I am struck by the thought that life is changing all around us all of the time. Some changes will have repercussions for us, like the forthcoming general election. Will there be a new party in government? What will their priorities be for the future of Great Britain and of other nations around the world? What are their policies regarding frontline services – provision of health and social care, education and employment opportunities, care of the elderly? What about global matters like climate change and poverty reduction and their commitment to overseas aid? Increasingly these real life matters are lost in the media circus of electioneering. ‘Choosing the Common Good’, a document recently published by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, focuses on some key issues of our day. It is worth a read.

For some people it doesn’t matter which party is in government because little changes in their experience of life. This is just as true for people living in poverty here in our own country as it is in many places around the world. A vital difference is we have opportunities available to us to that many others are denied – we have a choice about which party we want to vote into government and we can go to a local school or church hall and register our vote without having to worry about the consequences of our actions. We have the freedom to demonstrate and voice our dissent; we can join trade unions and exercise our right to strike, for better pay and conditions. These rights and freedoms were fought for and hard won by our forebears. Around the world many people do not have any of these rights or freedoms. Haiti, before the earthquake struck, was such a country. In other places where CAFOD is working, many of our colleagues and partners take huge risks everyday as they try to help people secure a truly human life and win the same human rights that we enjoy. When I was in Nicaragua in 2008, there was a woman on hunger strike because the party in government were threatening to abolish the opposition party, so they would not have to relinquish their hold on power and they followed through with the threat. In other places, people live and work in the war torn areas of Afghanistan, Iran, Gaza and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Burma. In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone and Liberia, people are working to rehabilitate former child soldiers and re-unite them, where possible, with their families. Some work is with people living with HIV and Aids, who either cannot access anti-retroviral drugs, or who can but whose diet is so poor that the drugs cannot work effectively. The list of need is endless.

Why am I, as a CAFOD worker and as a Catholic, wondering what changes will there be and why I am writing about these things? It is for both of these reasons that I do. When Jesus Christ died for us, it was so that everyone would be reconciled to God, his Father and ours. He died that everyone would live life in all its fullness, as God had intended since the beginning. What I have written in the above paragraph shows quite clearly that even now, more than two thousand years since Jesus’ death on the cross, too many people are still being denied the freedom and fullness of life that He promised. In his life, Jesus witnessed all of the injustices that existed within the society of his day and he responded to them, helping and healing as he went about his ministry and his words and actions brought him to the attention of the authorities and to his death. He gave us an example to follow in our lives. There have been many since then who have followed his example and given their lives for their faith. Hopefully the work that I do for CAFOD and my words and actions will bear witness to the faith I profess in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour, and yours. Our work goes on. I hope that some of you to put your faith into action – and if so, here are some opportunities for the more energetic among you to do just that – now that the weather is better!

Join Team CAFOD and enter one of the sponsored events below:

• Saturday 8th May, 2pm to 5pm, CAFOD and Christian Aid Humber Bridge Sponsored Walk (Begins at North side of Bridge – apply through the CAFOD Middlesbrough Office).
• Sunday 16th May, Middlesbrough 5K Run (apply online at www.middlesbrough10krun.com). Contact the CAFOD Middlesbrough Office for your Sponsor Pack – (01904) 671767 or by e-mailing middlesbrough@cafod.org.uk
• Sunday 1st August, Jane Tomlinson 10K Run, York (apply online at www.cafod.org.uk)
• Sunday 5th September, Middlesbrough 10K Run (apply online at www.middlesbrough10krun.com)
• 2nd to 12th September, El Camino de Santiago de Compostela (Treks the last 100 miles of the pilgrimage route. Only 22 places available so book now! – apply online at www.cafod.org.uk).
• Sunday 19th September, Great North Run (apply online at www.cafod.org.uk).

If none of these events are for you then why not hold your own parish or group sponsored event. There are lots of things you can do from a sponsored walk to a silence, book sale, coffee morning, cake sale, a walk in the park or around the school playing field, a cycle ride – the possibilities are endless. See the CAFOD website for further details or contact us at the Middlesbrough Office.

Carol Cross