Christmas: A time for giving? Well, here's a small action that would make a big difference.
We can easily take Christmas cards for granted but there are people in other parts of the world who would love to know that someone cares enough to remember them at this time of year. If you would like to bring hope to the heart of someone who feels abandoned or forgotten by sending a card, here are four suggestions:
Fr David Neuhaus SJ
Our Lady Woman of Valor
Pastoral Centre
Shivat Tsiyon St 33
Tel Aviv-Yafo
Israel
• This parish is home to over a thousand migrant workers and provides schooling for hundreds of children. Father David Neuhaus, the parish priest, called the Christmas cards 'a beautiful act of solidarity'.
If you would like to send a card to a school in the Holy Land instead, then write to:
Latin Patriarchate School
POB 76
16955500
Jaffa-Nazareth
Israel
If you would prefer to write to a prisoner of conscience, then send a non-religious card to:
Lahpai Gam
c/o The governor of Myitkyina Prison
Myitkyina Prison
Myitkyina Town
Kachin State
Myanmar
• Lahpai Gam is a Kachin farmer who was arrested in June 2012 by the military-backed government in Burma. He is serving a 21-year prison sentence in Myitkyina Prison. He was brutally tortured and forced to make a false confession. Remember that this must be a non-religious card.
If you would rather send a card to an organisation that supports people, then write to:
Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT)
Secretaria Nacional
Rua 19, nº 35, 1º andar
Edifício Dom Abel
Centro - Goiânia
Goiás
CEP 74030-090, Brazil
• CPT (The Pastoral Land Commission) was founded in 1975 by bishops and prelates of the Amazon to respond to the needs of indigenous rural workers in Brazil who were exploited as slave labour and expelled from the lands they occupied. Now ecumenically orientated, it helps with land disputes and works with those released from slavery on cattle ranches and in charcoal and logging businesses.
Include a simple message, sign your name and give your address.
To learn more, or just to have more choice, you can find the full lists on the front page of the diocesan website http://www.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk.
If you would like your own printed copy of the addresses contact the J&P office on 0151 522 1080/1081 or email s.atherton@rcaol.co.uk.