During the season of Lent, I will be sharing a short post each day as part of the Lent-Photo-a-Day Journey, providing a sort of brief reflection and witness through the journey to and through the cross, to the tomb, and out into the world.

The word designated for March 17th is “Hunger.”

Over the summer I participated in a week long intensive youth leadership event. As part of this, we asked each teenager and young adult about what they want to do something to change or positively respond to in the world. As you can see in this picture of a Wordle based on their responses, hunger was a major point of concern.

As we continue to travel through Lent, remember the hungry. When you see someone asking for food, do what you can. Make time to volunteer and serve. And as news continues to spread about cities and municipalities fining people for feeding the hungry or caring for the homeless, continue to serve by feeding the hungry and caring for those in need. These cities that are making it hard to meet the needs of our neighbors seem to struggle to see that all people matter. They might think that they are trying to do good by imposing restrictions on feeding and service, but in reality they are doing opposite of the gospel. We are called to serve.

When we are prevented from serving, that’s a step too far. When Jesus saw thousands hungry what did he do, send them away? Of course not. He took a few loaves and a couple fish and fed them all. We’re called to do the same!