WUCWO women: let’s get down to work

“You give them something to eat” (Lk 9:13). Whatever we have can bear fruit if we give it away – that is what Jesus wants to tell us – and it does not matter whether it is great or small. The Lord does great things with our littleness, as he did with the five loaves (…) he works with simple things.  God’s omnipotence is lowly, made up of love alone.  And love can accomplish great things with little” (Homily of Pope Francis, 23 June 2019).

Dear friends, in this month of July, first of all, I would like to thank you for the daily work that each member of our organisations does: to be close to those who suffer, to attend to their "wounds," to care for and protect life and families, to grow faith and hope in the People of God, to attend to children, the elderly, the sick, the homeless, those with no education, bread and drinking water to survive, to go out to meet the young, to listen to and respond to the cry of our Common Home... to pray and do perpetual adoration which enriches our whole network of communicating vessels with the grace proper to the communion of saints. There are so many charismas in our WUCWO organisations!

However, sometimes, perceiving all that is left to do and the few resources we have, it may happen to us what happened to the disciples of Jesus, who did not want to take charge of feeding so many people who followed Jesus' preaching. It is then that the Evil One can deceive us and make us fall into the temptation of sitting back, out of indifference, or of continuing as before, without seeking creative answers and without feeling responsible for what is happening in the world we live in.

Do we feel responsible for the fact that due to a lack of adequate nutrition - among many other causes - migratory currents are generated, bringing as a consequence the separation of families, the trafficking of persons, the migration of unaccompanied minors, and the abuse of many of them? Are we aware that we have to contribute to reaching "zero hunger" because this planet can, with the technology we have today, feed all of us who were called to the banquet of life?

Hunger in the world, after the decrease that had been taking place in the last 30 years, increased again, according to the figures of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), despite the fact that, according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it should have been eliminated globally in the next decade. Seventy percent of those suffering from hunger are women. For the same reason, 150 million children are stunted.

Over these last days I have been able to participate in the FAO General Assembly in Rome. I have also listened to the homily of Pope Francis on the solemnity of Corpus Christi. That is why this reflection has born, which I apply to myself and humbly share with you.

We are women and we have a central role in nutrition. We have to nourish the system and the spirit, the culture and the faith, people and society: we have been created to give life, to gestate it from within us and to generate it around us. Let us not let ourselves be robbed of our maternity! Each one of us can and must "give something to eat."

And what is our main source, the one that nourishes us ourselves so we can feed those around us who suffer so many different kinds of "hunger"? It is the Eucharist, “…for there we find God himself contained in a piece of bread. Simple, essential, bread broken and shared, the Eucharist we receive allows us to see things as God does. It inspires us to give ourselves to others. It is the antidote to the mindset that says: “Sorry, that is not my problem”, or: “I have no time, I can’t help you, it’s none of my business”. Or that looks the other way…” (Homily of Pope Francis, 23 June 2019).

WUCWO women, the Holy Spirit called us to Dakar and there inspired us for the resolutions that we need to focus on during the period 2018-2022: on a healthy planet, on families and their most vulnerable members, on eradicating all violence against women and on moving forward on the path to holiness. Let us make available to WUCWO the experience of each organisation in these matters: let’s write to the Secretariat about our activities and let’s send photos and materials. Let’s share our few loaves so that the Lord, seeing that we give everything we have, no matter how small, can multiply it. Let's get down to work!

María Lía Zervino, Servidora

WUCWO President General