Many years ago, Father Thomas gave a teaching to the people at our Food Bank in Juarez about how important it is to share what God has blessed us with. Even if we have very little, we need to share some of what we have with others who are in need. Using the Scripture from Acts 20:35 where Jesus says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” Father Thomas challenged them to believe what Jesus said and put it into practice.
As a result, someone came up with the idea of a “sharing box.” They took an old crate, and with bright red paint, wrote that scripture from Acts on the side of it, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Then when the sacks of groceries were distributed to the people, those who wanted to could put some of the food they had just received into the box to share with those who were in greater need.
The ones who did this started to share wonderful stories of how the Lord blessed them. Several experienced the multiplication of food. One lady shared, “I cooked the small amount of beans I had taken home with me, and the pot became so full, I had to share them with my neighbors because there were too many beans for my family to eat.” Others gave testimony that after contributing to the “sharing box” someone would drop by unexpectedly with extra groceries for them.
After a while, the “sharing box” fell into disuse. The crate was stuck in a corner, and the only thing it collected was dust. Until a few weeks ago.
In the recent months, more and more needy people have been showing up at the Food Bank as the economic situation in Juarez deteriorates. Many young people, who are healthy and strong and want to work, cannot find employment. Others are barely eking out a living and run out of food for their children. As they line up for help, sometimes we only have a few potatoes left to share with them – which they are very grateful to get. Then someone remembered the “sharing box.” “Hey, let’s get out the box and any of us who can, let’s share some of our groceries.”
So once again, after the regulars on our list receive their weekly groceries, they freely put into the crate whatever they feel led to share – a bag of rice, a can of tomato sauce, some pasta – and then that gets portioned out to the newcomers. It’s beautiful to see how these poor people, who are in great need themselves, share with those who are worse off. And when those who put something in the box leave with joy radiating on their faces, one can truly see that it is more blessed to give than to receive.