September 15th, 2026
There are millions of people in the world who starve every day. There are reasons why this population lacks food. Wars, droughts, floods, and political turmoil all play a role. So, do we do anything about famine? Governments and NGOs get involved, but what are individuals supposed to do?
In the Catholic tradition there are the seven Corporal Acts of Mercy. These actions are derived from the Christian scripture (Matthew 25:31-46). Catholics are supposed to perform these acts to satisfy the physical needs of others, and to alleviate their suffering. The first act on the list is to feed the hungry. It would seem like a simple thing to do, but apparently, it isn’t because people still don’t have enough to eat. There are many ways to feed the hungry both locally and far away. It doesn’t matter much how a person fulfills this obligation. What matters is that a person does something.
Over the years, my wife and I have tried to alleviate hunger in our community. For a long time, we helped serve meals at a soup kitchen run by the St. Vincent de Paul Society. During Covid, we delivered meals to folks who were isolated and homebound by the pandemic. We have donated to food pantries. I have taken a homeless person to a sandwich shop and bought them lunch. We have tried to do small acts of mercy.
The primary objective with feeding the hungry is to give them something to eat. That should be obvious. A person who lacks food may not care that much how you feed them. They probably don’t care a lot about why you are feeding them. They just want to eat. So, give them something.
However, feeding the hungry is not just about giving food to people who are literally starving. There is more to it than that. We have to first fill their stomachs and then fill their hearts. It actually does matter how you do this, and it matters why you are feeding them. The spirit of the act matters.
Kahlil Gibran wrote,
“For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.”
When Karin and I helped out at the meal program that fed the homeless population in Milwaukee, the folks from the St. Vincent de Paul Society were adamant that we do more than just serve them food. We were strongly encouraged to sit and eat with them. We were there to share a meal with our guests. It took me a while to understand, but eventually I figured out that the people coming to the soup kitchen for supper wanted more than just food. They wanted respect and companionship. They definitely didn’t want our pity. They needed to enjoy a sense of human dignity that they couldn’t find anywhere else. For maybe an hour or so, they wanted to know that they mattered.
When Karin and I first became Asher’s foster parents, we were overwhelmed. We were both retired persons, and suddenly we were new parents again, trying to care for a baby only a few weeks old. Somehow, we managed, but it was a drastic life change for us. We got some help from people in our church. One man in particular comes to mind.
Jim is our age, or older. He is active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and when Karin and I began to raise Asher, Jim was involved with a meal program several miles from where we live. Jim volunteered at that soup kitchen every Tuesday evening. He decided to make sure that we got meals from that site. So, every Tuesday night, for a year, Jim brought us meals. We ate whatever the homeless people got for supper at the meal site. It was wonderful. Jim filled our bellies, but he also filled our hearts.
Could Karin and I have cooked something for ourselves? Or could we have ordered takeout? Sure, we could have done those things. But Jim knew how busy we were with that little baby, and how heavy a load we carried. He brought us food, but he also brought us love and compassion.
Yesterday, I cooked a meal for some friends of ours. Their daughter was a classmate of Asher’s last year in school. The little girl was very recently diagnosed with leukemia. Karin gave the meal to the family when she picked up Asher from school. It was a small thing for us to do, but we wanted to help them in some way.
What did we actually give this family? Yes, we fed them. We gave them food. We also made it clear that they are not alone in their struggle. We let them know that we care. We gave them love. We fed their hearts.
Frank is Emptiness 