Operation Rice Bowl (ORB) is used by many parishes each year during Lent as a means of focusing on the Catholic Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving alms. The ORB web site had a great reflection on fasting this past week:
"As you plan your week, make some time to pray as the prophets did. Set aside everything — time, physical comfort, food — to listen carefully to what God is saying to you. You might consider skipping a meal and spending the time by yourself in prayer. While a mountaintop might not be handy, a chapel, winter path, or bedroom might be the place to escape distractions. Let the inevitable complaint of your stomach remind you of your reliance on God for your daily bread. Let it put you in solidarity with all who experience hunger, whether if be for food, for justice or for a brighter future."
Copyright © 2010, Deacon Carl D. Smith. All rights reserved. Reprint permission granted to parishes for use in Sunday bulletins.
