Editorial | Another step toward ceasing poverty

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With our country caught in the grip of high unemployment, home foreclosures, market malaise and seemingly endless economic uncertainty, it is easy to forget about the economic plight of our brothers and sisters in Latin America, where poverty, hunger, homelessness and disease are not a temporary condition but a way of life. The poverty in that part of the world is of a scale so great that it is nearly unimaginable for us.

When we get a glimpse of the desperation of so many millions of our brothers and sisters on earth, the challenge can easily seem insurmountable. The last thing in the world we can afford, however, is to be overcome by the sheer magnitude of what remains to be done. Growth, progress and improvement come not by throwing up our hands in desperation but by letting Our Lord make us a people of joy, hope, optimism and perseverance.

Any step we take with Christ, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant, is a step which brings us closer to our shared victory. Growing out of poverty, enhancement of the quality of living and depth in faith and spiritual life come through down-to-earth, concrete effort and means. We must never forget that the foundation of it all is Jesus Christ. It begins and continues nonstop with our prayer.

This weekend we take up our annual collection for the Latin America Apostolate of our archdiocese. For more than 50 years we have been blessed by Our Lord to be able to provide clergy, religious and laity to our missions in Bolivia. Over the course of these years, millions of people have been touched and blessed by the generous outreach of our archdiocesan family. For most of us, this is done largely through the sharing of our material wealth, both in the annual collection and in funds donated throughout the year. For all of us, it must be done in prayer and shared faith. It must be done not in pity but in authentic Christian love.

Our own nation began as a mission territory, and it was only within the last century that we came to be able to stand on our own. Without the missionary activity of our brothers and sisters in faith, we would not have been able to become viable, let alone vital. Perhaps there will again be a time when we must look outside for our bodily and spiritual needs. This much we do know: We are able to help our brothers and sisters in Bolivia today -- right here, right now -- in concrete and positive action.

There can be no better, no more fruitful way to do this than to make the very best and most prayerful response we can in this weekend's collection for the Latin America Apostolate.