Many Youth "Wait" in Hunger This Advent

Hunger in the U.S. is increasing, the Chicago Tribune reported this month, and about one third of America's hungry are youth.

The newspaper reported that last year 34.9 million people in our nation were hungry, up 3.9 million from 2001. Last year was the third year in a row that hunger increased in the U.S. The statistics come from a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.

The newspaper also reported that 91,000 people in Cook County visit a food pantry each week, while 21,000 people in Chicago's suburban counties do the same. According to another study quoted in the newspaper, 70 percent of the families who visit food pantries include a working adult and 60 percent include children.

The lowdown: millions of parents in our nation are working but don't make enough money to feed their families. A lot of kids are going to bed hungry.

What's this mean for Catholics "waiting" for the Lord during Advent?

The church teaches that Advent is the time for Catholics to examine what it means to "wait" for the Lord. "Waiting" during Advent takes on a different meaning when you're waiting in line at the food pantry, waiting on a phone call about a job when you're unemployed, or waiting for God to bring about a just world as your kids go to bed hungry each night.

If you have enough to eat and a warm place to sleep, take time this Advent to think about what it must feel like to "wait" for God while your family is suffering. Then in prayer ask God to let that reflection guide you in how you celebrate the season and work for peace throughout the year.

Catholic Connections

What is happening here is all so impossible, but happening. The endurance of the poor and their faith through this terrible pain is constantly pulling me to a deeper faith response...One cries out: Lord, how long?
- Sister Maura Clarke, a U.S. Catholic martyr, who was killed by soldiers in El Salvador in 1980 because she worked with and spoke out for poor people.

Reflection Questions

Who is a person or persons waiting this Advent for relief from suffering and what can you can do to help as God's peacebuilder?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!