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One ‘Ohana, One Hope: Feeding Hawai‘i with Faith and Compassion

November 3, 2025

(awstoys / Shutterstock.com)

From the Office for Social Ministry

“I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.” — Matthew 25:35

These compelling gospel words reflecting the heart of social ministry hit home this month. Across our country and throughout Hawai ‘i, families worry how they will feed the hungry at their table. Parents skip meals so their children can eat. Kupuna stretch cans of soup to last the week. Working people are putting in the hours yet still facing empty cupboards. Now, because of the federal shutdown, many people face the threat of losing their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—42 million nationwide, 1 of every 8 Americans, 40% are children, 40% are elderly or disabled--165,000 people in Hawai‘i alone.

SNAP has long been our strongest government-supported food safety net, providing six times more food assistance than all the state’s food banks and parish pantries combined. An estimated 13 million SNAP meals are at risk of disappearing each month for vulnerable people in Hawaii. In addition to, but not a substitute for, SNAP is the vital food that comes through parish pantries and food ministries, where volunteers interact face-to-face with others in need. It is in these supportive, compassionate moments that the Gospel becomes flesh. “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.” Christ speaks not only through the hungry, but to and through those who respond.

During these difficult times in this Jubilee Year, the words of the Psalmist--“You, O Lord, are my hope”—take on deeper meaning which is why they were chosen for the theme for the World Day of the Poor on November 16. Hope, Pope Leo XIV reminds us, is not born of comfort but of courage. “The poor can be witnesses to a strong and steadfast hope,” he writes, “precisely because they embody it in the midst of uncertainty, poverty, instability and marginalization.”

Hope is not abstract—it has faces. It looks like the weary kupuna, the anxious mother, hungry neighbors who still find the strength to share what little they have. It is no coincidence, Pope Leo says, that the World Day of the Poor comes at the close of this Jubilee Year, a time of renewal, solidarity, and justice. “The poor are not recipients of our pastoral care,” he insists, “but creative subjects who challenge us to find novel ways of living out the Gospel today.” Their cry is not one of helplessness but of invitation—to live the Gospel as Jesus taught, to see and serve Him by responding to others in need.

So how can our Church respond to this need? We begin with what we have. Each parish can strengthen and expand its food ministry, organize drives, and deepen partnerships with community groups providing free food. We can volunteer, give generously, and advocate for just policies that aid and protect the most vulnerable among us. When Pope Leo calls our response “a time of grace,” he is not romanticizing suffering. He is naming the sacred opportunity hidden within hardship. “It is my hope,” he writes, “that this Jubilee Year will encourage the development of policies aimed at combatting forms of poverty both old and new, as well as implementing new initiatives to support and assist the poorest of the poor.” That is what hopeful faith looks like in action: compassion joined with courage, mercy joined with justice.

Bishop Larry Silva echoes this hope in his recent message supporting the special collection for the World Day of the Poor on Sunday, November 16. “On this day,” he writes, “our diocese will participate in the U.S. Bishops’ annual national collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Through this collection, support for CCHD enables the active participation of those experiencing poverty to address this complex challenge and forge a just, hopeful future for all.” He reminds us that 25 percent of the CCHD collection remains in Hawai‘i, funding local efforts that feed disaster survivors, assist formerly incarcerated women with housing and job training, and help low-income families build stable, thriving lives. “I strongly encourage all to give generously,” Bishop Silva writes, “as pilgrims of hope witnessing to Jesus, on our journey together toward the Kingdom of God where indeed the Lord will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity.”

Hope, for the Christian, is never passive. It is active trust in the God who feeds the multitudes with five loaves and two fish—and entrusts those loaves to our hands. The Kingdom is not an impossible distant dream; it is connected to a challenging daily journey of compassion and communion. This November 16, as we mark the World Day of the Poor by giving to the CCHD collection and sharing with those impacted by the government shutdown, may our hearts be moved by Christ who identifies Himself with the hungry. Let our generosity and actions be our living witness to Jesus. Together—as one ‘ohana—we can ensure that no one in Hawai‘i goes hungry, no one is left behind.
Together we can turn crisis into communion, and fear into faith. For indeed, “You, O Lord, are our hope.” Mahalo.