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Augustinians Support Goal to Cut Hunger in Half

Jesus taught that we should show active concern for the needs of others. "Come, you have my Father's blessing! Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you . . . For I was hungry and you give me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. . . As often as you did this for one of my least brothers or sisters, you did it for me." (--See Matthew 25: 31-46)

These words of Jesus enable us to understand the deep significance in God’s eyes of meeting the fundamental needs of every man, woman and child. Care for the hungry and needy is an essential part of the Christian message and of traditional Catholic moral teaching.

In organizing the Augustinian Hunger Campaign, the Order of St. Augustine attempted to put into action the teaching of Jesus. Augustinians and all who would like to share in Augustinian Spirituality are invited and encouraged to continue to increase their awareness of the nature and scope of hunger in our country and in our world, to pray for an end to hunger, and to act to help reach the Millennium Development Goal (Opens new window) of reducing by half by 2015 the number of persons who die of hunger.

The Augustinian Hunger Campaign encourages not only acts of charity - giving assistance or direct aid to the hungry - but also acts of justice - becoming more aware of the circumstances which allow or even force people to go hungry, and then taking steps promote changes in those circumstances, in order to transform our society into one that is more just.

The Campaign has ended, but the need to combat hunger has not. For that reason, we continue to offer the following resources to assist you in reflecting, praying and acting to end hunger:

• Reflect

  •       » Hunger x Half
                 Hunger facts and steps you can take to cut hunger in half

  •       » Toward a World Without Hunger
                 Reflections from Saint Augustine on fighting hunger

  •       » Fasting, Hunger and the Poor
                 Saint Augustine's thought on fasting and caring for those in need

  •       » Our Daily Bread?
                 An Augustinian perspective on poverty and hunger

  •       » Fighting Poverty to Build Peace (Opens new window)
                 Reflections of Pope Benedict XVI for World Day of Peace 2009

  •       » Freeing the World of Hunger (Opens new window)
                 What is hunger? What causes hunger? Who are the hungry?

• Pray

  •        » Prayers Before Meals
                 Twelve table blessing prayers combined with prayer for the hungry

  •        » Augustinian Prayer Service for World Food Day
                 Prayers to end hunger can be adapted for use throughout the year

• Act

  •       » A Three-Minute Activity to Fight Hunger
                 How you can write a brief, effective letter to government officials

  •       » New Type of Eucharistic Fast
                 A sign of commitment to feed the hungry

  •        » End Hunger: Walk the World (Opens new window)
                 An annual global action to help end child hunger

  •        » First Fridays for Food Security (Opens new window)
                 Catholic Bishops’ initiative, with Facebook forum

Thoughts from Saint Augustine

• God does not demand much of you. He asks back what he gave you, and from him you take what is enough for you. The superfluities of the rich are the necessities of the poor. When you possess superfluities, you possess what belongs to others. -- Exposition on Psalm 147, 12

• Do you think it's a small matter that you are eating someone else's food? Listen to the apostle: We brought nothing into this world. You have come to the world, you have found a full table spread before you. But the Lord's is the earth and its fullness. (-- Ps 24:1) God bestows the world on the poor; he bestows it on the rich. -- Sermon 29, 2-4