As Lent 2022 begins, Catholics in South Jersey and around the globe are being asked to pray, fast and give during this penitential season.
Focusing on the last of these Lenten pillars, Catholic Relief Service’s Operation Rice Bowl campaign is kicking off once again, with the goal to combat worldwide hunger and poverty. The initiative is “a real opportunity to think of others, make contributions and feed those around the world,” says Donna Ottaviano-Britt, director of the Diocese’s Office of Discipleship and Leadership and secretariat for Pastoral Outreach.
Adopted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1976, Operation Rice Bowl has raised almost $300 million to support more than 140 million hungry and malnourished in more than 100 countries. Participating dioceses receive 25 percent of collected funds to aid local programs that feed the hungry and help alleviate poverty. Last year, the Diocese of Camden collected $96,311.50 for Operation Rice Bowl and received $24,077.
The campaign is a chance for families to engage in “spiritual work across the dinner table, going deeper into Lent and understanding our brothers and sisters around the world,” Ottaviano-Britt says.
By placing the cardboard Rice Bowl in a prominent place in the house, fruitful dialogue and conversion can happen, she says, adding that families “can engage their household, relatives, friends and neighbors in works that Jesus has asked of us.”
That is something in which Father Robert Hughes, diocesan Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, can relate. He recalled during his childhood that the Rice Bowl’s “presence on the table made us conscious of those who had less than we. As Lent progressed, we added quarters … a few dollars … We did know that [the money] would help to feed someone in need.”
To learn more about the global communities served by the program, find meatless recipes from around the world and print do-it-yourself Rice Bowl labels, visit www.crsricebowl.org.
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