This Lent, Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada invites you to help sow the seeds of hope for a better world!

Over the past decade or so, we have witnessed an alarming number of families on every continent who are losing their ability to feed themselves adequately.

Faced with enormous challenges such as droughts, floods, devastating fires, wars and the arrival of large agrarian multinationals, our sisters and brothers in the Global South need our solidarity more than ever.

Every day, farmers around the world have to show great resilience, limitless creativity and unwavering commitment.

During this Lenten season, meditating on the Parable of the Sower, let us not only till fertile soils but also sow seeds of faith that will help struggling people surmount challenges with hope and confidence.

Let’s turn difficulties into possibilities! Let’s sow the seeds of equality, irrigate the roots of justice andraise a crop of hope, peace, solidarity and dignity so that we can support partners like:

• NUNA in Bolivia, which is supporting Indigenous and farming communities through various agroecology projects that contribute to food sovereignty and environmental conservation

• PAYOPAYO in Indonesia, which is training the next generation in rural communities for seeking collective solutions in agriculture, food, energy and sustainable resource management, with a particular focus onengaging rural youth

• HOMEF in Nigeria, which is defending farmers’ rights in the face of challeges posed by the oil industry

These challenges concern all of us. But too often, it is the most impoverished people who are the first to suffer the most adverse effects of climate change, soil contamination and the misappropriation of land for megaprojects and industrial agriculture.

I invite you to give generously to our Share Lent campaign. On behalf of our partners and the courageous communities we support, THANK YOU!

Here’s wishing you a blessed Lent of prayer, fasting and giving.