Operation Rice Bowl

My husband was raised Catholic and, during the first couple of years of our relationship, we attended mass together at Stanford's Memorial Church. Though I had previously been introduced to Catholicism, this was the right time and the right place for me to open my heart to the Catholic Church - especially as presented at Stanford.

It was there that I was introduced to Operation Rice Bowl.

From their website:

Each year, Operation Rice Bowl calls us to pray with our families and faith communities; fast in solidarity with those who hunger; learn more about our global community and the challenges of poverty overseas; and give sacrificial contributions to those in need.

We have done scaled-back versions over the years, but this year I wanted to take it on a bit more. Operation Rice Bowl traditionally does the rice bowl mean on the Fridays when Catholics are fasting, but we have something else that we are doing on Fridays and I like the idea of a simple, quiet meal to end our Sundays, so I have moved our rice bowl meals to Sunday evenings during Lent. And, as I am not Catholic and as our family does not attend a Catholic church (we go to St. Andrew Christian Church), I feel perfectly comfortable altering it to meet our family needs.

For our first rice bowl meal of Lent, we are eating in solidarity with the people of Haiti. From their website (to nearly the bottom of the linked page):

Haiti Recipe

Prepare a simple meal from Haiti in solidarity with our brothers and sisters impacted by the earthquake.

Rice and Red Beans (serves 4)

½ cup fresh parsley
3 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp dried thyme
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp oil
1 cup rice
2 cups cooked or canned kidney beans
1 ½ cups vegetable broth*
1 cup water

*½ can Cream of Celery soup + 1 cup water or juice from the kidney beans may be substituted for vegetable broth.

In a large saucepan, add first 5 ingredients into 3 Tbsp of oil. Heat through and add rice. Brown the mixture slightly for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans, broth, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir and serve hot.

It was really quite delicious. Each member of our family had one simple bowl of rice and one glass of water.

We started with the Operation Rice Bowl Prayer:

Operation Rice Bowl Prayer

God of all people, Hear us as we join in prayer with our brothers and sisters in need. Bless our Lenten fasting, learning, and giving. May your generous love for your people be our guide as we reach out to all who live with hunger and poverty. Amen.

During dinner, we talked about the children in Haiti and how so many of them were going to bed each night without having had any food at all that day, not even a simple bowl of rice and beans.

After dinner was over, but before the kids got a Sunday break from their giving up of candy for lent, we read our church's recommended bible story for today. From Mark 12:28-34 (NIV), we read about the greatest commandment:

²⁸One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

²⁹"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[e] 30}Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'^{[f] 31}The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'^[g]There is no commandment greater than these."

³²"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

³⁴When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

And, that, my friends, is the heart of Christianity for me.