What will your Lenten Pledge be?

Catholic Online's 'Catholic Team Global is challenging the faithful to take our Lenten pledge. This Lent we are challenging you to make a real Catholic commitment of penitence, and make a difference that will truly help our fellow man.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The three traditional pillars of Lenten observance are prayer, fasting and alms-giving. Scripture teaches us that there is more joy in giving than in receiving (Acts 20:35).

During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on 'alms-giving,' which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity.  As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, alms-giving is 'a witness to fraternal charity' and  'a work of justice pleasing to God.' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462).

For Lent, we Catholics often take the easy way out by giving up certain types of personal luxuries, like chocolate, as our form of penitence.

This Lent we are challenging you to make a real Catholic commitment of penitence, and make a difference that will truly help our fellow man. Now is the time to truly respect the sacrifice Jesus made by stopping the selfish, trivial displays we put on every Lent and take real action.

Please give what you can this Lenten season

Alms-giving is an important part of Lent. Joined with prayer and fasting, we can make a real difference in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. Alms-giving is a sign of our care for those in need and an expression of our gratitude for all that God has given to us. This is also a perfect way to involve your younger children. Teach your children about good stewardship by tasking them to set aside a portion of their allowance for charity. Lent the perfect time to start or enhance this family practice. 

What we are challenging you to do is simple. Buy VitaMeal as your alms. The bags of VitaMeal will be sent to hungry children and families overseas. Catholic Team Global has sent thousands of bags of VitaMeal bags for distribution in the last 2 months. However, those shipments are decreasing as holiday giving drops off and people go on with their lives.

Hunger does not take a day off. It does not go away unless you fight it with action. Children are the most vulnerable and they are the first to starve when crisis hits.

We now invite you to take our Lenten Pledge challenge and make the world a better place this Lenten season. We the faithful will make a real sacrifice, in accord with our means, to feed the hungry. Giving alms will give you a true sense of the meaning of Lent.

Each person is challenged to buy one bag of VitaMeal per day for Lent. That's 40 days, 40 VitaMeals and 40 families that will be fed.

If you cannot give 40 bags of VitaMeal, then give the most that you can. One, two or three bags per week for the six weeks of Lent will help to make a difference. The true evidence of the personal sacrifice you make, will be life saving.

We ask you to give what you can.

In addition to providing food, we are also purchasing XO Tablets for schoolchildren overseas. These tablets will be used for student learning.  Nutrition, medicine and the right learning tools combined with moral education are the only recipe for stopping the cycle of poverty and hunger.

Most importantly, we have access to the world's largest and most powerful distribution network, the Catholic Church itself.

Once again we challenge you to take our Lenten Pledge today. Use Lent to change yourself and your family to make a real difference.  We challenge you to 'Pray and Act' to change the world today during the Holy season of Lent.

Take our challenge and join us.

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