Editorial (Tuesday, February 17, 2015, Gaudium Press) Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and sacrifice; but it is also a time of charity. That’s why for four decades Catholics of the United States have been taking part in the “Rice Bowl” program – “Plato de Arroz” – through which they use the sacrifices of this liturgical time to relieve the famine in the world that causes poverty, and to improve the quality of life of the persons and the families in need.
Inspired by the ‘Catholic Relief Service (CRS) -official international humanitarian agency of the United States Catholic community- the program was born 40 years ago with the desire to respond to famine in Africa, and subsequently extended as a Lenten initiative to overcome hunger elsewhere in the world. “Could we feed the hungry through Lentan prayers, fasting, and the donations? The answer was yes, and it came in the form of a small cardboard box. Forty years later, it continues to do so and continues leading our days of Lenten living”, presented on the website of the initiative.
The dioceses, parishes and educational institutions request the CRS Rice Bowls – represented in cardboard boxes – through which the economic aid is collected / Photo: crsricebowl.org
The program is symbolically developed through a plate of rice and listening to testimonies of those who are in need, with whom prayers, fasting and donations are engaged, thus addressing their plight. For this reason, the dioceses, parishes and educational institutions request CRS Rice Bowls-represented in cardboard boxes-through which the financial aid is collected.
Lenten calendars that invite you to enjoy the season in generosity with those most in need are also distributed.
Of the money that is collected 75 percent is then distributed to support the CRS programs throughout the world, including agricultural projects to improve crops, water sanitation to provide potable water to the communities, micro-finance in order to support the small businesses, health, especially for the nutrition of the child population, education and training, among others. The remaining 25 percent, meanwhile, is used to alleviate hunger and poverty in the community that had joined the program.
In addition to donations, the initiative includes a range of resources to celebrate Lent, including weekly reflections, stories of hope to individuals and families around the world who have received aid, activities for the whole family to put into practice during Lent, and even international lines without meat to maintain abstinence on Ash Wednesday, Fridays of Lent, and good Friday.
Also, the initiative makes use of new technologies and has a website, in English and Spanish, which includes all the aforementioned contents; as well as an application to download in tablets and Smartphones so that Lent is only a click away.
In the last Lent a total of 13,405 parishes, communities and educational institutions in the United States joined the Rice Bowl campaign. It is expected in 2015 , when the 40th anniversary of this initiative is commemorated, that there will be more participating communities.
From the editor of Gaudium Press, with information from crsricebowl.org.