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A
Dangerous Truth
30
July 2006
Fr.
George Smiga
John
6:1-15
It
is a dangerous thing for you when your pastor travels to El
Salvador , especially when it is the kind of trip from which
I have just returned. It is dangerous because what affects
me, affects my preaching, and that affects what you will be
listening to from some time to come. The trip was called an
“encounter.” Its goal was to lift our delegation from the
first world and place us gently but definitively in the third
world. Crispaz , who designed the trip, did an excellent
job of informing us of the history, culture, and present situation
of El Salvador . They brought us face to face with politicians,
economists, environmentalists, theologians, and church leaders
who provided a complex but consistent picture of the country.
The
picture is not good. I have traveled to many places in the
world, but I have never seen the kind of poverty which I saw
in El Salvador . Thousands of people were living in corrugated
metal huts without water, electricity, or sewage. Yet they
were living blocks away from a modern shopping mall about
four times the size of Beachwood Place filled with upscale
American and European merchandise. There is money in El Salvador
but the majority of its people have little access to it. The
average person in El Salvador makes $160 per month, and the
cost of most products is comparable to what we pay in the
United States . The land has been exploited. Since the time
of the Spanish conquistadors, the trees, minerals, and other
resources have been exported without care for the environment.
Today because of the land's erosion, farming is difficult
without expensive chemicals and fertilizers. Those who are
able to receive an education find no jobs. This is why a significant
number of the young in El Salvador risk their lives to enter
the United States illegally. Roughly one third of the economy
of the country now depends upon “remittances.” This is the
term used to describe the money Salvadorans living in the
United States send back to their families at home. The poverty
and inequality render the political situation dicey. Public
demonstrations are often marked with violence. There are disturbing
rumors that the “death squads” which killed thousands in the
1980's may return.
The
picture is bleak. I struggled and continue to struggle to
discover how I, as a follower of Jesus, can respond to such
a desperate situation. An easy response is money. There is
no doubt that money can help, especially when it is targeted
to be used in a way that empowers groups within the country.
This is the approach we have been taking for three years in
our relationship with Mujer y Comunidad, a women's
group in Zaragoza . But the structural problems of the country
are so pervasive and complex that it is clear that no amount
of our charity will resolve them.
So
what can we do? What should we do? I am sure that I will be
struggling with these questions for years to come. But there
are two truths in today's gospel which can at least provide
a beginning to a Christian answer.
The
first comes from the exchange between Jesus and Philip. Looking
at a crowd of 5,000 hungry people, Jesus asks Philip, “Where
will we go to buy bread for them to eat?” With this question
Jesus makes it clear that the problem of those who are hungry
is our problem too. A Christian cannot say that the hunger
and poverty of others is their problem alone. We are connected
to each other. This is true not only spiritually but economically.
We live in a global economy. We in the United States are at
the top of that economy. The way we live, the way we shop,
the way we invest or refuse to invest affects the world. It
affects the poorest nations most dramatically. We cannot live
our lifestyle within our own borders without impacting others.
Such isolation is an illusion both economically and spiritually.
The problems of the world are our problems too.
The
second truth emerges from the exchange between Jesus and Andrew.
Andrew tells Jesus that he has five loaves and two fish, but
that it is impossible to make a difference by using them:
“What good are they among so many?” Jesus uses them anyway.
Thus he teaches us that the impossible is no excuse. Even
though what we can contribute is hopelessly insignificant
compared with the size and complexity of the need, we must
contribute anyway. We must believe that even small changes
in our lifestyle, our shopping, our attitudes can and will
be used by God for good. What those changes should be must
be discerned by each of us. But we cannot use the smallness
of their impact to absolve us of the responsibility. The impossible
is no excuse. We must act.
It
is a dangerous thing to travel to El Salvador . It changes
you. It initiates a journey of redefining what the gospel
means. It is a humble beginning to realize that the problems
of the world's poor are our problems too and that the smallness
of our options does not excuse our inaction. These are two
simple truths, two small steps to begin a long journey. I
invite you to make that journey with me.
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