Ethical Giving

In the Christmas Meme that's going around, there's a question ... do you like better to give or receive presents? I came across a page at Sacred Space (in their Advent section) on Ethical Giving, and it made me think. Here's what's on the page ...

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‘It is more blessed to give rather than receive’ (Acts 20:35). A quote from the Bible which many of us have seen or heard often but how many of us have actually thought about what this quote means? This simple sentence sums up the entire concept of Christian giving and sharing with our brothers and sisters wherever they may be.

This concept takes on a special significance at Christmas. In our increasingly consumer-driven society of today, it is easy to be swept up in the secular aspects of the season. We are bombarded by advertising from September onwards aimed at getting us to spend more on goods that we don’t need. A never-ending spiral of wanting more than those around us can see us totally losing sight of the big picture. What is the big picture? It’s a very simple one.

Advent is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the antithesis of the glitz and commercialism of the modern Christmas. It is a time to reflect on all that is good in our lives and indeed a time to thank God for all that we have.

Millions of people around the world will die over the Christmas period from hunger, disease and conflict. These are the people that Jesus Christ surrounded himself with during his time on earth.

It is time for us to consider those less fortunate than ourselves and we can show our solidarity with them in the simplest of ways. This Christmas Trócaire, the overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, is offering people a tangible way to directly help families in developing countries through its Global Gift campaign. The campaign offers a collection of practical life-saving gifts that people can purchase on behalf of friends and loved ones and Trócaire will distribute to those vulnerable families in the developing world.

The gifts include birth certificates for children in Mozambique so they can avail of state services; olive trees for farmers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; kits to help returning refugees in Sudan; seeds and tools for communities in Liberia; goats for rural communities in Africa; grain storage facilities to help farmers in Central America; care provision for orphans affected by HIV/AIDS; the gift of water to help communities all over the world and houses for Burmese refugees in Thailand.

So this Christmas try to remember what the season of Advent should be about and help those who are crying out for justice in the world.

For further information on the Global Gift campaign go to: www.trocaire.org/globalgift