“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:26)

With these words, Jesus alludes to his coming sacrifice as one that will also give new life. The great mystery of Christian life is that our sacrifices are not in vain, but lead to new life. DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE is honoured to support courageous women and men in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East who make sacrifices each and every day. We offer our support so that their families, loved ones and communities can live another day. Sometimes the sacrifice they make is their own life.

While there has been progress in reducing hunger in the world, more than 800 million people still go without the daily food they need. The sacrifices we make here, today, on behalf of the poor will bear fruit through the work of DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE partners. Fighting hunger is not only a matter of helping after disasters but also getting to the root causes of the problem. Poor farmers should be able to support themselves and their communities through their own efforts on their own land. But many are lured away to work on large plantations for meagre wages. Too many find themselves working in slave-like conditions on plantations for literally nothing.

What is unique about DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE, what makes us different from our secular counterparts, is the Gospel spirit that animates us. “If development were concerned with merely technical aspects of human life … then the Church would not be entitled to speak on it,” Benedict XVI says in Caritas in Veritate. In today’s readings, the prophet Jeremiah says “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts.” Our approach to development is not found in textbooks but is written on our very hearts. It recognizes that people are not objects to be developed, but subjects who are called to take control of their own lives and their own development.

The gifts of Canadian Catholics like yourselves – your sacrifices – allow that to happen. They allow us all to become not patrons of the poor, but their partners in the search for human dignity. In this way we can truly become, as Pope Francis calls us to be, a church that is both poor and for the poor. Today, on Solidarity Sunday, Catholics across Canada are showing their solidarity with those in our human family who need it most. We do this by giving generously – sacrificially – to DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE. Saint John Paul II called solidarity the “firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good … the good of all.”

Our Lenten sacrifices, inspired by the sacrifice of our Lord, help bring about the common good in the world today. On behalf of all those who benefit year after year from your generosity, and with whom we are all on a journey to a better world, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE thanks you!