Anti-human trafficking event set for Feb. 8

CHARLOTTE — Modern-day slavery is a chronic problem in North Carolina, and this month Catholics are being urged to learn more about how to help fight it.

Human trafficking is the second-largest criminal enterprise in the world. According to the United Nations, nearly 40.3 million people are victims of modern slavery, of whom 24.9 million are trapped in forced labor and sexual slavery and 15.4 million subjected to forced marriage. In the U.S., about 20,000 women and children are coerced into exploitative labor or sex work each year.

North Carolina public safety data consistently ranks the state among the top 10 states for human trafficking. More than 250 cases of human trafficking in the state were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2022 – but many more cases go unreported, state officials say.

The Nine Provocations of Dorothy Day

1. Make yourself deeply uncomfortable.

2. Follow your conscience. Listen to that still, small voice within.

3. Find your vocation. You will know your vocation by the joy it brings you.

4. Face your fears.

5. Make friends with failure. We all fail, but we have to persevere. Perseverance is one of the greatest virtues.

6. Open yourself up to beauty. Let it transform you.

7. Don’t do it alone. Create a community through love.

8. Take delight in the humorous. Laugh at yourself.

9. Pray – abundantly, extravagantly, and in any way you can.

“She was so powerful,” Hennessy recalled, but not in a political sense. “Her power really was the power of presence, it’s the power of authenticity. What you saw was who she was.”

Day stood nearly 6 feet tall, with piercing blue eyes and a no-nonsense attitude, Hennessy said.

“She was provocative, she could really challenge people,” Hennessy said, listing what she calls the “Nine Provocations of Dorothy Day.”

“If she’s not scaring the bejeezus out of you, then you’re not listening to her.”

DAY’S CONVERSION AND VOCATION

Day converted to Catholicism shortly after the birth of her daughter Tamar, Hennessy’s mother.

Day had grown up nominally Christian and became an Episcopalian as a teenager, but as a young adult

Day introduced Hennessy to one of her favorite writers, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky’s words “the world will be saved by beauty” was one of Day’s favorite quotes, and Hennessy made it the title of her 2017 biography of Day. Day loved literature, art and music, especially opera, Hennessy said, with a childlike joy. Even in her work amid dire poverty and injustice, “Granny had a very heightened sense of finding beauty wherever she could.”

“Beauty is the language of God, it is the language of Love, it is what opens our hearts,” Hennessy said. “When we open our hearts to it – when we allow it in fully, without protecting ourselves – we will be transformed.”

Day was called – and calls us – “to see people as they really are, as God sees them.”

“We are saved by beauty every day, but we’re just not paying attention,” Hennessy said.

“This way of perceiving the world fully engaged –not judgmental, not rejecting – this was something my grandmother was able to do, even up to her death.”

Asked how people should view her lasting legacy, Hennessy said Day would reply, “Stop it. Look to yourselves. Do the work.”

“Respond to the need at hand,” Hennessy said. “One of her favorite questions was: ‘What can we do in the here and now?’” – especially in the face of seemingly insurmountable problems.

Visit people in prisons, hospitals and migrant labor camps. Feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked, Hennessy said. “Find what moves you.”

More online

At www.stpeterscatholic.org/kennedy-lecture : Watch the recorded 2023 Kennedy Lecture, hosted by St. Peter Parish and sponsored by Thomas and Richard Kennedy in memory of their parents, Keith and Joan Kennedy

Learn more

At www.ccdoc.org/education

Get more details about the Feb. 8 anti-human trafficking event in Lenoir At www.ccdoc.org/humantrafficking : Find more information, resources and how to get involved with anti-trafficking organizations

Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte is highlighting this issue at a free program on Wednesday, Feb. 8 – the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, patron saint of trafficking victims. People are encouraged to come and pray and learn more about how to spot the signs of human trafficking in our community.

It will be held 6:15-7:15 p.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Church, located at 328-B Woodsway Lane N.W. in Lenoir. The event will include a bilingual prayer service to pray for victims of human trafficking, followed by an information session to raise awareness on the issue of human trafficking.

It is being sponsored by Catholic Charities’ Human Trafficking Awareness Committee and St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

The Human Trafficking Awareness Committee emphasizes that human trafficking is often right in front of us: in massage parlors, nail salons, construction sites and in the hospitality industry. It’s also found behind the scenes, on farms and in factories where our favorite goods and products come from. It is present online, where vulnerable women and children are targeted, groomed and exploited by the pornography industry. Working toward eliminating human trafficking is a top priority for the Catholic Church. Catholic social teaching proclaims the dignity of every human person and the sanctity of all human life.

Pope Francis has said, “Modern slavery, in terms of human trafficking, forced labor and prostitution, and organ trafficking, is a crime against humanity. Its victims are from all walks of life but are most frequently among the poorest and most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters.”

— Catholic News Herald

Report trafficking hotline

Suspect an incident of human trafficking or need help for a potential victim? Contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

Who was St. Josephine Bakhita?

Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery in Sudan and Italy. Once Josephine was freed, she became a Canossian nun and dedicated her life to sharing her testament of deliverance from slavery and comforting the poor and suffering. She was declared a saint in 2000. Her feast day, Feb. 8, is now also celebrated as the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking.