Prepares to Bring Lobbyists to Copenhagen
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 1, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- Caritas is joining with other humanitarian organizations to bring bishops and representatives from 25 countries to Copenhagen, Denmark, for an upcoming U.N. meeting on climate change.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will meet Monday to begin a two-week conference in Copenhagen.
In a press release today, Caritas reported that it plans to send representatives to "urge world leaders for climate justice," and campaign for a new deal "that puts the needs of the poor first."
The aid agency is working with CIDSE, which represents some 180 Catholic agencies, to bring representatives from: Mexico, Zambia, South Africa, North America, the Pacific Islands, Mozambique, Kenya and Europe.
Lesley-Anne Knight, secretary-general of Caritas, who will be present in Copenhagen, stated, "World leaders must agree to legally binding commitments to cutting greenhouse gases and to paying for the damage that climate change is having on poor communities."
She continued: "They must set a new vision with a shared responsibility to the Earth.
"We must all live more sustainable less excessive consumerist lifestyles. This will be painful, but not as painful as doing nothing."
"The outcome of Copenhagen must be part of a new global ethic that reconnects us to nature," Knight said, "otherwise it will have failed."
The network of aid organizations is calling for a "fair, effective and binding agreement" that is "legally binding and enforceable."
This agreement, the Caritas communiqué asserted, should include the commitment of developed countries to some $198 billion "additional public financing per year by 2020" to "support developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to develop sustainably."
It also called for an agreement including a commitment to keep global warming and emissions down
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of November 29, 2009
Catholic Charities. Providing Help. Creating Hope.
VISION: Believing in the presence of God in our midst, we proclaim the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person by sharing in the mission of Jesus given to the Church. To this end, Catholic Charities works with individuals, families, and communities to help them meet their needs, address their issues, eliminate oppression, and build a just and compassionate society.
MISSION: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.
GOALS: Catholic Charities is devoted to helping meet basic human needs, strengthening families, building communities and empowering low-income people. Working to reduce poverty in half by 2020.
KEY VALUE: Hospitality
WHAT WE DO: Organizing Love. "As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community" (Deus Caritas Est, par. 20)
On Sunday (First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C) we read that this soon to be born babe is and is destined to be the Christ -- on a cosmic level. Two thoughts come to mind as one looks at these readings foretelling a time wherein the Kingdom of God will be fulfilled: patience and passion. There is a sense in the readings that we need to have patience in our waiting for the coming of God's reign, but at the same time, we have to have the passion to want that Kingdom to come about in our lives as well. It seems that the key to our patience and our passion is love: the love of God and the love of neighbor. Love is the key to the Kingdom of God both here and to come.
In Catholic Charities we are signs of that love made real. We help make the Kingdom of God a reality for each person we meet and help. Thank you for being that sign of God's reign: love.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "In Populorum Progressio, Paul VI taught that progress, in its origin and essence, is first and foremost a vocation: 'in the design of God, every man is called upon to develop and fulfil himself, for every life is a vocation.' This is what gives legitimacy to the Church's involvement in the whole question of development. If development were concerned with merely technical aspects of human life, and not with the meaning of man's pilgrimage through history in company with his fellow human beings, nor with identifying the goal of that journey, then the Church would not be entitled to speak on it. Paul VI, like Leo XIII before him in Rerum Novarum, knew that he was carrying out a duty proper to his office by shedding the light of the Gospel on the social questions of his time." (Caritas in Veritate, par 16 a).
N.B. Note: Please consider joining our new Twitter account, CCDOY, for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
Some important date(s) this week:
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 29. Beginning of Advent. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has created a Website www.usccb.org/advent/ with suggestions for daily prayer, reading, reflection and action throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons.
TUESDAY DECEMBER 1st is World AIDS Day , and together we can raise awareness of the disease, reduce the stigma often associated with it and support programs that directly serve those in need. Please join Catholic Relief Services in recognizing the lives and efforts of people living with HIV by going to worldaidsday.crs.org .
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH JUSTICE: Work of Human Hands Exhibit
This unique exhibit of fair trade gifts, coffee, jewelry, baskets, Christmas ornaments and other items will be ongoing in the Office of Religious Education at the Diocesan Offices at 225 Elm Street, Youngstown, until December 23, 2009. Please feel free to stop in and shop for quality products provided through Catholic Relief Services and A Greater Gift, a non-profit organization of SERRV International. Every purchase helps the artisans and farmers who create or grow the items, maintain a sustainable income for their families. For online shopping visit: http://www.crsfairtrade.org/
Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis
Reflection: Today we begin a new Church year. Perhaps an old friend might need a new beginning with employment. Is there something you can do to help?
Prayer Intention: For those who continue to struggle in finding employment as Christmas approaches, that they may find work.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
November 2009
General: That all the men and women in the world, especially those who have responsibilities in the field of politics and economics, may never fail in their commitment to safeguard creation.
Mission: That believers in the different religions, through the testimony of their lives and fraternal dialogue, may clearly demonstrate that the name of God is a bearer of peace.
December 2009
General: That children may be respected and loved and never be the victims of exploitation in its various forms.
Mission: That at Christmas the peoples of the earth may recognize in the Word Incarnate the light which illuminates every man and that the Nations may open their doors to Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit those in prison
Bury the dead
See our website at www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org for links to the our ministries and services.
For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog at: http://corbinchurchthinking.blogspot.com/
VISION: Believing in the presence of God in our midst, we proclaim the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person by sharing in the mission of Jesus given to the Church. To this end, Catholic Charities works with individuals, families, and communities to help them meet their needs, address their issues, eliminate oppression, and build a just and compassionate society.
MISSION: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.
GOALS: Catholic Charities is devoted to helping meet basic human needs, strengthening families, building communities and empowering low-income people. Working to reduce poverty in half by 2020.
KEY VALUE: Hospitality
WHAT WE DO: Organizing Love. "As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community" (Deus Caritas Est, par. 20)
On Sunday (First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C) we read that this soon to be born babe is and is destined to be the Christ -- on a cosmic level. Two thoughts come to mind as one looks at these readings foretelling a time wherein the Kingdom of God will be fulfilled: patience and passion. There is a sense in the readings that we need to have patience in our waiting for the coming of God's reign, but at the same time, we have to have the passion to want that Kingdom to come about in our lives as well. It seems that the key to our patience and our passion is love: the love of God and the love of neighbor. Love is the key to the Kingdom of God both here and to come.
In Catholic Charities we are signs of that love made real. We help make the Kingdom of God a reality for each person we meet and help. Thank you for being that sign of God's reign: love.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "In Populorum Progressio, Paul VI taught that progress, in its origin and essence, is first and foremost a vocation: 'in the design of God, every man is called upon to develop and fulfil himself, for every life is a vocation.' This is what gives legitimacy to the Church's involvement in the whole question of development. If development were concerned with merely technical aspects of human life, and not with the meaning of man's pilgrimage through history in company with his fellow human beings, nor with identifying the goal of that journey, then the Church would not be entitled to speak on it. Paul VI, like Leo XIII before him in Rerum Novarum, knew that he was carrying out a duty proper to his office by shedding the light of the Gospel on the social questions of his time." (Caritas in Veritate, par 16 a).
N.B. Note: Please consider joining our new Twitter account, CCDOY, for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
Some important date(s) this week:
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 29. Beginning of Advent. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has created a Website www.usccb.org/advent/ with suggestions for daily prayer, reading, reflection and action throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons.
TUESDAY DECEMBER 1st is World AIDS Day , and together we can raise awareness of the disease, reduce the stigma often associated with it and support programs that directly serve those in need. Please join Catholic Relief Services in recognizing the lives and efforts of people living with HIV by going to worldaidsday.crs.org .
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH JUSTICE: Work of Human Hands Exhibit
This unique exhibit of fair trade gifts, coffee, jewelry, baskets, Christmas ornaments and other items will be ongoing in the Office of Religious Education at the Diocesan Offices at 225 Elm Street, Youngstown, until December 23, 2009. Please feel free to stop in and shop for quality products provided through Catholic Relief Services and A Greater Gift, a non-profit organization of SERRV International. Every purchase helps the artisans and farmers who create or grow the items, maintain a sustainable income for their families. For online shopping visit: http://www.crsfairtrade.org/
Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis
Reflection: Today we begin a new Church year. Perhaps an old friend might need a new beginning with employment. Is there something you can do to help?
Prayer Intention: For those who continue to struggle in finding employment as Christmas approaches, that they may find work.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
November 2009
General: That all the men and women in the world, especially those who have responsibilities in the field of politics and economics, may never fail in their commitment to safeguard creation.
Mission: That believers in the different religions, through the testimony of their lives and fraternal dialogue, may clearly demonstrate that the name of God is a bearer of peace.
December 2009
General: That children may be respected and loved and never be the victims of exploitation in its various forms.
Mission: That at Christmas the peoples of the earth may recognize in the Word Incarnate the light which illuminates every man and that the Nations may open their doors to Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit those in prison
Bury the dead
See our website at www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org for links to the our ministries and services.
For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog at: http://corbinchurchthinking.blogspot.com/
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Pope Invites Faithful to Imagine a Changed World
Reflects on Relationships Modeled on the Trinity
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 25, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- Benedict XVI is inviting the faithful to imagine what the world would be like if family, parish and community relationships were modeled on the Trinity, with people not only living together but also for each other.
The Pope reflected on this today when he took up the topic of two 12th-century theologians during his general audience in Paul VI Hall.
He reflected on Hugh and Richard, both of the Abbey of St. Victor in France. He particularly considered their complementary emphases in the reading and studying of Scripture.
"Hugh of St. Victor stressed the importance of the literal or historical sense of sacred Scripture as the basis of theology's effort to unite faith and reason in understanding God's saving plan," the Holy Father said.
This theologian offered Christianity an explanation of the sacraments that is still useful today, the Pontiff added.
Richard of St. Victor was Hugh's disciple.
He "stressed the allegorical sense of the Scriptures in order to present a spiritual pedagogy aimed at human maturity and contemplative wisdom," Benedict XVI explained.
And Richard's "On the Trinity" is one of the great books of history, the Pope contended.
In it, he "sought to understand the mystery of the triune God by analyzing the mystery of love, which entails a giving and receiving between two persons and finds its perfection in being bestowed upon a third person."
Living to love
As he often does, the Bishop of Rome concluded the audience by drawing out lessons from these historical figures for contemporary man.
"Dear friends, authors such as Hugh and Richard of St. Victor raise our soul to the contemplation of divine realities," he said. "At the same time, the immense joy we get from thought, admiration and praise of the Most Holy Trinity, establishes and sustains the concrete commitment to inspire us in that perfect model of communion and love to build our everyday human relations."
The Pope affirmed that the "Trinity is truly perfect communion!"
And, he continued: "How the world would change if in families, in parishes and in all other communities relationships were lived following always the example of the three Divine Persons, where each one lives not only with the other, but for the other and in the other!
"I recalled it some months ago in the Angelus: 'Love alone makes us happy, because we live in relation, and we live to love and to be loved.'
"It is love that realizes this incessant miracle: as in the life of the Most Holy Trinity, plurality is repaired in unity, where everything is pleasure and joy. With St. Augustine [...], we can also exclaim [...] you see the Trinity, if you see charity."
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 25, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- Benedict XVI is inviting the faithful to imagine what the world would be like if family, parish and community relationships were modeled on the Trinity, with people not only living together but also for each other.
The Pope reflected on this today when he took up the topic of two 12th-century theologians during his general audience in Paul VI Hall.
He reflected on Hugh and Richard, both of the Abbey of St. Victor in France. He particularly considered their complementary emphases in the reading and studying of Scripture.
"Hugh of St. Victor stressed the importance of the literal or historical sense of sacred Scripture as the basis of theology's effort to unite faith and reason in understanding God's saving plan," the Holy Father said.
This theologian offered Christianity an explanation of the sacraments that is still useful today, the Pontiff added.
Richard of St. Victor was Hugh's disciple.
He "stressed the allegorical sense of the Scriptures in order to present a spiritual pedagogy aimed at human maturity and contemplative wisdom," Benedict XVI explained.
And Richard's "On the Trinity" is one of the great books of history, the Pope contended.
In it, he "sought to understand the mystery of the triune God by analyzing the mystery of love, which entails a giving and receiving between two persons and finds its perfection in being bestowed upon a third person."
Living to love
As he often does, the Bishop of Rome concluded the audience by drawing out lessons from these historical figures for contemporary man.
"Dear friends, authors such as Hugh and Richard of St. Victor raise our soul to the contemplation of divine realities," he said. "At the same time, the immense joy we get from thought, admiration and praise of the Most Holy Trinity, establishes and sustains the concrete commitment to inspire us in that perfect model of communion and love to build our everyday human relations."
The Pope affirmed that the "Trinity is truly perfect communion!"
And, he continued: "How the world would change if in families, in parishes and in all other communities relationships were lived following always the example of the three Divine Persons, where each one lives not only with the other, but for the other and in the other!
"I recalled it some months ago in the Angelus: 'Love alone makes us happy, because we live in relation, and we live to love and to be loved.'
"It is love that realizes this incessant miracle: as in the life of the Most Holy Trinity, plurality is repaired in unity, where everything is pleasure and joy. With St. Augustine [...], we can also exclaim [...] you see the Trinity, if you see charity."
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
For World AIDS Day, Cardinal Focuses on Children
Says Growing Up Is a Basic Human Right
ROME, NOV. 24, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- No child should have to suffer just because he was born in a country with a high AIDS rate and a poor medical system, the president of Caritas Internationalis has declared as the global Catholic aid agency turns the focus of World AIDS Day to children.
Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, president of the agency, is calling for immediate action to prevent the deaths of children with HIV in poor countries.
World AIDS Day is Dec. 1. Its theme this year is "Universal Access and Human Rights."
"It’s a basic human right that children grow up to become adults and yet half of children with HIV die before their second birthday because they live in poor countries where access to adequate care is limited," the cardinal lamented. "For many, the promise of universal access is coming too late."
"Too late for people like one mother in South Africa whose child died on her back as she raced him to hospital. He had an AIDS-related illness, like his two siblings who also died. The mother is now getting help from Caritas, but she faces the daily pain of having lost three children who never got access to proper AIDS care," Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga said.
It's about humanity
The Caritas president called for support of the agency's Haart for Children campaign.
HAART stands for Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy, the term given to treatment regimens to aggressively suppress viral replication and slow the progress of HIV disease.
The campaign encourages governments, pharmaceutical companies and the global community to ensure children have early access to HIV and TB testing and treatment.
"No mother or father should have to watch helplessly as their child dies," the cardinal said. "No child should have to suffer because they were born in a country with a high AIDS rate and a poor health system. Universal access isn't about geography, it’s about humanity. It’s about reducing suffering and saving lives. It’s about allowing children to grow up and flourish.”
Up to 2 million children under age 15 are living with HIV. Around 15 million children under 18 have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related illness.
--- --- ---
On the Net:
Caritas HAART campaign: www.caritas.org/activities/hiv_aids/index.html
ROME, NOV. 24, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- No child should have to suffer just because he was born in a country with a high AIDS rate and a poor medical system, the president of Caritas Internationalis has declared as the global Catholic aid agency turns the focus of World AIDS Day to children.
Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, president of the agency, is calling for immediate action to prevent the deaths of children with HIV in poor countries.
World AIDS Day is Dec. 1. Its theme this year is "Universal Access and Human Rights."
"It’s a basic human right that children grow up to become adults and yet half of children with HIV die before their second birthday because they live in poor countries where access to adequate care is limited," the cardinal lamented. "For many, the promise of universal access is coming too late."
"Too late for people like one mother in South Africa whose child died on her back as she raced him to hospital. He had an AIDS-related illness, like his two siblings who also died. The mother is now getting help from Caritas, but she faces the daily pain of having lost three children who never got access to proper AIDS care," Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga said.
It's about humanity
The Caritas president called for support of the agency's Haart for Children campaign.
HAART stands for Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy, the term given to treatment regimens to aggressively suppress viral replication and slow the progress of HIV disease.
The campaign encourages governments, pharmaceutical companies and the global community to ensure children have early access to HIV and TB testing and treatment.
"No mother or father should have to watch helplessly as their child dies," the cardinal said. "No child should have to suffer because they were born in a country with a high AIDS rate and a poor health system. Universal access isn't about geography, it’s about humanity. It’s about reducing suffering and saving lives. It’s about allowing children to grow up and flourish.”
Up to 2 million children under age 15 are living with HIV. Around 15 million children under 18 have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related illness.
--- --- ---
On the Net:
Caritas HAART campaign: www.caritas.org/activities/hiv_aids/index.html
Sunday, November 22, 2009
MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of November 22, 2009
Providing Help. Creating Hope.
VISION: Believing in the presence of God in our midst, we proclaim the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person by sharing in the mission of Jesus given to the Church. To this end, Catholic Charities works with individuals, families, and communities to help them meet their needs, address their issues, eliminate oppression, and build a just and compassionate society.
MISSION: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.
GOALS: Catholic Charities is devoted to helping meet basic human needs, strengthening families, building communities and empowering low-income people. Working to reduce poverty in half by 2020.
KEY VALUE: Hospitality
WHAT WE DO: Organizing Love. "As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community" (Deus Caritas Est, par. 20)
On Sunday (The Solemnity of CHRIST THE KING, Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we ponder the readings about the Kingdom of God that Jesus reigns over. We hear in the Old Testament and New Testament readings about the "One" who was, is and will be, who "like a Son of Man" is presented to the "Ancient One" where he will receive dominion and glory. We know that God is the beginning and the end of all things. We then learn that Jesus' kingdom is nothing like that we would expect someone with political and military power to exert. Pontius Pilate in today's Gospel confronts Jesus and wonders where his "kingdom" is. Jesus reiterates that he is the Truth and all those who follow him follow the Truth. This Truth is the Word of God. The Kingdom of God is not based on social or economic power protected by military might. Rather the Kingdom of God is based on love, compassion, justice, mercy and sacrifice. Seeing Jesus in action points the way to the true nature of the Kingdom. We are called to do the same.
In Catholic Charities we must show love, mercy, justice compassion and sacrifice in all we do. Catholic Charities is unlike other social agencies. We seek to witness to the Truth that all persons are made in God's image, and that the Kingdom of God does begin here and now through acts of mercy and love. We witness to the truth that life and thus human dignity must be respected at all stages. We also help usher in the Kingdom of God today by welcoming anyone to our door and lending a hand to help each visitor find peace and experience love.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "The Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, for its part, is very closely linked with development, given that, in Paul VI's words, 'evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man's concrete life, both personal and social.' 'Between evangelization and human advancement — development and liberation — there are in fact profound links”': on the basis of this insight, Paul VI clearly presented the relationship between the proclamation of Christ and the advancement of the individual in society. Testimony to Christ's charity, through works of justice, peace and development, is part and parcel of evangelization, because Jesus Christ, who loves us, is concerned with the whole person. These important teachings form the basis for the missionary aspect of the Church's social doctrine, which is an essential element of evangelization. The Church's social doctrine proclaims and bears witness to faith. It is an instrument and an indispensable setting for formation in faith." (Caritas in Veritate, par 15 b).
N.B. Note: Please consider joining our new Twitter account, CCDOY, for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
Some important date(s) this week:
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29: The First Sunday in Advent. The beginning of the Church's new liturgical year.
(Latin ad-venio, to come to).
According to present [1907] usage, Advent is a period beginning with the Sunday nearest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (30 November) and embracing four Sundays.
With Advent the ecclesiastical year begins in the Western churches. During this time the faithful are admonished
* to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
* thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
* thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world.
* For more visit http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01165a.htm
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH JUSTICE: Work of Human Hands Exhibit
This unique exhibit of fair trade gifts, coffee, jewelry, baskets, Christmas ornaments and other items will be ongoing in the Office of Religious Education at the Diocesan Offices at 225 Elm Street, Youngstown, until December 23, 2009. Please feel free to stop in and shop for quality products provided through Catholic Relief Services and A Greater Gift, a non-profit organization of SERRV International. Every purchase helps the artisans and farmers who create or grow the items, maintain a sustainable income for their families. For online shopping visit: http://www.crsfairtrade.org/
Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis
Reflection: Pope Benedict XVI writes, “Every economic decision has a moral consequence.” (Caritas in Veritate, #37) Christ is our King, even in the marketplace. May we all conduct business accordingly.
Prayer Intention: That Christian business leaders run their companies with honesty, compassion and fairness toward their employees, their customers, and their competitors.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
November 2009
General: That all the men and women in the world, especially those who have responsibilities in the field of politics and economics, may never fail in their commitment to safeguard creation.
Mission: That believers in the different religions, through the testimony of their lives and fraternal dialogue, may clearly demonstrate that the name of God is a bearer of peace.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
1. Feed the hungry
2. Give drink to the thirsty
3. Clothe the naked
4. Shelter the homeless
5. Visit the sick
6. Visit those in prison
7. Bury the dead
See our website at www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org for links to the our ministries and services.
For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog at: http://corbinchurchthinking.blogspot.com/
VISION: Believing in the presence of God in our midst, we proclaim the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person by sharing in the mission of Jesus given to the Church. To this end, Catholic Charities works with individuals, families, and communities to help them meet their needs, address their issues, eliminate oppression, and build a just and compassionate society.
MISSION: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.
GOALS: Catholic Charities is devoted to helping meet basic human needs, strengthening families, building communities and empowering low-income people. Working to reduce poverty in half by 2020.
KEY VALUE: Hospitality
WHAT WE DO: Organizing Love. "As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community" (Deus Caritas Est, par. 20)
On Sunday (The Solemnity of CHRIST THE KING, Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we ponder the readings about the Kingdom of God that Jesus reigns over. We hear in the Old Testament and New Testament readings about the "One" who was, is and will be, who "like a Son of Man" is presented to the "Ancient One" where he will receive dominion and glory. We know that God is the beginning and the end of all things. We then learn that Jesus' kingdom is nothing like that we would expect someone with political and military power to exert. Pontius Pilate in today's Gospel confronts Jesus and wonders where his "kingdom" is. Jesus reiterates that he is the Truth and all those who follow him follow the Truth. This Truth is the Word of God. The Kingdom of God is not based on social or economic power protected by military might. Rather the Kingdom of God is based on love, compassion, justice, mercy and sacrifice. Seeing Jesus in action points the way to the true nature of the Kingdom. We are called to do the same.
In Catholic Charities we must show love, mercy, justice compassion and sacrifice in all we do. Catholic Charities is unlike other social agencies. We seek to witness to the Truth that all persons are made in God's image, and that the Kingdom of God does begin here and now through acts of mercy and love. We witness to the truth that life and thus human dignity must be respected at all stages. We also help usher in the Kingdom of God today by welcoming anyone to our door and lending a hand to help each visitor find peace and experience love.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "The Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, for its part, is very closely linked with development, given that, in Paul VI's words, 'evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man's concrete life, both personal and social.' 'Between evangelization and human advancement — development and liberation — there are in fact profound links”': on the basis of this insight, Paul VI clearly presented the relationship between the proclamation of Christ and the advancement of the individual in society. Testimony to Christ's charity, through works of justice, peace and development, is part and parcel of evangelization, because Jesus Christ, who loves us, is concerned with the whole person. These important teachings form the basis for the missionary aspect of the Church's social doctrine, which is an essential element of evangelization. The Church's social doctrine proclaims and bears witness to faith. It is an instrument and an indispensable setting for formation in faith." (Caritas in Veritate, par 15 b).
N.B. Note: Please consider joining our new Twitter account, CCDOY, for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
Some important date(s) this week:
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29: The First Sunday in Advent. The beginning of the Church's new liturgical year.
(Latin ad-venio, to come to).
According to present [1907] usage, Advent is a period beginning with the Sunday nearest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (30 November) and embracing four Sundays.
With Advent the ecclesiastical year begins in the Western churches. During this time the faithful are admonished
* to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
* thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
* thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world.
* For more visit http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01165a.htm
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH JUSTICE: Work of Human Hands Exhibit
This unique exhibit of fair trade gifts, coffee, jewelry, baskets, Christmas ornaments and other items will be ongoing in the Office of Religious Education at the Diocesan Offices at 225 Elm Street, Youngstown, until December 23, 2009. Please feel free to stop in and shop for quality products provided through Catholic Relief Services and A Greater Gift, a non-profit organization of SERRV International. Every purchase helps the artisans and farmers who create or grow the items, maintain a sustainable income for their families. For online shopping visit: http://www.crsfairtrade.org/
Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis
Reflection: Pope Benedict XVI writes, “Every economic decision has a moral consequence.” (Caritas in Veritate, #37) Christ is our King, even in the marketplace. May we all conduct business accordingly.
Prayer Intention: That Christian business leaders run their companies with honesty, compassion and fairness toward their employees, their customers, and their competitors.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
November 2009
General: That all the men and women in the world, especially those who have responsibilities in the field of politics and economics, may never fail in their commitment to safeguard creation.
Mission: That believers in the different religions, through the testimony of their lives and fraternal dialogue, may clearly demonstrate that the name of God is a bearer of peace.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
1. Feed the hungry
2. Give drink to the thirsty
3. Clothe the naked
4. Shelter the homeless
5. Visit the sick
6. Visit those in prison
7. Bury the dead
See our website at www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org for links to the our ministries and services.
For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog at: http://corbinchurchthinking.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Aid Organizations Focus on Giving Christ
Pontifical Council Cor Unum Concludes Assembly
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 16, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- As one can't give what one doesn't have, the Church's aid organizations are working on not only collecting material goods, but also spiritual ones.
This was the conclusion of the 28th plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which concluded Saturday in Rome.
The council is the Vatican organization established by Pope Paul VI in 1971 to coordinate the initiatives of Catholic charitable institutions.
The three-day assembly, which gathered diocesan, national and international Caritas representatives, focused on the topic "Formative Processes for Agents of Charity."
In a statement released at the end of the meeting, Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, the council's president, said that "up to now, reflection on the struggle against poverty focused only on the perspective of the objectives to be pursued in the charitable commitment."
"Now we want to overcome this limitation and concentrate on the human and spiritual quality of all those who work in Catholic charitable agencies, whether they are professionals or volunteers," he added.
Cor Unum reported that two essential indications emerged on the part of those responsible for the Church's charitable activities: "[T]he ultimate objective of our work is Christian witness through aid endeavors for the poorest, but to give witness to Christ implies that one has first met him.
"To educate it is necessary to be continually educated, otherwise, in the formative process of the agents of charity, one runs the risk of making one's own the priorities established by other international entities foreign to the Church, when the latter cannot silence her own foundation of faith."
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 16, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- As one can't give what one doesn't have, the Church's aid organizations are working on not only collecting material goods, but also spiritual ones.
This was the conclusion of the 28th plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which concluded Saturday in Rome.
The council is the Vatican organization established by Pope Paul VI in 1971 to coordinate the initiatives of Catholic charitable institutions.
The three-day assembly, which gathered diocesan, national and international Caritas representatives, focused on the topic "Formative Processes for Agents of Charity."
In a statement released at the end of the meeting, Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, the council's president, said that "up to now, reflection on the struggle against poverty focused only on the perspective of the objectives to be pursued in the charitable commitment."
"Now we want to overcome this limitation and concentrate on the human and spiritual quality of all those who work in Catholic charitable agencies, whether they are professionals or volunteers," he added.
Cor Unum reported that two essential indications emerged on the part of those responsible for the Church's charitable activities: "[T]he ultimate objective of our work is Christian witness through aid endeavors for the poorest, but to give witness to Christ implies that one has first met him.
"To educate it is necessary to be continually educated, otherwise, in the formative process of the agents of charity, one runs the risk of making one's own the priorities established by other international entities foreign to the Church, when the latter cannot silence her own foundation of faith."
Monday, November 16, 2009
Luxury, waste are unacceptable when hunger is on the rise, says pope
POPE-FAO Nov-16-2009 (560 words) xxxi
Luxury, waste are unacceptable when hunger is on the rise, says pope
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Opulence and waste are unacceptable especially when hunger -- the cruelest form of poverty -- continues to rise, Pope Benedict XVI told world leaders at a summit on food security.
The pope condemned the greed that fuels speculation on food prices, aid that debilitates agricultural production, and excessive exploitation of the earth's resources.
Pope Benedict spoke Nov. 16 during the opening session of the United Nations' World Summit on Food Security.
The Nov. 16-18 conference, hosted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, brought together leaders and delegates from countries around the world to find concrete solutions to end the scourge of hunger and malnutrition and find ways to stabilize food prices.
According to the FAO, more than 1 billion people are undernourished and one child dies every six seconds because of malnutrition.
"Hunger is the most cruel and concrete sign of poverty," the pope said in his address to summit leaders. "Opulence and waste are no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions."
"Norms, legislation, development plans and investments are not enough, however; what is needed is a change in the lifestyles of individuals and communities, in habits of consumption and in perceptions of what is genuinely needed," Pope Benedict said.
The transcendental worth of every human being must be recognized if there is to be "the conversion of heart that underpins the commitment to eradicate deprivation, hunger and poverty in all their forms," he said.
The pope said the growing number of hungry people in the world is not directly linked to an increase in world population.
There is enough food to feed the world, he said, adding that food shortages are caused by the rising price of foodstuffs, "the reduction in economic resources available to the poorest peoples and their limited access to markets and to food."
"The lamentable destruction of foodstuffs for economic gain" is more proof that "there is no cause-and-effect relationship between population growth and hunger," he said.
Pope Benedict called for greater action in creating "a network of economic institutions capable of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food and water."
Countries must "oppose those forms of aid that do grave damage to the agricultural sector, those approaches to food production that are geared solely towards consumption and lack a wider perspective, and especially greed, which causes speculation to rear its head even in the marketing of cereals, as if food were to be treated just like any other commodity," he said.
Not enough is being done to lift people out of poverty because some people exhibit "resigned regret, if not downright indifference" to the plight of others and tend to believe hunger is just part and parcel of life in certain countries, he said.
Everyone has a moral responsibility to show solidarity toward the rest of the human family and concretely meet the needs of others "so as to favor the genuine sharing of goods, founded on love."
The fundamental right to life depends on the right to sufficient, healthy and nutritious food and safe drinking water, he said.
At the end of his address, the pope -- speaking in Arabic, Chinese, Russia, English, French and Spanish -- thanked the FAO and its member states for their efforts "to ensure that all people are given their daily bread."
Luxury, waste are unacceptable when hunger is on the rise, says pope
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Opulence and waste are unacceptable especially when hunger -- the cruelest form of poverty -- continues to rise, Pope Benedict XVI told world leaders at a summit on food security.
The pope condemned the greed that fuels speculation on food prices, aid that debilitates agricultural production, and excessive exploitation of the earth's resources.
Pope Benedict spoke Nov. 16 during the opening session of the United Nations' World Summit on Food Security.
The Nov. 16-18 conference, hosted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, brought together leaders and delegates from countries around the world to find concrete solutions to end the scourge of hunger and malnutrition and find ways to stabilize food prices.
According to the FAO, more than 1 billion people are undernourished and one child dies every six seconds because of malnutrition.
"Hunger is the most cruel and concrete sign of poverty," the pope said in his address to summit leaders. "Opulence and waste are no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions."
"Norms, legislation, development plans and investments are not enough, however; what is needed is a change in the lifestyles of individuals and communities, in habits of consumption and in perceptions of what is genuinely needed," Pope Benedict said.
The transcendental worth of every human being must be recognized if there is to be "the conversion of heart that underpins the commitment to eradicate deprivation, hunger and poverty in all their forms," he said.
The pope said the growing number of hungry people in the world is not directly linked to an increase in world population.
There is enough food to feed the world, he said, adding that food shortages are caused by the rising price of foodstuffs, "the reduction in economic resources available to the poorest peoples and their limited access to markets and to food."
"The lamentable destruction of foodstuffs for economic gain" is more proof that "there is no cause-and-effect relationship between population growth and hunger," he said.
Pope Benedict called for greater action in creating "a network of economic institutions capable of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food and water."
Countries must "oppose those forms of aid that do grave damage to the agricultural sector, those approaches to food production that are geared solely towards consumption and lack a wider perspective, and especially greed, which causes speculation to rear its head even in the marketing of cereals, as if food were to be treated just like any other commodity," he said.
Not enough is being done to lift people out of poverty because some people exhibit "resigned regret, if not downright indifference" to the plight of others and tend to believe hunger is just part and parcel of life in certain countries, he said.
Everyone has a moral responsibility to show solidarity toward the rest of the human family and concretely meet the needs of others "so as to favor the genuine sharing of goods, founded on love."
The fundamental right to life depends on the right to sufficient, healthy and nutritious food and safe drinking water, he said.
At the end of his address, the pope -- speaking in Arabic, Chinese, Russia, English, French and Spanish -- thanked the FAO and its member states for their efforts "to ensure that all people are given their daily bread."
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