Fast for a cause this Lent, Cardinal tells faithful

MANILA, Feb. 15, 2010—As millions of Catholics prepare to fast for the season of Lent, Manila’s Catholic Church is giving the sacred observance new meaning and appeal. With its program, “Fast… Feed,” the Archdiocese of Manila, fights poverty by asking people to fast and pray, while donating what they would have spent on food to create change through charities. In a pastoral letter for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, Manila archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said the advocacy gives people an opportunity to make a difference. Fast… Feed is actually a program being promoted by “Hapag-asa,” a church-led initiative to combat hunger and malnutrition among children. Rosales appealed to the people “to support HAPAG-ASA in its efforts to care for hungry and malnourished children of our parishes.” “Your donation, no matter how small, will go a long way as it only costs a mere ten pesos a day or P1,200 to feed a hungry child once a day, five days a week, for six months. You can save the life of a Filipino child with P1,200,” he said. In the last 5 years, the pernicious problem of hunger and malnutrition has worsened in the Philippines, the archbishop said. Initial results of 7th National Nutrition Survey conducted in 2008 show that three out of ten Filipino children are hungry and malnourished. They are underweight and stunted in their growth, the cardinal cited the report as saying. Worse, he added, the acute or severe cases of malnutrition are increasing. Rosales said the country now has more than 8 million Filipino children who are underweight and under height. While those who fast can give to any charity they see fit, participants are encouraged to consider “Fast…Feed”, a program that will match all donations and use them to benefit the needy. “The promise of Hapag-asa is to have fullness of life through feeding the body and feeding the spirit,” he said. “Thus it not only gives out food for the hungry but also teaches children and their parents values that would lead them to a better life,” Rosales added. The Church encourages its faithful to fast during the days of Lent. The Church prescribes obligatory fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Fridays of Lent. The “Fast…Feed” program is being implemented through the parishes which are designated to receive the donations from those participating in the program. (Roy Lagarde)

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