During Lent, many parish and school communities in the Diocese of Sacramento participate in Catholic Relief Services' (CRS) Rice Bowl, a faith-in-action program that invites us to encounter the needs of the world with the hope of the Resurrection.
The CRS Rice Bowl program helps members of those communities come together as a family and reflect on the crosses of hunger, poverty and war that our brothers and sisters are forced to flee their homes carry. In so doing, they pledge to stand alongside these members of the human family, supporting them as the Gospel calls us to do.
At St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Elk Grove, which has some 410 students in grades K-8, students fast during Lent and observe "Rice Bowl Wednesdays." Donations are collected and sent to Catholic Relief Services for their programs at the conclusion of Lent.
One student wrote this about the Rice Bowl program experience. "Rice Bowl is an effective yet fun way to provide money for the less fortunate. Through this program, students fast in observance of Lent. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School has enjoyed supporting the Rice Bowl program since its adoption last year. Eating a simple bowl of rice encouages us to practice the virtues of generosity, temperance, kindness and gratitude. We are all called to serve God by giving to him and to those who are in need. The Rice Bowl program reminds us of Jesus' sacrifices, the importance of living humbly and the many blessings God has given us."