A family at home in Kounoungo camp in Chad. Photo by Matthew Breman/CRS

Today’s Readings

“If someone who has the riches of this world sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
- 1 John 3:17

Approximately 1/3 of the world’s population lives in some form of poverty (living on less than $2 daily). Even if we do not directly feel the effects of poverty, we have seen images of its threatening existence. We know God’s will, but sometimes it is difficult to feel God’s presence. As we ponder the hardships of poverty, let us feel a union to those who are poor, one that inspires us to pray and act with passion and hope.

God, sustain us with your bread of life. Amen.

Act: Learn about the everyday life of Iraqi refugees through CRS slideshow. Remember them in prayer today.

A pilgrim prays by candlelight at the wall of Christ’s tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the old city of Jerusalem. This is one of the holiest sites in the world for Christians. As the holiday season approaches and we sing about peace on earth, CRS reflects on its nearly 50 years of service in the Holy Land.

Our projects aim to support peace with justice for all people in this troubled region. Years of conflict have made youngsters feel bleak about their futures., CRS gives them a sense of hope and possibility with programs that introduce them to potential career paths, and encourage them to help the less fortunate. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

Displaced Sri Lankans await their papers for resettlement in Lebanon. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

Today’s Readings

“O come, and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery.”
- Traditional: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday and we light the third, pink candle on the Advent wreath: a candle that embodies anticipation and hope. This week, we reflect on refugees and migrants, those who must leave their homes and make anew in an unfamiliar place. Transient situations in our lives can be unsettling and intimidating. Can you truly image having to leave your home, moving to a place where you may not be able to speak the language, and where the culture, food and money differ? Today, reflect on those who are strangers in a new homeland.

Holy Spirit, help me open the doors of my heart to those in need – physically, spiritually and emotionally. Amen.

Act: Read the USCCB article, Deep Inside, We are all Refugees.

A malnourished toddler from San Marcos, Guatemala. Photo by Rita Villanueva /CRS.

Today’s Readings

“Love is better expressed in deeds rather than in mere words.”
- St. Ignatius

Our life journeys are personal and unique and still each one affects another. Our prayer is their prayer, our air is their air; our souls share the common desire to know and serve God. As we enter into the third week of Advent, let solidarity, fairness, and the promise of hope weave an intricate thread into our thoughts and actions.

Holy Lord, cultivate your spirit within me. Amen.

Act: Consider how your life journey is intertwined with that of others, even people you may never know or see. Consider responding by giving a gift of hope from the CRS Project Catalog in honor of someone who shares your journey very intimately.

Inongo Kokola, a native of southern Africa, works her land to harvest rice in Zambia. Photo by David Snyder for CRS.

Today’s Readings

“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”
- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Life seems bleak in many ways for the terminally ill; yet, a CRS program can restore hope as it did in Zambia for villagers living with HIV. They were given the medications they need and a parcel of land to collectively farm to help them restart their lives. When we find ourselves in seemingly hopeless situations, Christ reaches out to us and hope is restored. This Advent season, let us be Christ to our neighbors.

Faithful God, through our charity, may all of us find hope in the midst of darkness. Amen.

Act: Watch a video of CRS’ work with AIDS orphans in Kenya.

Fair Trade is a easy way to give gifts to loved ones and help working poor families around the world. If you’re looking for gifts you won’t find on department store shelves, check out the CRS Fair Trade web site and blog.

You can promote justice for small-scale farmers and artisans overseas when you:

- Educate yourself and people in your parish, school, office and community to understand how their decision to buy Fair Trade items can help.

- Join the CRS Fair Trade network. You will receive your quarterly copy of The CRS Fair Trader, an electronic newsletter that provides updates on new program developments and new opportunities to promote trade justice.

- Serve and Sell Fair Trade coffee, chocolate and crafts after Mass and at special events in your parish, school, office, community and home. It is a great way to begin a conversation with your fellow parishioners, classmates, colleagues and neighbors about Fair Trade and the hope it offers to small-scale producers overseas.

- Buy Fair Trade for your home, parish, school or office.

- Donate to the CRS Fair Trade Fund.

- Advocate for fairer terms of trade.

Village seed trade in Niger. Photo by CRS staff.

Today’s Readings

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
- Psalm 37:4

As we continue to be mindful of fair trade this week, ask yourself, “How am I an impartial participant in my school or workplace?” Supporting our family and community is a vital part of living a fair lifestyle. But is “being fair” enough? This week, challenge yourself to give more … of your participation, listening, affection, smiles … to give more of yourself. While we await the Lord, we await a fair and just world as well.

Gracious God, make known your desires through our prayer. Amen.

Act: Learn about fair trade chocolate and the lives of cocoa farmers.

Fair Trade is a easy way to give gifts to loved ones and help working poor families around the world. If you’re looking for gifts you won’t find on department store shelves, check out the CRS Fair Trade web site and blog.

When you buy Fair Trade, you:

- Celebrate the human dignity of the farmers who grew it;
- Demonstrate a special concern for the poor;
- Act in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in need overseas;
- Ensure that farmers earn a just wage;
- Contribute to a more just distribution of wealth;
- Practice responsible stewardship of Creation; and
- Promote the principle of subsidiarity.

But buying Fair Trade is not entirely selfless. After all, you get great products that are unique and received a lot of care in their production.

A self-sustaining farmer preparing her corn for market in Angola. Photo by David Snyder for CRS.

Today’s Readings

“Give us this day our daily bread.”
- The Lord’s Prayer

Today, amid our second week of preparation for Jesus’ birth, let us set a moment of our busyness aside. We reflect on our “to do’s” for the day. How are they life-giving to us? How are they life-giving to others? Amid our “daily grind”, let us discover the community of life, which sustains us.

Our Father, thy will be done today. Amen.

Act: Listen to the Lord’s Prayer recited in Aramaic, a language very similar to that of Jesus. Reflect on the fact that Christians all over the world recite this same prayer in their native languages.

Fair Trade is a easy way to give gifts to loved ones and help working poor families around the world. If you’re looking for gifts you won’t find on department store shelves, check out the CRS Fair Trade web site and blog.

As Americans, we collectively spend $19 billion a year to feed our coffee habit. (That is, incidentally, nearly twice the Gross Domestic Product of Nicaragua.)

If there are 250-300 million people in the United States and about 60 million Catholics, then we Catholics are just over one-fifth of the national population. And if the national coffee expenditure is about $20 billion, and if Catholics drink about as much coffee as everyone else, then Catholics in the United States spend about $5 billion each year on coffee.

Clearly, this is not a scientific figure. But it is probably safe to say that each year Catholics in the United States spend billions on coffee. And that’s just coffee—the chocolate industry brings in $14 billion a year in the US alone meaning Catholics spend about $3 billion on chocolate.