By Ingrid Delgado, National Director of Public Policy & Advocacy
Vincentians know Matthew 25 well. In verses 31-46, Jesus teaches us that feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the ill, and visiting the prisoner are the criterion of judgement that will determine if we enter the Kingdom of God for eternal life. In fact, whatever we do (or don’t do) for one of the least of Jesus’ brothers, we did (or didn’t do) for Him. This, of course, is a core part of the Vincentian mission.
But what do we do in a time and in a country in which almost 48,000,000 people are food insecure and in which over 37,000,000 households are cost-burdened, paying over 30% of their income on housing? These staggering numbers challenge us to go beyond the work of charity and promote a more just society.
As Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Deus Caritas Est:
“A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply.”
In our efforts to “bring about openness of mind and will,” the Society of St. Vincent de Paul called for the Farm Bill that was considered by a Congressional committee this week to be a bipartisan product that alleviates hunger and strengthens the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, our nation’s core nutrition program. We are also closely monitoring a bipartisan housing bill that will likely receive a vote in the U.S. Senate next week.
As Vincentians who are dedicated to being in close relationship with and serving people in need, you bring a unique and critical perspective to the promotion of justice. In order to better inform our advocacy work, I am interested in learning about your experiences and perspectives about how our neighbors in need are being impacted by food and housing insecurity and the root causes of those experiences. You can send those to me at stories@svdpusa.org.
And if you are just starting to engage in the work of promoting justice through advocacy, please sign up for our electronic advocacy alerts for easy opportunities to write your elected officials about policy proposals impacting our neighbors in need: https://votervoice.net/SVDPUSA/home.
