​In Standing with Moms in Need, the US Bishops urge our dioceses and parishes, “to proclaim with a clear and united voice that our society can and must protect and care for both women and their children”. They state, “Now is the time to begin the work of building a post-Roe America. It is a time for healing wounds and repairing social divisions; it is a time for reasoned reflection and civil dialogue, and for coming together to build a society and economy that supports marriages and families, and where every woman has the support and resources she needs to bring her child into this world in love.”
 
As Archbishop Blair stated in his letter to the faithful on June 25, 2022, “Our Catholic Church has a monumental commitment to fostering the spiritual, moral and material wellbeing of our nation and our world.” Our office supports this commitment through its work to advance Catholic social teaching by preparing, educating, and animating parishes to work for social justice. Social justice is an integral part of living our faith. We encourage our parishes to support pro-life pregnancy resource centers and women raising children, especially low-income and minority women. We recognize that this support includes a justice component that reflects the economic realities of women and families. We are called to advocate for public policies and programs that support families, such as paid family leave, adequate health care, and stricter enforcement of anti-pregnancy discrimination laws.
 
We recommit to supporting moms in need by advocating for poverty-alleviation measures so that no family lacks the basic resources needed to care for their children, regardless of race or immigration status. We will continue to raise awareness and consciousness on issues that threaten the dignity of life such as gun violence, climate change, and economic inequalities. 

​Vincent Raby September 27, 2020
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, #136A
First Reading: Ezkl 18:25-28 By turning from wickedness,
     a wicked person shall preserve his life.
Responsorial Psalm: 25 Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Second Reading: Phil 2:1-11 Have the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.
Gospel: MT 21:28-32 He changed his mind… Tax collectors are entering before you.

Well, summer is officially over. On Tuesday we crossed the autumnal equinox and we have begun our journey toward winter. What joy! As I reflected on these readings, I was struck that Jesus is heading into his winter too. Through the summer we enjoyed a semi-continues reading from the book of Matthew. Jesus spent the summer with us feeding and teaching the crowds and his disciples. He has been doing his father’s will in the vineyard and building up his church. But between last week’s parable of the generous landowner, and today’s parable of the two sons, we skipped over an important day in the life of Jesus. Yesterday, so to speak, in chapter 21, Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The crowds sang out: Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They laid their cloaks and palm branches on the road, but the winter of Jesus’ crucifixion and death is just around the corner. As such, Jesus is now turning his attention to the chief priests and elders of the people—those who should know better. He offers them a few more invitations, in parable form, to turn from their self-interest to welcoming the kingdom of God in their midst. They seem know the right answer to today’s question: “the one ​who did the father’s will,” but their hearts are hard as stone. They fail to recognize, or consciously ignore, their own sins and bias.

The question I have today is, how well have we responded to Jesus’ invitation to turn from our sins and bias in order to bring about the kingdom of God in our day? Are we willing to adopt the attitude of Christ and head out to the vineyard and put in a hard day’s work? How supple is your heart; how supple is my heart? When it comes to acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah, we, like the chief priests and elders, should know better—we have the New and Old Testaments to help us understand who Jesus really is, and we have the example of a hundred generations of disciples that have labored diligently in God’s vineyard, but the work of bringing about the kingdom of God on earth is far from done. For instance, I wonder how we will be judged for the racism that evident in our society today.

In late 2018, in response to traumatic episodes of racial violence, the Bishops of the United States published a pastoral letter concerning racism in the USA. The bishops seek an urgent conversion of heart among the faithful and the eradication of racism. That letter is the focus of monthly webcasts offered by the Office of Catholic Social Justice, right here in the Archdiocese of Hartford. About 300-400 people tune in to learn more about the work that needs to be done. Those 300-400 people are the seeds of conversion, but unfortunately that is less than 1 out of every 1000 Catholics here in the archdiocese. What does that say about our Catholic attitude toward the work of racial justice? Are we saying, I will not go to the vineyard, or yeah, yeah, I will go and not show up? Fortunately, like in last week’s parable of the generous landowner, there is still time for many of us to experience that conversion of heart and to earn a day’s pay.

Anyhow, the letter explains that racism arises when—either consciously or unconsciously—a person holds that his or her own race or ethnicity is superior, and therefore judges persons of other races or ethnicities as inferior and unworthy of equal regard. To consciously hold on to such beliefs is a gross failure to love and that is clearly sinful. Overt acts of racism make our national news and those are sins of commission, but the bigger problem might lie with our sins of omission and the unconscious biases that we all have. What, for instance, would you not do for a person who appears to be different from you or speaks a foreign language? Would you metaphorically cross the street to avoid him or her, like the priest and Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan? Will you not go out to the vineyard because you believe that racism does not affect you?

Now I am not saying that we all have to walk to the town green after Mass to protest against racism or to show our solidarity with people of color. The love that Jesus asks of each one of us is agape love; that is to will the good of the other as other, with no expectation of reciprocity. He also calls us to work the section of vineyard that is set apart for each one of us. We may not agree with the positions that the Black Lives Mater organization take regarding abortion or LGBTQ matters, but can anyone legitimately argue that Black Lives are not sacred, or that the systemic injustices that truly exist in our society are fine just the way they are?
​
Jesus’ message is addressed to each one of us: “Go out and work in the vineyard today.” Go if you must with a consciousness of God’s justice and judgment. The vineyard is large but the laborers are few. Some of us are called to protest and make the status quo uncomfortable. Some are called to educate or to be educated; others to advocate in the political arena or to embrace the oppressed; still others are called to write letters to the editor or to pray. We are all member of the Body of Christ, but we are not all hands or feet or eyes or ears or mouths. Please give some thought to the unconscious biases you might have and how they play out in your day to day interactions, or lack of interaction. Please also consider registering for webcast this coming Wednesday evening. I posted a link on our Facebook page under announcements, and you can also find recordings of the previous webcasts with that link. Let each of us adopt the attitude of Christ and get to work in the vineyard before our winter arrives.

Good evening, my brothers in Christ - my name is Dolores Ramirez from St. John Paul the Great Parish - from Torrington. In these moments of uncertainty and fear our parish priests, enlightened by divine charity and in conjunction with the Office for Catholic Social Ministry of the Archdioceses of Hartford, Virtual Parish Social Ministry team, our parish evangelization ministry, the John XXIII movement, Kevin's place and other non-profit agencies have been accompanying our community, both spiritually and materially. Strengthening each other in faith, hope, and love towards our Lord God. As soon as we learned of some cases that afflicted our parishioners and ministers, we united as a community to help these families. A case that touched us closely was that of our usher minister, who had the virus in advanced condition and was staying alone at home. We got in touch and immediately acted, bringing him food, money, and medicine. We also entrust him into the hands of God through our Prayers, virtual masses, and holy rosaries. Three more families found themselves in a similar situation in which we assisted them in the same way. As the days went by, through to the Virtual archdiocesan parish social ministry Social team meetings, in the person of Arturo and Anita, we received information of help and hope, which we distributed electronically to more than 150 people in the parish. Also, through them and with the support of the parish, we obtained financial assistance of approximately $3,000 for three undocumented families who needed to pay the rent for their apartments. Divine providence was merciful and kind to us as it protected us with the donations that we received over the days. We obtained cash donations of $3,000, which were distributed equally through gift cards. In addition, we received information on the times where food donations were being made, which were sent to the community immediately. We identified many families who did not have transportation, they received help from the staff in order to arrive where the food donations were being held at the time. This way, our most vulnerable families have faith and hope to put a plate of food on their tables. Some individuals helped us supply clothing and household utensils to immigrants and undocumented families who recently arrived in the community. A local aid agency has been in contact with us in recent months. They have been granting us gift cards worth $200 to $400 for families of undocumented immigrants and includes families that belong to our parish. Over the next few days, they will generate more aid that will help these families pay their apartments rent. Our list in the parish of families in high need is about 20. Giving talent, service, and time to others is our priority. The proclamation of the Gospel teaches man, in the name of Christ, his own dignity and the demands of justice and peace according to divine wisdom. This is not over yet and we will continue to embrace the cross of Christ in order to help Christians. We thank God, the members present here, especially our guide Arturo Iriarte, our Pastors, Father Emmanuel, Father Mauricio, and all the people in the community who give life to the second commandment: Love your neighbor, as yourself. (Matthew 22:39). Blessings to all.

The Coronavirus and its impact on the world are, in my view, a sign of our times.

It appears to me that the current pandemic should help us see that the exorbitant level of spending on nuclear arms and other armaments is not in keeping with the times. It wasn’t nuclear or conventional weapons or submarines or fighter jets that brought the world to a standstill. How then can we protect our people while using resources wisely, so as to prepare ourselves for whatever may come next? One area that needs serious examination is the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide, weapons that not only are costly but dangerous, for instance should they fall into the hands of terrorists.

 On November 23rd of 2019, Pope Francis visited Nagasaki in Japan. Reflecting on the atomic bombing that took place on August 6, 1945, he said,
"Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction, or the threat of total annihilation.

"In a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance and sale of ever more destructive weapons are an affront crying out to heaven. Convinced as I am that a world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary, I ask political leaders not to forget that these weapons cannot protect us from current threats to national and international security.” 
Throughout the latter part of the 20th century into the 21st, there have been serious efforts to achieve this goal. For instance, START, (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) initiated by President Ronald Reagan and signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and his Russian counterpart, President Mikhail Gorbachev. A new START initiative was signed by Presidents Barak Obama and Dmitri Medvedev in 2010.

Previously, four senior statesmen with years of government and political experience, George Shultz, Bill Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn (nicknamed the ‘Four Horsemen’) wrote a series of articles on this question in the Wall St. Journal beginning in 2007. “They highlighted the need to move seriously towards the elimination of nuclear weapons and advocated for a ‘Joint Enterprise’ that would identify the conditions required to achieve this goal and suggest efforts to create these conditions.” (From the article, “The Trump Administration and Nuclear Weapons,” published by IISS) One may research this question on the Internet to see other attempts to curb and finally eliminate these weapons so that they will never be used again.

            Basically, Pope Francis gets to the heart of this question: "Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction, or the threat of total annihilation."

            In summary, the pandemic has shown that all our money spent on arms can’t stop something like this. May the peoples of our world become increasingly aware of how much time and talent and money are poured into developing and maintaining nuclear weapons. With this information, and guided by God’s Holy Spirit, perhaps more people will advocate for their elimination so that resources may by creatively used to alleviate poverty and hunger as well as to control viruses that can and most likely will afflict the human race going forward.

​I am a friend and relative to those with mental illness and family members impacted by mental illness. The recent response of some policy makers to blame gun violence on mental illness is heartbreaking, and quite frankly, misguided. This language and thinking harms our brothers and sisters who have a mental illnesses. It stigmatizes them and makes them more reluctant to identify and seek treatment.
 
Hate crimes should not be confused with mental illness. This only further stigmatizes those with mental illness and further perpetuates the myth that mental illness leads to violence. It is too simplistic to label the gun violence problem as mental illness. In their 2016 review, forensic psychiatrist James L Knoll IV, MD and George D. Annas, MD, MPH, of SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse New York cite research that only a minority of mass shootings have been perpetrated by individuals with recognized mental disorders. In Knoll’s response to the recent crimes, he asks: Do we solve the matter by labeling it 'mental illness' and calling for greater scrutiny of 'troubled' individuals?" He continued. "I believe we solve nothing, and even risk making matters worse. This mindset makes us vulnerable to creating new, but misguided, laws. It furthers the medieval notion of equating mental illness with 'evil' or criminal behavior.
 
The vast majority of people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence, rather than perpetrators.
 
For many suffering from mental illness the stigma and shame created prevents them from engaging meaningfully in their community – including their faith community. As Catholics, we are called to reach out and embrace all of our brothers and sisters suffering from illnesses. The Pastoral Letter from the Bishops of California on Caring for those who Suffer Mental Illness reminds us that Christ calls us to attend to those who suffer from mental illness and provide hope and healing. One way to do this is through the language we use and speaking up when we hear language that is hurtful and uninformed. Another way is by prayerfully accompanying those with mental health problems. We are also called to advocate for policies which are based on proven successes and not those which further perpetuate stigma. In Connecticut we have the Catholic Campaign for Human Development funded group Keep the Promise (KTP). KTP’s mission is to involve and empower all voices in Connecticut to influence public policy with the goal of expanding opportunities for full community integration. More information on KTP can be found on their website: http://www.ctkeepthepromise.org/
 
As Catholics, we have a responsibility to work together for a more just world where life and human dignity is protected and basic responsibilities are met. That means working for a safer society. It means working to improve mental health care. Let’s do this in an informed and educated manner.
 
Lynn Campbell, Executive Director
Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry
Archdiocese of Hartford
 
Resources:
 
Gun Violence – USCCB backgrounder, January 2016
 
News Release: President of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice Issued a Statement After a Tragic Shooting in Dayton, Ohio
August 4, 2019
 
News Release: President of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Domestic Justice Chairman issued a Statement Following Shooting in El Paso
August 3, 2019

 Poverty for Poverty
A reflection by Jason Rinaldi
Director of the Pope Francis Center for Renewal
A Ministry of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

The little man lay on the floor overcome by the illnesses that would eventually take his life later that day. A stone floor is no comfort to most people who are gravely ill, but to this man, it was a perfect place to finish his life.  The sound of muffled crying in the room was periodically interrupted by his coughing that readily punched through the background noise and echoed off the stone walls that were witnessing his last hours like silent sentinels keeping guard. Humble candle light outlined a face that was thin and delicate with exhaustion.  Before long, he asked that he be stripped of his clothing. Everything was to be taken off so that he can lay completely naked on the floor.  St. Francis wanted to leave this world with no attachments, nothing that would occupy his heart, not even his own clothing.  Naked on floor, gravely ill, hungry from fasting, his last mission was to die like his Lord on the cross…completely stripped of any worldly glory or attachment so that his only love can be God Himself.  As gentle as the spring breeze, the little wisp of a man slipped from this life into eternal Glory where he is now a giant in the Kingdom of God.  In his prime, St. Francis would travel about the dusty streets of medieval villages crying out, “Love is not loved! Love is not Loved!” Drawing large crowds intrigued by his message they would ask themselves, “How is love loved?”

With the power of the Holy Spirit, his question resonates into our hearts and minds today. Poverty is a nebulous concept that grows in complexity with every passing decade.  The “poverty” of a new born and the poverty of the homeless veteran with PTSD both cry out for a just response. The poverty of a disabled relative and the spiritual poverty of the sinner demand an answer from those who claim to represent charity. The poverty of the homeless and the poverty of those denied basic needs or civil rights all cry out for a response from those who have been given more than they need.   The Center for Renewal is visited by dozens of amazing people who have suffered under some form of poverty for most of their life; the poverty of loneliness, the poverty of addiction, the poverty of abuse, the poverty of lack of basic resources, the poverty of opportunity, etc.  The list grows longer each year as more forms of poverty are introduced by our increasingly complicated culture.  Jesus, however, relieved the greatest poverty of all time; the poverty of unredeemed humanity starving for mercy, drained of life and denied any hope for a meaning to the fallen human condition.  The solution is both simple and profound.

Jesus answered poverty with poverty.  In completing His great work of salvation Jesus hung on the cross.  Stripped of honor and glory, tortured and rejected by those whom he loved, he hung between heaven and earth, silent and poor, unable to walk or fight for himself. Friends, reputation and justice were stripped from him; He was absolutely poor.  When He mounted the cross Jesus had only one last treasure that was dearer to Him than most other things. This treasure was his own mother who stood faithfully at the foot of His cross. In order to make his sacrifice complete, Jesus gave away His only treasure so his poverty could be absolute and complete. His last act was giving his own mother to people who could never lover her as He did.  When He did this, He was completely emptied and poor. A breath later He declared his saving work complete and He closed His eyes in death. 

​Poverty can only be addressed by a response of poverty because love cannot coexist with things that occupy the heart and eclipse the love of God.  God tells us early on in the scriptures that He is a jealous God.  Later Jesus reminds us that we cannot serve two masters. Beyond programs, policies, human endeavors, and good intentions, poverty finds its only healing with the holy poverty of those who forefeit themselves in the name of love. “No greater love has a person than to lay down his life for his friends.”  Love needs to be loved so that the impoverished who need love will be given true love that is God Himself. From this point begins the great mission of charity.       

​Anyone familiar with La Salette and its spirituality knows the importance of reading the signs of the times and combating contemporary evils in an effort to live out and practice more effectively our charism of reconciliation.
 
Issues to choose from abound in our current world. I would like to propose that we look at climate change in the light of the La Salette charism of reconciliation. In spite of the deniers that still exist, climate change presents a huge challenge for humans. The indifference of many, in the face of the problems associated with climate change, also puts the earth, our home, at grave risk. The recent withdrawal of the U.S. From the Paris accord on climate change illustrates this. Too many in our society put financial gain, or a strong economy, ahead of any other consideration. As a consequence, species of all kinds continue to disappear from our world at an alarming rate. In that process, humans become impoverished, along with the earth.
 
In his book "The Christian and the Fate of the Earth" Thomas Berry describes humans as becoming autistic in relation to the natural world: "We live in a world of computers, cell phones, digital photography, television, highways and automobiles, supermarkets, and trivial playthings for our children-all fostered by inescapable advertising aimed at stirring our deepest compulsions to buy and consume. Our education is focused on producing skills associated with the production, distribution, and use of such a multitude of objects with none of the exaltation of soul provided by our experience of natural phenomena. We no longer realize that the universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects--subjects to be communed with as divine manifestations not objects to be exploited solely for economic gain." (pp 74+75)
 
To the many reasons given as to why young people grow more absent from formal religion, we could add Berry's comment: "As the grandeur of the natural world declines, the primordial manifestation of the divine is progressively diminished." (p. 80)
 
In the face of all this, Berry challenges religious communities "to accept a new role, the most difficult role that any of us has been asked to fulfill, that of stopping the devastation that humans, principally those in our commercially driven societies, are Inflicting on the planet." p. 68
 
Sadly, he goes on to add that “At the present time the protest of the pillage of the earth, compassion for the earth, and commitment to the preservation of the earth are lest mainly to ~ secular environmental organizations as though the matter were too peripheral to be of concern to Christians." p.71
 
Perhaps, in all of this, La Salette Missionaries, and anyone else interested in La Salette, can find an opportunity to broaden our understanding of the charism of reconciliation. We can find much said and written about the need for reconciliation of human with human. Likewise about the reconciliation of humans with God. Maybe the time has come to show more concern about reconciliation of humans with the earth.

​Climate change is happening and it’s terrifying. But what is there to be done about it? That’s one of the central questions of the documentary Before the Flood, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio doesn’t simply pop in and out of the documentary at his convenience—he’s in nearly every scene, speaking with some of the world’s top scientists and the individuals that have the power to do something about climate change, from President Obama to Pope Francis.

Before the Flood is very much an educational and advocacy documentary. It’s a cliffs notes version of what’s happening to the world we live in, what’s going to happen to the world we live in, and what we can do to prevent the worst possible outcome. In that respect, it’s kind of like a less boring version of An Inconvenient Truth with some high-profile interviews.

Before the Flood covers most all of the bases. The influence of corporate money into politics is touched on, and DiCaprio travels the globe to see how other countries like China and India are handling climate change, and getting a first-hand account of the effects of climate change on communities that could very well be a preview of much worse things to come.

We see first-hand how Greenland’s melting ice is causing a change in color of its terrain, which in turn no longer reflects the sun but absorbs it, becoming a heat creator instead of reflector. And we see how Miami Beach, Florida is having to literally raise the elevation of its roads to combat rising ocean waters.

We also see how developing communities in places like India are already battling pollution even as their population doesn’t entirely have access to power. If and when they do make coal-produced electricity widely available, the climate change problem only becomes worse.

Amongst these growing issues, everyone is turning to the U.S. to be an example across the globe, as money continues to be a deciding factor that’s dividing our politicians and making widespread change impossible.

Before the Flood isn’t simply interested in showing how terrible everything is. It also does a fantastic job of highlighting solutions, both short-term and long-term. When asked if a president who doesn’t believe in climate change could undo the policies he’s already put in place, President Obama says the truth has a way of catching up with you. Indeed, the film points out that public opinion tends to sway political opinion, using gay marriage as an example—Obama was against it when it wasn’t popular, then for it when the majority of the country approved. Thus, the future is in the hands of the people.

The film even highlights specific changes citizens can make that are as simple as changing one’s diet. The methane produced from the cattle industry is a massive polluter, but if citizens simply excised eating beef from their diet, a significant portion of that pollution would be quelled.

At heart, Before the Flood is a film made for mass consumption in an effort to inform and spur the public into action. In that respect, it’s incredibly effective. There’s a fantastic blend of cold hard facts from expert scientists as well as discussions with world leaders and those directly effected by the effects of climate change
​
Climate change is real, and it’s scary. Our first line of defense is an informed public. And while a feature film couldn’t possibly encapsulate everything there is to know on the subject, Before the Flood serves as a not-insignificant piece of education that will hopefully spur people to enact their own further research. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll incite some action.

​I will readily (and humbly) admit to being a novice in the world of anti-trafficking literature and advocacy, so when I came upon this book, outlining the realities of human trafficking “in my own backyard,” I was eager to learn, anxious to understand, and hoping to find a way to make a positive local contribution to the problem.  This book was by no means my first introduction to the reality of human trafficking here in the US, but it was perhaps the most detailed look I have taken into the lived experience of traffickers and trafficking victims.  The text alternates among excerpted trial testimony given in the United States v. Dennis Paris trial in Old Saybrook, Connecticut; historical vignettes of the Berlin Turnpike; and interspersed commentaries and anecdotes about the history and contemporary reality of slavery in this country.  The trial around which the bulk of the text revolves is from a case heard by the United States District Connecticut Court in 2007, ending with the conviction of Dennis Paris on twenty-one counts associated with operating a prostitution ring in the Hartford vicinity.  The testimonies provided by the victims elucidating their experiences, the angles employed by the defense attorney of the trafficker, and the stark realities of what continues to happen to women and children up and down the streets of Connecticut are disturbing to the soul.
 
The author does a good job of casting the issue and its contextual realities in a compelling way.  He does not shield the reader from abusive language or from the horrors of the lived experience of traffickers and their victims.  He does not gloss over the collusion of social media sites nor minimize the lucrative nature of “the business” of the commercial sex trade.  In juxtaposing a recent court case alongside 19th century slave trade anecdotes, he sets the issue of modern sex trafficking in a context that helps the reader understand it as a more recent iteration of what has been a very long American story of dehumanization.  For me, the most long-lasting insight from Bechard’s book came from the 65th chapter: 
In order to justify the continued ownership of slaves during the first two years of North American colonization, its settlers—and later its government and people—looked upon the individuals they owned as not quite “men.”  The logic:  how could slaves enjoy the freedoms of men—especially the ownership of property—when they themselves were property?  Certainly, if they were property, they could not receive the benefits of others.  They were not, therefore, quite human enough to be included in the life and liberties of the new nation.  The same logic is used today… (Bechard 199-200)
Just as slaves in pre-Civil War America were considered “less than fully human” and thus not warranting the rights of a human being, so now victims of the commercial sex trade (substitute for “victim” any slang or pejorative word our culture and media proffers) are perceived somehow as “less than fully human,” and thus unworthy of the same attention, advocacy, opportunities we would demand for ourselves or others.  To understand our own prejudices and ignorance, then, is the first step in making any significant change in our collective cultural consciousness with regard to this issue of modern slavery.
 
To say that this book gave me much to ponder and consider is an understatement, but more than the horrifying nature of the content disturbed me.  As I made my way through the text, it seemed to me that the path along which the author was leading me had no clear destination.  The anecdotes and the excerpts of testimony chosen were helpful to a degree, but I was left sensing something was missing.  Upon completion of the book, I was curious about how others had received it, and found that there exist a handful of reviews which can articulate what the text lacked in ways much more comprehensive than I.  When I finished the book, I wondered, “So where does this leave us?”  The author, for all his good intentions and breadth of knowledge on the issue, does not give a good sense of how to move us forward (either individually or collectively) in combating the evil of human trafficking.  To be fair, there is certainly no easy answer to the issue, but I have found in my limited experience of working with other organizations in the area, that there are avenues to pursue and ways to become involved that actually do make a positive difference, small as it might be.  I would like to recommend this book to others, but although I am not sorry that I read it, I believe there are other resources available that would better educate, exhort, and galvanize those who wish to dedicate time, prayer, or any other resource to ending the horrors of human sex trafficking.