{"id":11302,"date":"2020-03-04T08:01:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T13:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/?p=11302"},"modified":"2023-11-06T17:49:52","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T17:49:52","slug":"bishops-blog-lenten-alms-and-rites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/pt-pt\/bishops-blog\/bishops-blog-lenten-alms-and-rites\/","title":{"rendered":"Lenten Alms and Rites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Catholic Relief Services and Lent<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Rice Bowl initiative is the Lenten program of Catholic Relief Services, the official relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Through CRS\u2019s Rice Bowl, faith communities in every diocese throughout the United States live out the three tenets of Lent\u2014prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
\nLast year, I accepted the \u201cRice Bowl Challenge\u201d to prepare one of several meatless ethnic dishes that CRS offered on its website. I tapped into my great love of gardening and relished the experience of cooking a vegetarian meal. It reminded me of some of the recipes from my native Brazil. Most of our meals in Brazil have beans, rice, vegetables, and meat. That\u2019s really the basic ingredients for most of the Brazilian meals. Of course, for the \u201cRice Bowl Challenge,\u201d we leave out the meat, but we pretty much have everything else.
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\nLast year I chose to cook <\/span>Batar Da\u2019an<\/span><\/em> from East Timor<\/span><\/a> at the Sister Rose House in New Bedford. The Sister Rose House is one of the diocese\u2019s shelters for the homeless. Recognizing the importance of the work this and so many other shelters, like <\/span>Sister Rose House<\/span><\/a> does, I am planning to revisit once again to assist in preparing and serving a meal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Operation Rice Bowl<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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According to the Catholic Relief website, <\/span>\u201cCRS Rice Bowl<\/span><\/a> is the Lenten program of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Through CRS Rice Bowl, faith communities in every diocese throughout the United States put their faith into action through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lenten alms donated through CRS Rice Bowl support the work of CRS in roughly 45 different countries each year. 25% of all donations to CRS Rice Bowl stay in the local diocese, supporting hunger and poverty alleviation efforts. Since its inception in 1975, CRS Rice Bowl has raised nearly $300 million.\u201d<\/span>
\nMany parishes throughout the Fall River Diocese participate in providing and collecting cardboard rice bowls, like the one pictured above. Families can find more <\/span>Lenten resources and activities <\/span><\/a>on the CRS Website, including ways to serve their community and work together to provide alms to this worthy cause.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Rite of Election<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Rite of Election is celebrated in diocesan cathedrals annually throughout the world on the First Sunday of Lent. It marks the beginning of the final phase of preparation for those participating in the <\/span>Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults<\/span><\/a> \u2014better known by the acronym RCIA- the process through which adults enter the Catholic Church.<\/span>
\nMy role during Sunday\u2019s ceremony was to formally acknowledge the readiness of the catechumens\u2014those who are preparing for the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist)\u2014and call them to the reception of the sacraments. Most of these men and women will receive these sacraments in their own parishes during the Easter Vigil on April 11.<\/span>
\nIn addition, the catechumens express their desire for the sacraments and inscribe their names in what is called the <\/span>Book of the Elect<\/span><\/a>. For the catechumens, this follows a period of study and reflection on the Word of God; at their pace and with the assistance of parish instructors.<\/span>
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\nSunday\u2019s Rite of Election also included the <\/span>Call to Continuing Conversion<\/span><\/a> for persons called candidates in the RCIA process. Candidates are those who have been baptized in other Christian traditions who now seek to become members of the Catholic Church or baptized Catholics who had no instruction in the faith and are now preparing for Eucharist and confirmation. This ceremony also called for me to seek the approval, from the sponsors of these candidates, for the continuation of their preparation for reception into the full communion of the Catholic Church.
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Coronavirus Information<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like all of you, I continue to follow news about the spread of the coronavirus, COVID 19. The CDC states<\/a> that f<\/span>or the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low. All the same, the situation is of concern and needs to be closely monitored. Out of caution and for the protection of our parishioners, the Diocese recently shared with our priests information as a reminder that:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n