J&P Reflection: The Sack of Plenty

Before the workshops began at Westminster Justice and Peace Study Day, on Saturday, Fr Joe Ryan told the following story entitled: 'The Sack of Plenty'.

One night, a sack of grain appeared in a poor part of town.

Early in the morning some birds came and helped themselves to breakfast.

Later a mouse came and had his meal.

Then a family came, took a bowl of food, enough for the day.

The mid-morning, the Mayor of the town came by, saw the sack, looked around - nobody there - he said to himself: "I'll have this sack". So he took it to add to the plenty he already had in his store.

It was GREED not need, that prompted him to take possession of the goods and so deprive others of what was available for all the town.

MORAL: When people, institutions, nations, take more than they need, then there is famine in whatever category we wish to name.

Whether its food, water, oil, air, money, religions, housing, human rights - monopoly and exclusiveness of whatever kind - then there is an imbalance, there is injustice.

Part of our work is tackling unjust structures in all shapes and forms to try to bring about a just society, a just world.

See also: ICN 9 November 2014 - Westminster J&P Study Day: ‘The Welfare Myth of Them and Us’ www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=25963