This week I listened to Art Simon address a group of coll= ege students about world hunger. = Simon is the founder and president emeritus of Bread for the = World, the nation’s premier lobbying organization for hunger-related issues.= Bread for the World does not suppo= rt any political candidate or party; it spends no money on expensive dinners tryin= g to influence politicians. Instea= d, it has built a network of citizens who write, phone or email their representat= ives in Congress, asking them to pass legislation that will reduce world hunger.= Simon said when he founded the organization 35 years ago, 40,000 children were dying of hunger every day; 40,000. That was the equivalent of 400 747s crashing into the earth every day. No one was doing anything about it= . Today he says there are 5 million = fewer deaths each year simply because people wrote letters to Congress, asking for help at home and around the world. Simon took questions from the students after his talk; one question = came up twice, and I’m not sure if it was because the second student didn’t hear the first question, or if he just couldn’t believe = the answer. The question was a pragmatic one: “Do you think it makes more sense for us to take care = of our hungry here in the United States before we try to help the hungry of ot= her nations? Should we spend a few years ending hunger in America first, and then go out to help the rest of t= he world?” Simon answered = the same way both times: “No,” he said.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> “We have to do both.”<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> What difference does it make who is hungry; one hungry child is one too many, no matter where that child lives. Right now the world has the food and the resources to end global hunger; what we lack= is the will.

Jesus says to his poor disciples in today’s gospel, “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” It doesn’= ;t take much to help your neighbor, but it does take something. Someone who lacks food and water &= #8211; I mean, these are basic necessities. And, as important as it is to pray for people who lack food, I really think Jesus expected some action on their behalf.

Now, everyone helps in many ways. You support the food pantry with contributions, nonperishable items, and the gift of your time. You fix food for funeral lunches a= nd pot lucks. In a typical week at your home, you are probably providing a meal for somebody w= ho does not live there. I cannot= tell you how often I am the recipient of a meal that someone else has fixed or p= aid for. So people already generously reach out in many ways to feed the hungry.

Still, we must find ways to end hunger, not just to provi= de a meal. As Art Simon said, it is better to build a fence at the top of a cliff than to provide an ambulance = at the bottom. We Christians con= tinually need to raise our voice throughout society on behalf of those who have no voice, the hungry, the thirsty, the unborn, those on life support, those in prisons and the victims of crimes. It takes time to write a letter or place a phone call asking for legislation to fund programs that will reduce hunger. Everybody̵= 7;s busy. Eve= rybody’s got important things to do. <= /span>But some kids are going to bed hungry tonight, and the= y need a cup of water to drink. They belong to Christ, and when we help them, Jesus says, we will surely not lose our reward.