This Lent you may have participated in the Rice Bowl initiative by vowing to deposit money into those little cardboard banks that were distributed at all masses before Ash Wednesday. Those little banks or “Rice Bowls” will be collected on Palm Sunday and turned over to Catholic Relief Services for its relief efforts throughout the world. According to Catholic Relief Services, depositing one dollar a day during Lent can provide three months of clean water for four families, two years of seed for a farmer, and one month of food for a family.
I promised to make daily contributions to my Rice Bowl during this Lenten season. By doing so, it made me more conscientious of what a difference a dollar a day can make to people in other parts of the world. Rather than regularly stopping at Starbucks or going out to lunch, I started depositing the money I would have otherwise spent on coffee and food into my Rice Bowl.
I was taught that the purpose of giving something up for Lent is to develop a spiritual strength by detaching myself from the things I wanted or believed I really needed so that I can resist the temptations I know are not good for me during the rest of the year. Not that there is anything wrong with stopping at Starbucks a couple times a week, but when I realized that a family of four can get six months of clean water (something many of us take for granted) for the amount I spend on my regular grande cup of brewed coffee, I decided that my money should instead go toward a greater good.
I, along with many of you, will turn in my Rice Bowl on Palm Sunday but I just might replace it with another little bank to deposit my loose change because I recognize that helping the poor is something I can easily continue to do beyond the Lenten season.
Gabriella Moretti
