CRS staff from the northeast office join local parishioners at the Annunciation BVM church in Philadelphia for an Operation Rice Bowl meal. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

There are many ways that families and parishes can enhance their Lenten observance. The Diocese of Memphis is asking parishioners to abstain from daily cups of coffee and after-dinner snacks, donating that money to Operation Rice Bowl. Not sure how to organize your own Lenten activities? Operation Rice Bowl offers a week-by-week guide for parishes, including tips on how to involve parish committees and incorporating ORB into weekly activities. It also includes a timeline that will help parishes plan and organize Operation Rice Bowl in their community.

A family prepares to enjoy a simple, meatless meal and talk about Operation Rice Bowl in their home. Photo by Jim Stipe/CRS

Consider prayer, fasting, community service, sacrificial giving, or a combination of these.

Millions of Catholics are already participating in Operation Rice Bowl, CRS’ annual Lenten program that provides 40 opportunities to learn about, pray for and help those who don’t have enough to eat. Participants make the small sacrifice of preparing simple, meatless recipes each week and putting the money they otherwise would have spent on a big meal into symbolic rice bowls. That money goes to support CRS’ mission to fight global hunger and poverty.

With a calendar suggesting daily reflections and prayer, as well as concrete ways to act, Operation Rice Bowl lets us observe Lent in both a spiritual and practical way.

For many families, Lent is a special time of prayer and reflection. And while we pray for our loved ones and those closest to us, we should also reflect on so many of our brothers and sisters in the developing world who struggle every day to provide enough food for their families. Although in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti much of our focus is on the desperate needs there, we cannot forget that every day children around the world die from hunger and its consequences.

With only weeks until Ash Wednesday, I look forward with great anticipation to Operation Rice Bowl, Catholic Relief Services’ annual Lenten program that addresses hunger and poverty around the world and this year will help us focus on our brothers and sisters in need in Haiti and elsewhere.
(more…)

Easter Sunday

Jesus is Risen!

Through the light of Christ, we share the joys and challenges of our brothers and sisters. Our prayer, fasting, learning and giving in solidarity with the poor will transform the world.

Good Friday

PRAY the Lenten Prayer.

FAST in solidarity with members of our communities who suffer from hunger.

GIVE 36¢ to your Rice Bowl as an act of solidarity for those who will go hungry today.

From the diocese of Knoxville: The Pastoral Juvenil Hispana of the Diocese of Knoxville held its third Catholic Relief Services 24-hour Food Fast retreat on March 7 and 8 at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland. This Lenten experience includes fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, and the youth really enjoy participating. The theme this year was “La migración, el hambre y la doctrina social Católica” (immigration, hunger, and Catholic social teaching).

The newly elected all-youth board of this diocesan organization worked diligently for more than a month to plan the event and invited all Hispanic youth of the diocese to participate in the fast. In attendance at the fast were 102 people, including 13 adult leaders. The rest were all members of the nine “grupos juveniles” (Hispanic youth/young adult groups) of the diocese.

Full story here.

Holy Thursday

Station 14: Jesus is Buried

1 in 6 children in the United States are buried under the weight of poverty.

GIVE $1 to your Rice Bowl for each child in your family in solidarity with our neighbors facing hunger today.

Read and reflect on Psalm 106:3.

LEARN how you can join the Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America.

Station 13: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

PRAY for members of our communities who give their time to help our neighbors down from the cross of poverty.

LEARN about the Catholic social teaching principle of Solidarity by reading the description in the Home Calendar Guide.

PRAY that in our country of opportunity, we ensure each person has access to the resources they need.