Mexico - Call to Family, Community and Participation

Today's guest post from our parishioner and CRS Ambassador, Cate, is about CRS and Mexico.

"The 4th Sunday of Lent featured Mexico and the amazing works of Catholic Relief Services RICE BOWL in that country. The Christ our Hope Catholic Church Sunday Soup Supper after the 7 pm mass celebrated with a MEXICAN FIESTA. Our very own parishioner and intern Celina Ruiz-Dzilenski gave a beautiful testimony of her Catholic Faith and what Lent means to her.
     Celina is originally from Chiapas, Mexico. Chiapas is the "very last state of Mexico by the Guatemalan border". She is finishing her Masters in Leadership at Seattle University this June. She shared with me that she's doing her project with a focus on senior women. During the CRS RICE BOWL awareness presentation,  Celina shared the joy and blessing she felt when Pope Francis visited her home state in Mexico last year. She said she was so thankful for the gift of Faith that her parents had cultivated in her. She added "It made me the person that I am today". She encouraged the parish community in attendance to ensure that they pass the same Faith to their children. Celina finished her testimony with a beautiful CRS Prayer in Spanish.

CRS's presence in Mexico had been in existence since 1943.

Although Mexico has one of the largest economies in Latin America, half of its population lives in poverty. Ongoing economic and social concerns in addition to drug trafficking, violence and organized crime are increasing the number of people forcefully displaced from their homes and businesses. 84% of over 120 Million  Mexicans are Catholics. 

COH YOUNG PROFESSIONALS GROUP LED BY CLAIRE BANKSON-MCPHERSON AND CRYSTAL LIN AMOBI sponsored the Lenten Soup Supper a la FIESTA


The parishioners and some Josephinum residents were served the traditional Tortilla and Posole soups with traditional toppings, Arroz Rojo (a crsricebowl.org Lenten recipe courtesy of the CRS Ambassadors), flour tortilla and bread donated by Essentials baking company.