Dear Brothers and Sisters:

The season of Lent is a special time in our Church. Beginning with Ash Wednesday we take 40 days to prepare ourselves spiritually for our great celebration of Easter. We practice justice towards God through our prayer, justice towards ourselves through our fasting, and justice to our neighbors through our almsgiving. Operation Rice Bowl is a resource for our Lenten preparations.

The 2009 Operation Rice Bowl materials are focused on the theme: Solidarity Will Transform the World. This year, it is more important than ever that we extend our actions of justice to reach out to our neighbors around the world through Catholic Relief Services’ Operation Rice Bowl. Our world faces a global food crisis and worldwide financial downturn that is impacting people in every developing country, as well as people here in the United States. Many families in developing countries are spending most of their income on food, leaving little left over for other necessities.

Operation Rice Bowl provides the opportunity to help those in need around the world and here at home while learning more about our global neighborhood. When you send your Operation Rice Bowl donations through our Archdiocesan CRS director, Susan S. Sullivan, seventy-five percent will go to Catholic Relief Services to provide much needed financial support for development projects in more than 40 countries, and twenty-five percent will remain in our archdiocese to support Catholic Charities’ Refugee Resettlement Services. In 2008 alone, our Refugee Resettlement Services helped over 172 families who suffered religious and political persecution in their home country begin a new life in the United States.

Let us use this Lenten season as an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with God through our prayers, to simplify our lives through our fasting, to learn more about what we have in common with our brothers and sisters who live far away, and to give what we can to assist those in need.

You may find more information on Operation Rice Bowl and order additional materials (most parishes will automatically receive materials) by calling 1-800-222-0025 or visiting orb.crs.org.

On behalf of all those who benefit from your support of Operation Rice Bowl, I thank you for your prayers and collaboration. Your participation continues to make this program a success each year.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory