Ash Wednesday: Help feed poor

MANILA, Philippines – The Lenten season starts with Ash Wednesday today, with the Catholic Church asking the faithful to fast and help in feeding the poor.

Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle has asked for support in the Church’s “Fast2Feed” program’s target of feeding 25,000 malnourished children.

The Fast2Feed asked Catholics to fast and donate money to the “Hapag-Asa” program of Pondo ng Pinoy of the Archdiocese of Manila and its suffragan dioceses, CBCPNews, the official news service provider of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines reported.

In a pastoral letter for Ash Wednesday,  Tagle asked the faithful to feed hungry children as their concrete act of charity in this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

“It only takes P1,200 or P10 a day to bring back a hungry and malnourished child to a healthy state in six months,” he said.

“Let us make a difference in their lives by fasting and donating whatever we save to Hapag-Asa. Let us Fast2Feed.” 

The program provides supplemental feeding and early childhood education and livelihood and skills training for parents.

Last year, donations provided more than 21,000 malnourished and undernourished children in the Pondo ng Pinoy member dioceses with warm and nutritious meals every day for six months.

Donations can be made through Fast2Feed envelopes distributed in various parishes and they may be offered during the mass or be turned over to the parish office.

Ash Wednesday signals the start of Lent, the season for Catholics to do good works, fast and pray.

And with the Year of Mercy being observed by the Church, Tagle said Lent should be a particular occasion to “heed Pope Francis’ call to practice mercy through concrete acts of charity.”