“As we begin this Lenten journey, let us prepare to touch, see, hear, smell and taste God in all things. Let us be sacraments of God’s love and bring these holy senses to those who are most in need.” (From the CRS Rice Bowl Daily Prayer Reflection for Ash Wednesday 2016)
The Catholic Relief Service Rice Bowl is an exciting way to deepen our Lenten journey of prayer, fasting and almsgiving by reaching out to others beyond our comfort zone. Rice Bowl will not only inspire your Lenten sacrifice, it can be fun by helping us “taste God in all things.”
The recent annual diocesan Lenten Luncheon of meatless meals for Fridays (see page 3) featured several tasty delights from CRS Rice Bowl recipes. Mary Duddy from the diocesan Tribunal Office made “Vary Amin’anana,” a delicious Rice Bowl dish from Madagascar where her son-in-law is from. And the Hawaii Catholic Herald’s Pat Downes cooked the popular Rice Bowl recipe “Empanadas de Queso con Frijoles” (Cheese empanadas with beans).
After Masses during Lent, the youth and young adult ministries in the central Oahu vicariate parishes of Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Good Counsel, St. Michael and Resurrection of the Lord will present Rice Bowl dishes with displays from Rice Bowl countries. Recently nine Oahu parishes gathered for a Rice Bowl kick-off and several will be using Rice Bowl recipes in their religious education classes to connect families with their counterparts in other counties.
At the Feb. 5 Annual Conference of Catholic Educators gathering at Sacred Hearts Academy, more than 700 Catholic school teachers were encouraged to use Rice Bowl recipes in classroom activities connecting their students with youth around the world struggling to overcome hunger in their communities.
At the Feb. 6 Stewardship Day at St. Stephen Diocesan Center, 175 parishioners took part in workshops showing how Rice Bowl resources, including recipes, can enhance efforts to share time, talent and treasure beyond our church walls.
What provides the special flavor in Rice Bowl recipes is the opportunity to learn the story of hope that comes with each week’s recipe. The first week’s story is about Maria, an 18-year-old from Colombia. Eight years ago she fled with her family from the fighting between armed forces in her rural village. They left their home one morning with nothing but a suitcase of clothes.
Ten years later, the CRS Rice Bowl Borderlands project helped her family buy a small piece of land. The project trains young people to become leaders in coffee industry and Maria is now earning a degree in farming. Maria says, “Coffee is in my blood; it is so much a part of everyday life, not just for me and my family, but globally. It’s not just a plant or something you drink, it brings people together. CRS Borderlands coffee project has helped me develop as a whole person.”
For more information about how to touch, see, hear, smell and taste God in all things and manifest God’s love by sharing these holy senses in solidarity with those who are most in need, please go to www.crsricebowl.org. For Rice Bowl here in Hawaii see http://catholichawaii.org/catholic-living/charity-justice/food-security,-sustainable-development-global-solidarity/ricebowl/
Mahalo.
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
