Sarah Hagger-Holt works in CAFOD’s campaigns team. She’s determined not to give up hope that together we can build a better world – here’s her seven reasons why.
There’s no disguising the fact that we face huge challenges in tackling climate change – but if we don’t recognise how far we’ve come, we won’t have the energy we need for upcoming battles.
So, if you are tempted to give up hope, read on for seven reasons to stay cheerful.
We can overcome our differences. This week, the UK joined 110 other countries who have ratified the Paris Agreement for cutting carbon emissions and tackling climate change. Something worth celebrating!
Rachel McCarthy works in the CAFOD Theology Programme. She reflects on the inspiring prayers, gifts and actions of the Catholic community throughout this Year of Mercy.
At the beginning of the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis proclaimed, “May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away, as a sign that the Kingdom of God is already present in our midst!”
I have been amazed by the ways you have borne witness to God’s mercy this year, through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Thank you for all you do to stand alongside our sisters and brothers living in poverty. Here, we celebrate how you have brought mercy to your local communities and our world.
This Harvest, St John Bosco’s parish in Woodley offered gifts to people who are hungry around world.
Rita Belletty said, “This year we held a creation mass and Harvest offering. It is a token offered back to God in thanksgiving for the gift of fruitful earth, sun and water, joined by our own labour, making us co-creators with God. The second offering was a globe which was taken up to remind us that it is the whole world we are praying for.”
Susanna Webb, CAFOD Candlelight Funds Officer, talks about some of the special families who remember a loved one with a Candlelight Fund
I’ve worked in CAFOD’s Legacy and Remembrance giving team for nearly 8 years and without a doubt the real privilege is hearing from so many families who are creating hope amidst their grief.
Candlelight Funds are a way of paying tribute to someone special while also raising money for men, women and children living in poverty around the world. Over the course of the last 10 years, more than 600 people and families have decided to remember their loved one with gifts to CAFOD’s work.
Here you can read about how some of those families have paid tribute to their loved ones while also building a brighter future for our brothers and sisters around the world.
Sophie Allin is CAFOD’s Emergency Programme Manager for the Philippines. Since Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines three years ago, she has seen communities rebuild their lives with the help of CAFOD’s local partners. Here she tells us what has been achieved with the generous donations of our supporters.
One of the new schools re-built after Typhoon Haiyan by CAFOD’s partner in Bantayan
This November, we remember those who lost their lives three years ago to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. As communities brace themselves for new typhoons, we continue to support people to rebuild their lives and hopes.
Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on 8 November 2013. More than 6,000 people died and five million families lost their homes. On a recent visit, I met with some of the communities CAFOD has been working with over the last three years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters.
Hannah Caldwell, CAFOD’s legacy officer, reflects on how gifts in wills help communities look to the future with hope.
The Oxford dictionary defines the word “legacy” as: “Something left or handed down by a predecessor.”
Working for CAFOD’s legacy team, I always think of a legacy in hugely positive terms. To me, it means a gift, carefully and faithfully given, to help continue the values of love and hope that a person held dear during their lifetime. It’s a gift that will reach out and help build a brighter future for generations to come.
Hannah Caldwell, CAFOD’s legacy officer, explains what she loves about legacies.
People are sometimes surprised to hear that I love my job. “Gifts in wills…?” they ask cautiously, “isn’t that kind of…depressing?” My answer is an assured “No!”
Because it’s quite the opposite. Gifts in wills, also known as legacies, are about life, not death, and it’s really special to be part of a supporter’s journey to decide to leave a gift to CAFOD in this way.
One of my favourite passages of scripture is from the Book of Jeremiah, ‘”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”’
Gifts in wills are helping children have a more hopeful future.
A legacy is a gift of hope, a gift pledged today to promise to bring about a better future for others.
It’s easy to be cynical about the way the world is, or resign ourselves to the feeling that things can’t change. But a legacy flies in the face of this defeatism! It says things can change; that the world can be a better place. And through their gift we can help bring about that change for many years to come. A legacy is part of building a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.
Daniel Hale is CAFOD’s Head of Campaigns. In November, CAFOD will be hosting retreats all around the country, giving supporters a chance to reflect on faith and taking action in light of the Year of Mercy.
There are only three more weeks until the end of the Year of Mercy, the holy year called by Pope Francis to reflect on the mercy of God. Of course reflection is good at any time, but why did the Pope ask for this year to be the year?
I think it was a clever way to ask us to take a fresh look at the problems faced by the world and its people. The refugee crisis, to which Pope Francis had tried to draw so much attention was one such issue.
The Lampedusa Cross has been an image of hope during the Year of Mercy
Over several years Francis had done a lot to promote the cause of refugees, including visiting Lampedusa, where so many migrants washed up on European shores. But the world was slow to act.
“Then he told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.”
“Pope Francis invites us to step back and make time for reflection”
Jesus tells us a story that is all too true – a defenceless widow is taken advantage of and refused her rights.
The judge and widow in this parable represent opposite ends of the social spectrum. The judge is the epitome of power and the widow the epitome of powerlessness. Through sheer persistence she wears down the unscrupulous judge until he gives her justice.
We see that persistence pays off and that through faith and trust in God, and prayer, all things can become possible.
Of course we prefer prayer to grant what we ask for as soon as we ask it. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis refers to the process of ‘rapidification’, the continued acceleration of changes affecting humanity and the planet coupled with a more intensified pace of life and work.
We have become used to things happening instantaneously. We expect medicine to give instant relief. We expect technology to instantly connect us to family on the other side of the world.
Greenhouses like this one on the Bolivian Altiplano protect crops from the harsh environment all year round.
We expect an instant return on our investments. Shouldn’t it be the same with prayer?
But God does not promise instant answers to prayers. Pope Francis invites us to step back and make time for reflection. This is the same with prayer. We need the persistence and the faith of the defenceless widow.
Lord, give me the perseverance and patience to make time for prayer and for you. Help me to understand that you are always there for me and that my prayers, so far as they are for my good, will be heard. Amen.
For the last 70 years, World Food Day has been celebrated on 16 October to raise awareness of all those who suffer from hunger. With our climate rapidly changing, the way we grow food must also change. This World Food Day, Sally Kitchener shares how Susana in Bolivia is working with one of CAFOD’s partners to learn how to adapt to the changing climate.
With the climate changing, Susana is struggling to grow enough food on her farm in Bolivia.
“God made us from the earth, from the land. And He also told us to work the land.” 58-year-old Susana Marca Escobar furrows her brow as her eyes scan across her farm.
“But the climate is changing. The heat burns the land and the soil is like fire. Our poor little plants, when they are just seedlings, how can they survive?”
Susana has been working the land her entire life. When she was a teenager, she already knew how to grow the staple foods common in this area of Bolivia – potatoes, beans, quinoa and maize.
It has never been an easy job. The Altiplano where she lives is around 12,000 feet above sea level and not only suffers from a lack of water, but from unpredictable hail storms that often appear without warning. The hailstones can devastate an entire field of potatoes in a matter of minutes, wiping out months of hard work and destroying families’ food supply and their only method of earning money.
Conditions on the Bolivian Altiplano are tough. Even when the harvest is good, Vladimir and Maria’s diet is mainly potatoes and beans
Laura Ouseley works in CAFOD’s Media team. This Harvest, inspired by the efforts of our partners in Bolivia, Laura tells us about her own struggles for vegetable garden bliss.
I’ve only had my allotment a couple of years, but have already learnt so much. My friends and family have also learnt – the hard way – that it is now my favourite (and they would argue, only) topic of conversation!
Whilst I’ve discovered so much about the different varieties of fruit and vegetables that can be grown, I’ve learnt far more about the challenges faced by the grower: from fighting back pests, preventing the spread of disease, removing stubborn weeds and preparing soil, to trying to deal with the impacts of unpredictable weather and climate.
