Almsgiving by the faithful allows Catholic Relief Services to carry out Gospel values

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Odalias Mendez, 7, washes up at a spigot of a new running water system in San Jose del Llano, Honduras. The system, was funded in part through a Catholic Relief Services program. Families in the ranching community used to either pay for home delivery of dirty water or filled buckets at a nearby river.

The Catholic Encyclopedia says almsgiving implies a material service rendered to the poor for Christ's sake.

Lent is a time for self-sacrifice and to be more aware of the poverty in the world. A lesson about compassion, it also helps people develop spiritually.

Now in it's 35th year, Operation Rice Bowl allows Catholics in the United States to focus on almsgiving, self-sacrifice and people living in poverty all over the world, Ken Hackett, president of Catholic Relief Services recently told Catholic News Service.