Blog: Ecumenical Advocacy Days

“Is This the Fast I Seek?” Isaiah 58           

What does this have to do with Economy, Livelihood and Our National Priorities? Isaiah answers his own question, that what the “fast” God seeks is that we:

• share our bread with the hungry
• bring the homeless poor into our homes
• satisfy the needs of the afflicted.

He challenges us to cease:

• pointing fingers and speaking evil
• oppressing workers
• serving our own interests!

COME, explore God’s call to “fast” and to serve our sisters and brothers. March 23-26, 2012!

Pray, study and celebrate together the hope of communities to live the fast Isaiah tells us God does want - to “loose the bonds of injustice, undo the thongs of the yoke, let the oppressed go free.” And then “your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly. “

In our complex society, how are we REALLY able to do this? Most of us contribute to food banks and give to Thanksgiving and Christmas drives. But more than twenty percent of our children still go to bed hungry. What more systemic solutions are there to creation of a common good?

636,017 persons were living on the streets or in homeless shelters on a given night in January, 2011 (HUD Point-in-Time report) - down by 2.1 percent from 2010 due to stimulus funding having assisted many previously homeless.

Over 20 million emergency room visits are by persons without health insurance, many substituting these visits for primary care – and at a much higher cost to all of us.

While we cope with the terrible conditions experienced by many members of our communities, politicians accuse each other of being responsible for the problems. Opportunists among employers are responsible for “wage theft.” And, our culture is increasingly emphasizing benefits to the self.

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