A couple of Sundays ago, parishioner Bob Kalicki announced that he’d just bought a flock of chickens. He quickly explained that he had been intrigued by the gift offerings in the ERD Gifts for Life Catalog that had been posted on the parish bulletin board. For a very small donation, somewhere in the world a flock of chickens will be given to a family, and they will be given both sustenance and a source of income all in one gift (the amount of donation also includes training for raising poultry for the marketplace).

Another parishioner ordered the Gifts for Life catalog and advised the grown children of the family that if they wanted to spend money on presents for their parents, they might think about “buying” something that will really help other families somewhere in the world.

Imagine all the people in your family who are hard to shop for: think what good you can do in this world if you give gifts for “people who have everything” to help “people who have nothing.” For relatively small amounts of money, you can help people gain access to clean water, basic health care, or learn how to start a family-run business.

So if you can’t think of anything for your Uncle Joe, consider getting him a pig for Christmas, but be sure to explain that it’s in a good cause.