What did you do?

When I had my birthday last September, the most unusual gift I received from a parishioner was a subscription to the Sunday New York Times. This has been a wonderful gift. The Sunday New York Times is so big that it takes me Sunday afternoon, Sunday night, Monday evening, and sometimes part of Tuesday to get through it all.

An article in the NY Times of November 15 stunned me. The title was High Costs Weigh On Troop Debate For Afghan War.

The article goes on to say: “The latest internal government estimates place the cost of adding 40,000 American troops…at $40 billion to $54 billion a year.”

This means that the cost of every soldier amounts to “about $1 million per soldier per year.”

The article continues: “The estimated $1 million a year it costs per soldier is higher than the $390,000 congressional researchers estimated in 2006. Military analysts said the increase reflects a surge in costs for mine-resistant troop carriers and surveillance equipment …. But some costs are unique to the difficulties posed by the mountainous terrain in Afghanistan, where it can cost as much as $400 a gallon to deliver fuel to the troops.”

It staggers the imagination: it costs you and me, the American taxpayer, $1 million dollars per soldier per year in Afghanistan.

And if that wasn’t enough there was this article: Americans spent $49 billion on pet products last year – a third of that on health care. The article goes on: “The area of pet psychology has taken off in recent years, as our cats and dogs have increasingly taken on the maladies of their owners. Pets now get mood altering and 'lifestyle' drugs, chemotherapy, and even liposuction.”

I know that everyone in our community who reads this story will say, “Not in my household – that has to be New York.”

More than likely true, but the big statement is accurate – as a nation we spent $49 billion on our pets last year.

Because we’re spending those sinful amounts of money on the two areas I’ve mentioned, it must happen that others have to go without and suffer. And sure enough, that’s also true. The Minneapolis Star Tribune of November 17 carried this story: USDA says number of people going hungry in America increased in 2008 to highest on record.

The article goes on: “More than one in seven American households struggled to put enough food on the table in 2008, the highest rate since the Agriculture Department began tracking food security levels in 1995.

“That’s about 49 million people, or 14.6 percent of U.S. households (my emphasis). The numbers are a significant increase from 2007, when 11.1 percent of U.S. households suffered from what USDA classifies as “food insecurity”– not having enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle…. The report also showed an increasing number of children in the United States are suffering. In 2008, 16.7 million children were classified as not having enough food, 4.3 million more than in 2007.”

What are you and I—the John and Jane Citizens—going to do about all of this? If these articles I’ve quoted are accurate, then God will call you and me to account and will ask, “What did you do?”

Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. For December, our contributor is Father Seamus Walsh of St. John’s Catholic Church in Grand Marais and the Holy Rosary Catholic Church of Grand Portage.