Dear Rice Bowl Partners;I hope you all had a blessed Lent and glorious Easter. Lent was a special time at Blessed Sacrament culminating in a very moving Holy Week, Sacred Triduum and Easter Sunday. However or wherever you celebrated, I am sure it was meaningful.
We conluded Rice Bowl on Easter Sunday. We collected Rice Bowls starting Palm Sunday. Thank you all who helped with this. We also counted the donations in the rectory the Mondays after Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday and Good Friday. We took the coins to TD Bank to conveert to bills. We have one more bag to count and Rice Bowls continue to come into the rectory.
Blessed Sacrament had a verysuccessful Rice Bowl. Below are our results and will announce them at Mass, possibly this weekend. We will publish the results and a note of appreciation to our generous parishioners in the bulletin and on the website the weekend of April 18/19 when we have a final number. We also received three notes/comments from parishioners on how Rice Bowl enhanced their Lenten journey.
Thank you for all your help and support of CRS Rice Bowl. You provided fellow parishioners an opportunity to enhance their Lenten journey through Rice Bowl. Most importantly, thank you for helping to change the lives of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.
God bless you for you r very big hearts.
Pia and the Rice Bowl Committee.
RICE BOWL RESULTS
1) Distributed 1050 Rice Bowls (last year: 1160)
2) Distributed 1500 Rice Bowl Flyers
3) Rice Bowl donations:
Cash: $7183.00
Checks: $1850.00
Direct to CRS: $3082.00 on line/checks
Total: $12,115.64 (last year: $9329.00—neither year includes 4th Sunday of Lent collection)
4) Three notes/comments about Rice Bowl:
• RB was a wonderful way to share Lent with a young child (toddler). RB allowed these parents to engage their child in almsgiving and helping the poor during Lent.
• First time using RB and helped him stay focused on contributing and helping the poor. He liked the “piggy bank” structure and kept it on his desk so he saw it daily.
• A note included in a RB: “Spend money well. Worked hard to help”.
BOOK CLUB
The next Book Club will meet on April 30th in the rectory at 6:30pm. The book chosen is “To Kill a Mockingbird,” what one critic called one of the ,most widely read novels in the 20th Century dealing with race in America.. The book contains important themes other than racial injustice, such as the exploration of the moral nature of human beings, that is, whether the ultimate moral lesson is that the existence of evil is balanced by faith in the essential goodness of mankind as well as the theme of courage and compassion in the context of understanding others. Hope to see many of us there in a discussion which will hopefully prove interesting as well as part of our journey as Christians.
LIVING WAGES ARE A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE
Today we are on day 2 of our Fast for $15 50 days of prayer and abstaining from food as an act of solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the fight for living wages in the Fight for $15. Fast food and other low wage workers across the country are putting their bodies on the line to ensure that they can earn wages that will allow them the ability to support themselves and their families, a basic right for every individual. We each know the prophetic power of fasting and prayer. We ask that you and your congregation join us in this time of prayer and sacrifice on behalf of the Fight for $15. Pray for the workers, the protestors, the organizers, and for all those involved in this movement.
How Can you join the Movement? Fast Food Fast: 50 Days of Prayer and Fasting—Beginning Monday, April 6th. Join us for 50 days of prayer and fasting from fast food in solidarity with the Fight for $15. During these 50 days, pray for fast food workers and abstain from fast food establishments.
Adopt a Fast Food Establishment—Congregational Circle of Protection—Adopting a fast food establishment in your neighborhood as a congregation and be a source of support and refuge as they fight for living wages. Please contact Faith in New York for more information
Fast Food Worker Testimonials—Have a fast food worker share their testimony at your congregation and share their experience in fighting for living wages. Please contact Faith in New York for more information.
Social Media—#FightFor15 #FastFor15 #FaithInNewYork. Spread the word about the Fight For $15. Tell us why you’re standing in solidarity with this nationwide movement.
Join us on April 15th as we stand in solidarity for the Fight for $15.Columbus Circle gathering at 5pm. Enter at 63rd Street and Central Park West. March begins at 6pm. Bus transportation can be provided from your congregation upon request! Please call
718-426-6564 or e-mail [email protected] to request a bus for your congregation.
Please register today to join us on April 15th at Columbus Circle to Fight for $15.
VISITING FRIENDS PROGRAM
Our new Visiting Friends Program is up and running with great success. Volunteers are visiting homebound people in the neighborhood, bringing the comfort of companionship and social interaction. Flyers are available in the back of the church with information on the program. If you know of someone (friend, relative or neighbor) who might benefit from and welcome a visitor, please email us at [email protected].–be sure to put “Visiting Friends Program” in the subject box. You can also leave the information at the Rectory.
DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION
Come and learn about the Divine Mercy Devotion followed by a Healing prayer with a first class relic of St. John Paul II.
Monday, April 13th from 6:30 to 8:30pm at the Blessed Sacrament rectory.