Don’t Give Up Chocolate Or Coffee This Lent!

Each year around this time, we may be asked what we are giving up for Lent. For many of us, it involves some kind of sweet treat or food vice: candy, chocolate, ice cream or coffee, to name a few. This year, we invite you to rethink that decision.

This Lent, instead of giving up something like chocolate, think about doing something more to encounter God and your neighbor. CRS Rice Bowl is one opportunity.

Lent is a special 6 weeks where God calls us to do something more, not something less. We are called to build a culture of encounter. Jesus made that clear from the way he lived; Pope Francis makes that clear by his own daily example. Now, it’s our turn.

Lent can be a time of growth and transformation if we are ready to listen and answer the call. Through CRS Rice Bowl, Catholics put their faith into action. For more than 45 years, a simple cardboard box has inspired prayers, fasting and almsgiving. That box can be an inspiration and a celebration of life. CRS Rice Bowl encourages reflection in our lives. This year during Lent, we will hear stories of hope from Honduras, Vietnam, and Kenya. Instead of giving up something, through CRS Rice Bowl we will be given a gift—a way to interact and fully appreciate the lives and experiences of the poorest among us.

Lent is your personal journey. It can be a journey of sacrifice, and also one of spiritual growth and blessing. And if you think giving up chocolate and coffee will improve your relationship with your family or with God this Lent, by all means do it. Just remember to buy ethically produced chocolate and coffee after Easter!