Living the Gospel: Fighting the Oppression of Human Trafficking

As disciples of Christ, who reached out to the poor and oppressed, we, too, are called upon to create just conditions for all, especially for our children.  That means that we do not support slavery in any shape or form.  The following article, entitled "Take Slavery out of Shopping," from FL Logus November 2016, was published in my religious community newsletter. I am sharing parts of  it with you for your information, as you strive to follow  Christ more closely and bring your will in harmony with God's.

The relationship between our everyday purchases and modern day slavery seems improbable. But the connection is very real. It just remains hidden from public view.

In poor regions of the world impoverished families are targeted by traffickers with promises of a better life for their children. Unsuspecting parents give up sons and daughters who end up in forced and abusive work situations on farms,  factories and brothels.

A look inside the chocolate industry illustrates the problem.   Cocoa beans, from which chocolate is manufactured, are encased in heavy pods that hang from trees.  Their harvest is back-breaking work for adults; brutal for children.  Yet 284,000 children, 64% of whom are under 14 years, work in forced and abusive conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa.  An investigative report details 13 hour work days on the plantation--filled with harsh physical labor, punctuated by beatings, and ending with a night of fitful sleep on a wooden plank in a locked room filled with other slaves. Most of the 15 billion dollars of chocolate that we consume in the United States each year is tainted with this forced and abusive child labor.

Parallel stories of both child and adult exploitation are found in the supply  chairs of coffee, tea, sugar, bananas, jewelry, clothing, and the list goes on.

But it doesn't have to be this way.  Fair Trade, the business model that monitors and assures that small producers are treated with dignity, is changing the lives and futures of millions of small farmers, producers and their children.....

ASK FOR FAIR TRADE. BUY FAIR TRADE.
YOUR GUARANTEE THAT  IT'S FAIR TRADE AND SLAVE FREE!

The Power of the Gospel

Today’s first readings, Romans 1: 16-25, contains gems of wisdom that each of is challenged to ponder within the depth of our hearts. What are these gems? 

·         That the Gospel “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”

·         That in the Gospel “the righteousness of God” is revealed “from faith to faith”

·         That the “one who is righteous by faith will live”

·         That “what can be known about God is evident to… [the impious and to those who have suppressed] the truth by their wickedness”

·         That what can be known about God is evident [to all of us] because God has made it evident [to us]

WOW!  The question is: do I believe that the Gospel is the power of God for my salvation? And if I do, what is keeping me from reading and reflecting upon the Gospels regularly and, yes, even daily?  That is where my salvation lies, that is where I will encounter Christ, who saves me from my own wickedness: from my own sinfulness, my own vulnerability to give in to temptation.  What temptation? Satan’s deceits, Satan’s subtleness in luring me into gossip, into cheating myself and others of the gift of forgiveness and unconditional loving, of respect and openness to the wisdom of God at work within them and within me, refusing to listen to them or to the Spirit directing me; from responding or not responding because of my prejudices, my fears, my hopelessness, my greediness and/or stinginess.  In whatever sin I engage, I am suppressing the truth of who I am in Christ Jesus, of what I am capable of doing because of the Spirit living within me.   My potential for choosing good instead of evil is contingent upon my relationship with Christ and I grow in my knowledge of Christ through the Scriptures, the Word of God! 

What is holding me back from this Source of God’s power?  Have I, in St. Paul’s words, “exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshipped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever”?