Ash Wednesday / First Week of Lent

Our wonderful CRS Ambassador and parishioner, Cate, wrote a guest post to start off our CRS Rice Bowl series. You can view the full post on her blog.

First things first, Thank You to the leadership of the COH Outreach Committee, Hispanic Leadership and Fathers Paul and Rob.
   Christ our Hope started Lent celebration on February 26 after the 930 am mass with the spirit of #GlobalSolidarity in full gear. Joe Hastings, a MaryKnoll missionary to El Salvador (his most recent mission) and a CRS Ambassador of the Seattle Archdiocese offered a presentation about the great works of the Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl in El Salvador.
   El Salvador is one of the densest and poorest countries in Central America. For decades, civil war had drastically changed the lives of so many citizens. The death of the Blessed Archbishop Romero had smashed down the hearts of so many people in El Salvador. Human migration is significantly rampant. People are fleeing the country just to meet merely their basic human needs and safety.
   Fernando is a young father of 2 from El Salvador. He continues to thrive everyday to support his family. Through the Catholic Relief Services, Fernando is learning new skills to provide a better life for his family. Check out the video below:

 It was a heartwarming presentation and a great reminder to all of us what we need to focus on - the Trifecta of the Lenten Season  -    Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving...
  
Pope Francis recently reminded us on social media:
   
 " Fasting is not only about abstaining from food, It also means sharing food with those who are hungry"

   On Ash Wednesday, the Lenten Soup Suppers began after the evening mass.  With the leadership of Maria and the culinary skills of Hector ,a hearty bowl of  lentil soup (appropriate for Lent - for Lentils - da dump chhhh!!!) and bread (donated weekly by Essential Baking Company in Georgetown) were served to our parish community and to the Josephinum residents . 
   The community started with a prayer led by Fr Paul and during the soup supper, we watched a poignant video of Thomas Awiapo on Lent:

To learn more about CRS GLOBAL SOLIDARITY: go to  www.crsricebowl.org