THEOLOGY 4

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Mararac, Princess Jerica Alondra T. 2JMT March 28, 2017
Asst. Prof. Verderflor

HOMEWORK

What is Pondo ng Pinoy?

The (Pondo ng Pinoy) PnP intends to feed a quarter of a million hungry and

undernourished children. In order to do so, the PnP is asking the public to fast during the

entire Lenten season and the proceeds to be saved will be donated to feed the children.

The PnP program provides food subsidy of P5 to P10 per day or Php600/1200 for

six months per child. The program feeds children six-months old to 12-years old once a

day, to be implemented five days a week for six months. While the children would be

given nutritious food, their parents would be provided basic skills to improve their capacity

to care for their children.

The parents would undergo livelihood skills training to increase their chances of

gaining employment and make them provide better for their families. Hapag-Asa has

reportedly fed more than 1 million hungry and malnourished children since 2005.

In his pastoral letter for the archdiocese, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal

Tagle said that participating in fast to feed is a good opportunity to intensify the act of

charity, which is faith in action.

Explain the Theology of the Crumbs

The Eucharist is the opposite of dismissal. Jesus invites everyone to begin by

giving thanks for whatever little we have, to treat it as something and not dismiss it

as nothing, to dare to break and share it, if we want to experience the banquet of Gods

kingdom where everyone will be satisfied and still have a lot of left-overs. Only then will

he say, Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted. (John 6:12)

The crumbs that we speak of here are worlds apart from the crumbs that fall from

the rich mans table in the Lazarus story. They are the crumbs that we intend to collect

scraps, fragments of left-over from bread that is broken, from food that is given and meant

to be consumed, from meager resources that are generously shared. We call them the

crumbs of the kingdom of God, the crumbs that we intend to collect for pondo ng

pinoy. While the scraps from the rich mans table couldnt fill even the dogs that licked the

sores of Lazarus, the scraps from the five loaves and two fish can fill up twelve

baskets. They symbolize the new Israel whose vocation it is to feed a hungry world and

to get them to experience the kingdom of God.

It is these fragments of left-over that Jesus commands us to gather. They are the

humble barya (small change) that jingle in our pockets after we have broken our hard-

earned thousand-peso, 500-peso, 100-peso, or even 50-peso bills to bring a sibling to

school, to buy medicine for a sick parent, to pay rent for a house that shelters a poor

family, or to get a little present for someone we love.

 It is the people who already break their bread all the time who will have scraps to

spare, left-overs to be gathered for yet another miracle. And as regards those whose

bread remains unbroken, and who gloat over the gap that makes them feel secure in their

secluded and exclusive paradise, I have nothing but a word of advice: Do yourselves a

favor. Break your bread. Share your crumbs and bridge the gap while you still can. You

may not know that by allowing Lazarus to cross over the great divide, you are also making

your own salvation from the misery of hell still possible.

What is the biblical basis of the Theology of the Crumbs in the Pondo ng Pinoy?

The story of The Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31) provides the biblical basis

for The Theology of the Crumbs. There was a rich man who feasted on good food and

lived in great luxury everyday, while Lazarus, a poor beggar whose wounds were licked

by dogs, lay by the door waiting for crumbs. When Lazarus died, he went to heaven and

was received at the bosom of Abraham. When the rich man died, he went to hell. The rich

man asked Abraham in vain to send Lazarus to warn his brothers so that they would not

come to the same place of pain: If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they

will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death!

The story is derived from the Gospel of St. Luke. With St. Luke being a beloved

doctor, his gospel accounts tend to show the face of Jesus as a doctor. In The Rich Man

and Lazarus, Jesus has pinpointed a sickness that affects all other spheres of our life, be

it economic, political, cultural or familial. It is the illness of faith.