Dear Father,
I am writing on behalf of the Diocesan Council of Development and Peace, to ask you to remind your parishioners on Sunday, March 19, that the Share Lent Collection will be taken up on Solidarity Sunday, March 26, the 5th Sunday of Lent.
The comments by Bishop Raymond Poisson, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops covers a great deal of the concerns we have for a successful collection and a way to keep Hope alive in these turbulent times. In his message in the Mini-magazine, he states:
“At the heart of Development and Peace’s transformative work are education, action and fundraising campaigns that bring thousands of Canadian Catholics together every year. This year, to create Hope we are asked to stand for the land. Why? Because around the world, many communities desperately want to protect their land, a source of hope. Let’s show our solidarity with those who defend the lands, waters and forests that sustain them, as well as the culture, history and identity that define them.
How can we stand in solidarity with them?
1. By giving generously to Share Lent (on Solidarity Sunday, the 5th Sunday of Lent, and throughout the rest of Lent), in solidarity with communities in the Global South who are defending life and their land to ensure a future of justice, rights, dignity, respect, peace and harmony for their families.
2. By learning about why it is important to Stand for the Land and joining the action in the fall, to ensure that the voices of the poorest and most marginalized people in the Global South are heard and steps are taken to create change.
Therefore, I invite you to Create Hope by supporting Development and Peace’s Stand for the Land Campaign. Give generously, get involved in your community, be the hands and feet of Christ in the world: ‘let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.’ (1 John 3:18).
In addition to Bishop Poisson’s message, people need to know that their Share Lent offering helps victims of earthquakes, such as the one in Syria and Turkey. Through Caritas-Canada we are on the ground assisting the people through our donations to provide food, shelter, water, medicine, counselling, warmth and other survival help.
Our donations also help communities to grow more food to ward off hunger and starvation and enable the people to reclaim their lands and homes, stolen by mining and other corporations – some of them Canadian corporations. They confiscate the land, pollute the water, endanger the environment, and destroy communities.
When the people fight back they are often injured or killed. For example, in Columbia between 2018 and 2022, 957 community leaders and human rights defenders were assassinated and countless others continue risking their lives to defend their territory against ecological, social and cultural harm from industrial agriculture, mining, and some projects pretending to be green projects. Our partners there are deeply committed to promoting ecological sustainability and creating opportunities for training, influencing public policies and increasing access to the legal occupation of the land.
There ae many examples of Development and Peace’s projects on the website at www.devp.org and in the Mini-magazine that you can use to ask parishioners to give generously to the Share Lent collection in support of 86 projects in 40 countries.
Please help us to spread hope Scripture reminds us, “Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the Hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15).
With much Thanks and Blessings.
Mary Boyd
Here is the Mini-magazine in PDF format to read and/or download: