In Nicaragua, women sorting coffee beans for a fair trade project . Photo by Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Today’s Readings

“Don’t worry so much about livelihood. Your livelihood will turn out as it should. Be constantly occupied instead with listening to God.”
- Jelaluddin Rumi

Catholic social teaching calls us to be socially responsible citizens. As consumers, we can support the fair trade market of goods; as workers, we are entitled to decent wages and safe working conditions. While you look at this picture of women working, reflect on how their work affects people worldwide.

God of justice, install a sense of solidarity within us. Help us realize how our actions affect the global economy. Amen.

Act: Become aware of the dignity of work and how workers in other regions of the world are connected to us by viewing “Solidarity in a Cup,” a multimedia story about how the coffee bean gets to our cup of coffee!

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.

The Fair Trade Federation estimates that fair trade accounts for just .01 percent of the $3.6 trillion in goods exchanged around the world.

The GLOBAL Fair Trade marketplace doubled from 2005 to 2006 to $2.6 billion dollars.

Here in the States Fair Trade Certified product imports into the U.S. have grown at an average annual rate of 76 percent over the last five years (source: TransFair USA).

A CRS-supported microfinance project in Tanzania: sorting chick peas . Photo by David Snyder for CRS.

Today’s Readings

“All the way to God is God.”
- Saint Catherine of Siena

On this ninth day of Advent, look closely at your hands. Our hands are an integral part of who we are; what an important role they play in how we care for others and ourselves! Our hands may differ vastly in color, texture, and size; yet, for each of us, our hands experience touch in the same way. Through the brushing of hands exchanging money, by holding a child’s hand or in hugging a family member … when we touch another person, we share an intimacy of Christ’s presence. Today, be aware of the many roles your hands play today.

Lord, let me feel your presence today as I share physical presence with a stranger. Amen.

Act: Consider purchasing fair trade products and crafts that are handmade to give as Chrismas gifts this year.

Sherlyn, the first female president of a CRS/Nicaragua coffee co-op, and her family. Photo by Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Today’s Readings

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

Today begins the second week of Advent. As Catholics, we are called to a sacred path of faithful citizenship in solidarity with the poor. In our daily lives, we can follow our faith by committing to simple acts such as recycling, purchasing fair trade coffee, or donating money for the poverty-stricken. Through our actions, both large and small, we can change the desire of our hearts and minds.

O God, help me make a thoughtful change today, one that will reflect a generosity felt globally. Amen.

Act: Read about CRS’ work with fair trade.

Jubilant village children in Zimbabwe. Photo by Tom Price/CRS.

Today’s Readings

“God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.”
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet

Reflect: The first week of Advent is coming to an end. Are you discovering a different meaning for the season of Advent this year? Has your holy transformation cultivated solidarity with others? Through God’s presence in our lives, and our presence in the lives of others, Advent comes alive. Each day of the coming weeks, let us continue the dialogue.

Jesus, I am preparing for your birth with joyful meaning, in solidarity with my global family. Amen.

Act: View the CRS Prayer slide reflection, In My Prayer (located under the sub-heading, Solidarity with Africa.)

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. Below, a look at the beginnings of an overseas CRS Fair Trade coffee project.

In 2002, the international price of coffee had dropped to an all time low. Nicaragua, where an estimated one-third of the country’s 5.1 million residents depend in some measure on coffee revenues, has been hit particularly hard by the coffee crisis.

Nicaraguan coffee farmers took to the streets in protest, the low prices for coffee made it impossible for farmers to recoup their production costs. The fragile income that supported their families had collapsed. With their families going hungry, many farmers abandoned their land in search of work in the cities.

CRS/Nicaragua recognized the need for longer-term assistance to help small-scale coffee farmers survive in an unusually competitive international market. This led to a longer-term commitment to provide technical assistance to struggling coffee farmers. CRS and our partner, Caritas Matagalpa, offered to help coffee farmers form a cooperative through which they could work to improve the quality of their coffee, receive access to credit and gain access to the fair trade market.

The Twayovoka Theater Group performing sidewalk dramas on social issues. Photo by David Snyder for CRS.

Today’s Readings

“For the Lord, our Light and our Love, has turned the night into day.”
- Dan Schutte, from the song “City of God”

Reflect: Most of our news comes from mainstream media such as TV or radio. In developing nations, news is often spread by word of mouth and through stories. How did the news of Jesus’ birth disperse? How soon did people actually hear of it? Imagine the excitement and hope that all people felt. Today, think about how you spread the news of Jesus.

God, I need your encouragement today to be a disciple of peace. Amen.

Act: Learn more about CRS work with the Catholic Peacebuilding Network in Colombia.

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. Below, more on our Fair Trade mission.

CRS works through the Fair Trade Program to build right relationships with the people overseas who create the things we enjoy here in the United States.

The CRS Fair Trade program offers four ways to be involved with Fair Trade, the Coffee Project, Chocolate Project, Work of Human Hands, and the Fair Trade fund.

Our overarching goal is to educate Catholics and others about what Fair Trade is and help them spread the word about how to get involved.

The CRS program offeres Fair Trade trainings that cover details about Fair Trade, the projects, and how to become involved. Many of these trainings involve a visit to one of our partners in the United States to meet folks who are 100% dedicated to Fair Trade.

Exhausted from the toll of AIDS. Photo by Sean Sprague/CRS.

Today’s Readings

“And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is right.”
- 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Reflect: Today is the middle of the first week of Advent. Let us remain enthusiastic in our prayer. Let us not tire or become bored with the everyday. When we feel despair or exhaustion, we can turn to Christ and to one another, enveloping a human partnership of support with the Divine. Help us to remember that a hopeful Christ is ever-present in our lives.

God, light within me a spark of vigor for meaningful life. Amen.

Act: Read the stories about the people CRS serves in Benin.

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. Below, a bit of history on CRS involvement with Fair Trade.

Catholic Relief Services has worked to alleviate suffering and promote genuine human development for poor and marginalized people overseas for more than 60 years. We also work to create opportunities for Catholics and others in the United States to live their faith more fully by living it in solidarity with the people we serve around the world. The CRS Fair Trade Program creates opportunities for Catholics in the United States to live their faith in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world, and to honor core principles of Catholic Social Teaching through the choices we make every day as consumers.

The CRS Fair Trade Program strives to build right relationships between our two constituencies—poor and marginalized people overseas and Catholics here in the United States—through collaboration with mission-oriented Fair Trade companies.