What can we do??

Solidarity (being one of the people) does not necessarily mean going to India or Sudan. There are many ways to be in solidarity with the poor and suffering. The first way truly is prayer. It is through prayer, offering up time with God in the name of those suffering, so that we will come to know God more fully ourselves. Christ did this in the garden before his arrest.

But this is not all that Christ did. He also acted, taking in the poor and suffering as his own. We are all family, related through God’s love in creation. We all exist because God is loving enough to will it. Who are we to decide who stays and who goes? Who are we to allow suffering while we live in comfort? Christ did not. I’m sure the spit, jeers, and whipping hurt pretty badly.

It is true that we do not have the means to actually go and change the world over night. Many of us cannot even travel very far to do so. But we do have the means to educate ourselves. Education is where it all begins! Education is how knowledge is spread. We can read of the lack of education in Guatemala and how that contributes to the poverty holding the country down. We can learn of the killing in Sudan. We can learn of the horrors of human trafficking. And we can then take that knowledge and spread it to others so that they too may know what is happening to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In Gaudium et spes, the Second Vatican Council says that we have a “sacred duty” to do so. To not is to ignore a call from God.