Easter Prayer, Call to Action for Immigration, Easter Cake Recipe and more.

April 12, 2017
This week we prepare for Easter with a beautiful prayer, a call to action for immigration reform, a delicious cake recipe, and a new blog post. Visit our website for more.

Words of Wisdom

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."

--1 Peter 1:3
Renewal of Earth and Life 
New Blog Post for Easter

Holy Week and the Easter Season blends so well with the renewal of the earth: the new buds, the spring blossoms, the leafing out of trees, and seedlings emerging from our gardens. For farmers, the Easter season coincides with planting time and a welcomed return to the fields.

Here at Catholic Rural Life, we know that many farmers still take a moment to express thanks for their vocation. They are grateful and humble to be called to produce the food and fiber we all need as a society of people. Although agriculture has become very much a business, the seasonal return to the field causes a farmer to pause and reflect on their precious life's work.

Click here to see our blog post that reflects on Holy Week, the Easter Season, the vocation of farming - and the inspirational guidance of Pope Francis, now into his fifth year as the Holy Father.

Easter Prayer
Sharing the Hope of Easter 

All of us at CRL are praying for a fruitful Holy Week and Easter for you and your family. We share this beautiful prayer out of gratitude:

Today dear Lord, we celebrate Your rising from the dead. We are happy with You that You have been victor over death. We look around us at the green fields, filled with new life, and are everywhere reminded of You.

The seeds we plant seem dry and dead, but with the combined wonders of rain and sun, and the powers of the earth, they rise from their death-like sleep and grow green and beautiful in our fields. The trees, too, that stood so stark and lifeless through the winter are now bright with living green.

With these reminders of a resurrection all about us every day, help us remember that death is not the end of things for us, but the beginning. Help us keep in mind that we shall rise again on the last day, to live with You forever.  Then there will be no weeping any more, nor any tears; no suffering, nor any pain, but joy and happiness and love with You forever. With You, then, will we celebrate the eternal Easter. It will be an everlasting Spring for us, if we only realize now that there is no glory without suffering, no Easter without a Good Friday. Help us, by Your grace, to live the good lives that will merit this new life in heaven forever with You. Amen.

Taken from the Rural Life Prayer Book. Click here to see the prayer book.
Call to Action
Justice for Immigrants

In last year's Easter Message, Pope Francis invited us "not to forget those men and women seeking a better future, an ever more numerous throng of migrants and refugees--including many children--fleeing from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice."

The Easter season provides the opportunity to reflect on God's victory over darkness, sin, and death. As Members of Congress return to their districts during the Easter recess, April 10th through 24th, the Justice for Immigrants  campaign  urges people of faith to meet with their representatives and senators. Join with religious leaders and call on elected officials to fulfill the moral responsibility to welcome and protect those displaced from their homes and fleeing from war and violence.

Justice for Immigrants  has created resources for in-district meetings. Here you can find talking points on proposed immigration legislation and a call to refrain from Family Separation. Each of these handouts has an Easter Reflection on Migration. 

Click here to access handouts for both House and Senate district meetings.


Easter Celebration
Try This Delicious Cake Recipe

Holy Week is upon us. It is a time to reflect on what happened to us during Lent: How have we been changed? How have we experienced the poverty of fasting? In reflecting upon these things, we can truly be thankful for all we have. We can make room in our hearts for a celebration of the Risen Christ.

Using a recipe from Cooking for Christ, CRL's beloved cookbook, is a beautiful way to prepare for the Easter celebration. First created by Florence Berger in 1946, this "kitchen prayer book" leads you through the liturgical seasons and applicable recipes surrounding special feast days, holidays and other traditions. Included are many recipes for the Easter season.

Click here for a delicious cake recipe for your Easter celebration.
 
CRL will be releasing a new edition of the cookbook later this year.  This new edition of the vintage cookbook preserves the original stories and recipes, but also includes new recipes, reflections, and Church traditions. Faithful to the liturgical year, this book celebrates food, family and faith.  

Contact Annie@CatholicRuralLife.org to add your name to the waiting list for the new edition!


 Support our work by becoming a member, or donating today.
STAY CONNECTED WITH US
  Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter