CAFOD: Family Fast Day

CAFOD was born in 1960 when a group of Catholic women, led by Jacquir Stuyt, came together to respond to an appeal from the people of the Caribbean island of Dominica, where children were starving.

They asked everyone in the families of parishioners to make an act of self-denial. They asked children to give up their sweets and for their parents to make just one main meal – the cheapest possible - and give the money they saved to feed people who were hungry.

Collections took place across different dioceses and two years later the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales registered CAFOD as an official charity.

There are two family fast days a year: one in lent and one at harvest time. Each one has a particular focus for prayer and fund-raising e.g. the floods in Pakistan, the effects of the climate crisis in Bangladesh, Sudan, Ethiopia, and the devastating consequences on vulnerable communities.

The focus always reminds us that we are all God's family, beloved by him. We need to share the world's resources, work for justice and to reduce poverty.

Family fast day: 23rd February 2024

The focus is a poor community of fishermen in Monrovia, Liberia who risk their lives in small canoes, whatever the weather, in order to feed their families. One of them called James told CAFOD that he faced a terrible choice: stay home and stay hungry and watch his wife and children go hungry or risk going out in a stormy sea. Five fishermen a month were dying in storms. Just like him, they could not afford the life jackets, compasses and other equipment like a GPS tracking system that would keep them safe and find good fishing spots.

It is thanks to support from parishes like ours that James now has the equipment he needs to fish safely and sustainably. Other hardworking families like James’s can be helped by us.

We can eat simply on Friday 23rd February and give what we can to CAFOD – through the collection of CAFOD envelopes in the church, or online, or regularly each month.

We can also pray for those who struggle to feed their families and thank God for all the blessings he gives us.