Please help lighten the burden of Maria’s poverty this Lenten season

Every day, Maria Magdalena wakes up not knowing if she’ll eat. The 22-year-old Nicaraguan mother also carries the burden of not being able to feed her 19-month-old son, Arlin. When we met the family, Maria’s precious little boy was covered in dirt, and suffering from malnutrition and asthma. The only food in their broken-down shack was a couple ears of corn and a handful of beans.

“I have a lot of faith. I always pray for the health of my son,” Maria said.

But the constant hunger and suffering is stretching her faith to the limit.

Looking Beyond Ourselves During Lent

As the holy season of Lent approaches, stories like that of Maria, Arlin, and millions more poor and suffering people weigh heavily on our minds. While Lent has increasingly become a time dedicated to looking inward, or trying to abstain from whatever vice, it seems the perfect time to also reach out to others in need.

When we meet the needs of people like Maria and Arlin, who are desperate for food and life’s basic essentials, we fulfill God’s vision for “true fasting” as seen in Isaiah 58: 6-8. “…setting free the oppressed…sharing your bread with the hungry…sheltering the homeless…”

Your generous and gracious gifts embody the true spirit of Lent, and are an act of love to destitute mothers like Maria who silently weep over their starving children.

Visit our Lenten Daily Devotional Calendar