NEW BEDFORD — Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha cooked a meal Thursday using one of the church’s “Rice Bowl recipes” at the Sister Rose House. Catholic Relief Services features its Rice Bowl program as an opportunity to put “faith into action through prayer, fasting and almsgiving,” according to a news release.

RICE BOWL PROGRAM

Each Lent, Catholic Relief Services features its Rice Bowl. One aspect of the program offers Catholics simple meatless recipes from countries around the world, where CRS is at work, and encourages people to cook these dishes in solidarity with the people from where the recipes originate.

 

MAKE IT AT HOME

The bishop, with the help of staff at the Sister Rose House, cooked Batar Da’an, a recipe from East Timor in Southeast Asia. Here’s the recipe:

1 bag frozen corn
1 can red kidney beans, drained
1 butternut squash, cut into small pieces
3 cups water
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp fair trade olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked rice

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender. Add water and squash, and increase heat until water is simmering. Add corn and kidney beans, reduce to medium heat, and cook (stirring occasionally) until squash is tender (15-20 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with rice. Makes 4 servings.

Get more recipes at crsricebowl.org/recipe.

 

WHAT IS CRS?

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Lenten alms donated through CRS Rice Bowl support the work of CRS in roughly 45 countries each year. Twenty-five percent of all donations to CRS Rice Bowl stay in the local diocese, supporting hunger and poverty alleviation efforts, according to a news release.

 

WHAT IS THE SISTER ROSE HOUSE?

The Sister Rose House is an emergency shelter for men that is staffed 24 hours a day. The program offers supportive services including assessment, job skills training, budgeting information, and access to mental health and other needed services. The goal is to help men gain long-term sustainability while working on the current issues that lead to their homelessness.

 

WHAT’S ON HIS APRON?

The bishop sported a black apron with the logo RISE, which stands for Rise Up for Homes. RISE helps raise money to keep the emergency overflow shelter going at Sister Rose, which opens when temperatures drop to 28 degrees or lower. The cost to keep the overflow shelter open during these nights is $475.

 

HOW TO HELP?

To help Rise Up For Homes, you can donate online at riseupforhomes.com/donate/; text RISEUP to 50155 to make a donation from your mobile phone; or send a check to First Citizens’ Federal Credit Union, 200 Mill Road, Suite 100, Fairhaven, MA 02719.

To help the Sister Rose House, contact program manager Ray Duarte at 508-997-3202.

 

DO YOU NEED HELP?

To make a referral or enter Sister Rose House, call 1-800-HOMELESS.