: Hunger is a symptom of poverty..Income of the bottom fifth of the population was about 2% lower in 2012 than it was in 1973.The wages and income of the top fifth grew by 46% That shows you how lopsided [income levels have evolved'

On Advocacy: We have to continue to educate our elected officials at all levels of government what the problem is in your back yard...The best way to educate your member of Congress is to invite them to come to your agency.  This is the most relaxed way to communicate with an elected official."

Terry Brunner, USDA

Ladders of Opportunity: This is a concept that we've been working on for the last two years.We want to make sure that if you [live in a town growing up in America, (and I often growing up in rural America) regardless of your race, regardless of  whether you grew up poor or grew up hungry or whether a small town in the middle of nowhere, you should have the same opportunities as everyone else to succeed.  We're working with communities across the nation to make sure those ladders of opportunity exist...When you grow up in a small town you should have access to food, access to health insurance, access to jobs, or education... You can climb that ladder to reach success. That's something that we're aiming for.

Prayers and Actions on Behalf of the People of the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic is almost 8,000 miles from where I sit in Albuquerque. The huge distance makes it very easy not to be aware of the crisis that has developed in the former French colony, a landlocked country of more than 4.4 million.

As an anti-hunger advocate, I try to stay on top of the important issues. But chances are the CAR would not have crossed my mind this Sunday were it  not for a recent article by Rev. Jim Wallis in Sojourners, who said, "as I have followed the reports coming from Central African Republic (CAR), I am heartbroken over the suffering of a people the world seems to have forgotten."

To be fair, there has been some media coverage of the conflict in the CAR, but in this day of information overload, the crisis might have become just one of many revolving issues on a ticker-tape menu of coverage. 

Mega Crisis
Speaking to the BBC in the capital, Bangui, John Ging of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the country was in a "mega-crisis". Mr Ging said that many in the population were living in fear because of religious and ethnic attacks. He said the concern now was that matters could worsen further. Last week the UN warned that the country faced disaster because of people fleeing the conflict to pack into overcrowded camps with poor sanitation. BBC on Jan. 15

So who are these armed rebels and why are they attacking innocent civilians? An AP article (in  The New York Times) offers an explanation: 

Christians and Muslims have lived peaceably in Central African Republic for generations, but political struggles between former President François Bozizé and Michel Djotodia, who ousted Mr. Bozizé last year with the backing of Muslim militias, have engendered sectarian strife. Mr. Djotodia’s departure this month and the installation of an interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza, have not brought relief to civilians. United Nations officials continue to warn of the risk of genocide. Children have been recruited to fight. Roughly one in five people have fled their homes, and the World Food Program estimates that a majority of the country’s 4.6 million people are eating one meal a day.

A Prayer from CRS
Is this a religious or political strife? Can you claim to be a devout Muslim or devout Christian and commit murder in the name of self- (or group) preservation?

I offer excerpts this prayer from Catholic Relief Services.

Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga and Imam Omour Kobine of Bangui pray together during a tour promoting tolerance and reconciliation in Central African Republic. (Photo by Sam Phelps for CRS)

Loving God,

We ask that your spirit touch the peoples of the Central African Republic.
That brother no longer turn against brother.
Nor sister against sister.
May your children learn to live side by side:
To forgive
To reconcile
To build and not tear down.
And so may we all.
Lord, who calls all peacemakers blessed,
Empower all peacemakers inside and outside the Central African Republic:
To stand up for the vulnerable
To harbor the refugee
To aid the afflicted
To comfort the frightened
To work and advocate for justice
To say “No more!” to violence.
 (download full prayer in PDF)

Rev. Jim Wallis on Why We Should Care
And here is some perspective from  Rev. Wallis:

So what can we do? And why should we care? CAR does not have in-demand exports. Even before the crisis began, CAR ranked 180^th out of 187 on the UN’s Human Development index. There is no economic or political reason why the suffering in CAR should capture our hearts.

But that is why, as people of faith and followers of Christ, we should care. Jesus said, “whenever you failed to help any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you failed to do it for me.” (Matthew 25:45, CEV). It violates our deepest moral principles when we fail to speak out for the common good for all — not just our particular groups, tribes, or sects.

The example of our sisters and brothers working for peace in CAR should inspire us to advocate for a resolution to this crisis. We should contact our members of Congress and ask that our embassy be reopened — not only as a sign of our support, but because its closure impedes the work of peace in the country. And we should remind our elected representatives that our best values tell us that children — no matter what country they’re from — should be protected from war, not recruited to fight it.

So on this Super Bowl Sunday, when we are distracted by many other things, I urge us to keep the people of the CAR in our hearts and in our minds.