MONROE - A local Catholic church has found a creative way to help its congregation honor the reflective time of Lent and follow Jesus' command to his disciples to "take up their cross daily and follow me."
Paper crosses with weekly assignments hang free for the taking on a wooden cross erected in the entrance of St. Victor Catholic Church, 1760 14th St., which is part of the St. Clare of Assisi Parish.
Each paper cross has instructions for that week - a food pantry donation, a time to pray and a reflective activity to undertake. Donations are collected at the base of the cross and taken to the pantry in bulk.
This week, for instance, parishioners are encouraged to donate pancake mix and syrup, attend vespers (a sunset prayer service) and send a thank you note to someone.
Other weekly assignments during the five weeks of Lent include reading a passage in the Gospel, saying nothing negative for a week, taking a quiet walk, and eating a family meal together with phones, computers and TVs turned off. Donations include peanut butter and jelly, shampoo and body wash or soap, and soup and crackers.
"It really goes over well," said Rita Koster, administrative assistant for the parish. She and two others, Jane McAuliffe and Randy Symanitz, got the idea after a similar project during Advent was successful. That one was the same in concept but involved paper angels hanging on a Christmas tree.
Parishioners like the tangible symbol of a cross they can take, said Symanitz, director of liturgy and pastoral ministries.
The crosses are getting results. More people are coming to vespers, and the food donations are stack high.
"It gets so packed back here it gets hard to walk around," Symanitz said.
That, in essence, is what Lent is all about.
"You want to improve yourself, but you also want to give to the community," Koster said.
Paper crosses with weekly assignments hang free for the taking on a wooden cross erected in the entrance of St. Victor Catholic Church, 1760 14th St., which is part of the St. Clare of Assisi Parish.
Each paper cross has instructions for that week - a food pantry donation, a time to pray and a reflective activity to undertake. Donations are collected at the base of the cross and taken to the pantry in bulk.
This week, for instance, parishioners are encouraged to donate pancake mix and syrup, attend vespers (a sunset prayer service) and send a thank you note to someone.
Other weekly assignments during the five weeks of Lent include reading a passage in the Gospel, saying nothing negative for a week, taking a quiet walk, and eating a family meal together with phones, computers and TVs turned off. Donations include peanut butter and jelly, shampoo and body wash or soap, and soup and crackers.
"It really goes over well," said Rita Koster, administrative assistant for the parish. She and two others, Jane McAuliffe and Randy Symanitz, got the idea after a similar project during Advent was successful. That one was the same in concept but involved paper angels hanging on a Christmas tree.
Parishioners like the tangible symbol of a cross they can take, said Symanitz, director of liturgy and pastoral ministries.
The crosses are getting results. More people are coming to vespers, and the food donations are stack high.
"It gets so packed back here it gets hard to walk around," Symanitz said.
That, in essence, is what Lent is all about.
"You want to improve yourself, but you also want to give to the community," Koster said.