Staff Writer
"Through the eyes of faith, the starving child, the believer in jail and the woman without clean water or health care are not issues, but Jesus in disguise."
Those words, from the U.S. Catholic bishops, are the theme for the annual American Bishops' Overseas Appeal, March 9-10. In a pulpit letter addressed to all parishioners last weekend, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard asked Catholics to reflect on the needs of the less fortunate.
"The terrible events of September 11, 2001, and its aftermath have changed the way we look at the world," he wrote. "Though our sense of well-being has been shaken, we may find in this vulnerability a special kinship with our brothers and sisters in the developing world whose lives are also unsettled. Many flee war, or suffer from persecution by repressive regimes, or are left homeless by natural disasters. For their sake, we must resist the urge to turn inward and instead become more engaged in the world."
American Catholics can respond to such needs through the collection, which helps such countries as Ghana, where 75 percent of the population lacks access to pre-natal and child care; and Guatemala, where 90 percent of the population lives in poverty. Additionally, the collection provides help to the world's 30 million refugees, who flee from famine, persecution and long-term conflicts.
In a letter concluding Jubilee Year 2000, Pope John Paul II urged Catholics to "contemplate the face of Christ," reminding us that "there is a special presence of Christ in the poor, and this requires the Church to make a preferential option for them."
By supporting the appeal, Bishop Hubbard told Catholics, they continue to build the international apostolate of the Catholic Church and stand "in solidarity with the starving child, the believer in jail, the woman without clean water or health care, and others in whom we see Jesus in disguise."