Thanksgiving: Encountering Christ in the Least of These
During the month of November, we pause to give thanks for the many gifts and blessings in our lives. Indeed we have a good and gracious God, and we must always remember to stop and show our gratitude for all that has been bestowed on us. Yet we must never forget the millions of people in our country and our world who live without adequate shelter, food, medical care, clothing, and employment.
As we gather with our own families for the annual Thanksgiving feast, let us call to mind all those people who go without the basic essentials of life each and every day. Let us also accept the challenge to work towards greater justice and equity for all.
This issue of To Teach offers ideas on how to better understand and address poverty in our communities.
Distribute a Sticky Note Pad from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to each faculty member at the start of the month. (The graphics on the note pad have a design that scratches out "Poverty" and replaces the word with "Hope, opportunity, and community.") Use this as a simple "thank you" and reminder to help them keep the issues of poverty in the forefront of their minds this Thanksgiving season.
Review current information about issues pending in Congress that have an impact on the lives of poor and low-income people. Identify one issue the students and faculty in your school can work on during November. Encourage your teachers to come up with creative ways to teach on the topic and engage children in age-appropriate ways.
Share "a fact a day" during morning or afternoon announcements on poverty in America from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Invite different classes to illustrate the daily fact and post their work on a school bulletin board.
Include a discussion or presentation on poverty at an upcoming faculty meeting, in-service or retreat. Use the Poverty Tour as a starting point for the event.
Update the section on your school website that focuses on social justice issues by including links to PovertyUSA website, small group reflection resources like Preferential Option for and with the Poor (also in Spanish), the multimedia youth arts contest (7th and 8th graders are eligible to enter), and information for parents on the national collection on November 17-18 for CCHD.
Use the free public service announcements (PSAs) in your school to educate faculty and students on the challenges faced by the 37 million Americans who live below the poverty line. Working with your diocesan CCHD director and parish and school leaders, encourage local TV and radio stations to air the PSAs during November.
Divide your students into small groups and have them create posters that put the stories in Portraits of Hope into pictures. Ask each group to share their poster and story. Help them identify ways that they can help those in the stories find solutions to poverty.
Arrange for students to view the CCHD documentary, "Among the People: Facing Poverty in America," a powerful video that puts a face on American poverty, personalizes the problem and inspires action.
Invite students to commit to praying daily for the plight of the poor. Post the Intercessory Prayers in your classroom as a reminder of the call to care for and support those in poverty.
Select one activity that your students will do to help them better understand global poverty and work towards eliminating it. Print and duplicate the global poverty pledge cards and host a simple pledge ceremony where the children commit to working on the selected activity.
Include some of the resources from Catholic Relief Serviceskids site, especially those that are available online, to introduce and teach about global poverty.
Have your students review the Poverty Quiz, then research and write additional questions and answers about poverty based on the information at and links from the PovertyUSA website. Host a brief quiz everyday or once a week with appropriate prizes.
Provide students with information about the 2007 Multi-Media Youth Arts Contest. The contest is open to all Catholic young people in grades 7-12.
As your students start to think about buying Christmas presents toward the end of the month, visit “More Than Just Holiday Shopping,” a web page sponsored by CCHD that lists a variety of small businesses that support socially just causes.
Teach your students about the two feet of social action which highlight the relationship between direct social services and “big picture” social change.
Take the time to read A Place at the Table, the U.S. bishops’ pastoral on poverty. As you and your family prepare for Thanksgiving, consider who in your community will go without a feast or will not have a table to sit at that day. Make a commitment as a family to provide meals to the poor by volunteering that week or by buying the groceries for a Thanksgiving meal and donating them through your parish or local grocery store.
Does your family really know who’s affected by poverty? Or what it’s like to make the tough choices that living in poverty demands? Take the poverty tour and find out what your family knows and does not know about poverty. Check out the poverty facts to see how your local community ranks among other states and cities.
Before you and your family donate items to local agencies or organizations, call or check their website to find out what they need the most. Many organizations have a “wish list” of the most needed items.
The PovertyUSA website offers an “idea of the day” entitled “Today’s Way to Help.” Bookmark the site and refer to it daily for ideas for you and your family to address the issue of poverty.
Start your family Christmas shopping by buying gifts from the many small businesses listed by CCHD and support socially just causes with your holiday shopping.
"Forming Adult Faith" is an ongoing feature of To Teach. It includes suggestions from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA) on how to promote ongoing faith formation among the adults in your school community.
The following chapters touch on different aspects of the theme of poverty and justice.
Chapter 16: Confirmation: Consecrated for Mission
Chapter 29. The Fifth Commandment: Promote the Culture of Life
Chapter 31: The Seventh Commandment: Do Not Steal-Act Justly
Chapter 34. The Tenth Commandment: Embrace Poverty
"Compendium Corner" provides a list of questions and answers in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church related to this month’s topic. (The number before the question is the question number in the Compendium.)
Review the questions and answers in preparation for your class.
Consider how to use appropriate questions and answers as part of your lesson plan.
Develop learning activities that help youths and young adults learn this information by heart (memorization).
381. What is justice?
403. What is the principle of subsidiarity?
407. What is the common good?
410. How does one participate in bringing about the common good?
411. How does society ensure social justice?
413. How are we to view social inequalities?
509. What is the content of the social doctrine of the Church?
518. How is justice and solidarity among nations brought about?
520. By what is love for the poor inspired?
During the month of November, we pause to give thanks for the many gifts and blessings in our lives. Indeed we have a good and gracious God, and we must always remember to stop and show our gratitude for all that has been bestowed on us. Yet we must never forget the millions of people in our country and our world who live without adequate shelter, food, medical care, clothing, and employment.
