Sunday, August 30, 2009

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of August 30, 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: 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 (Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we read from the Gospel of
Mark wherein he warns us about how we are to live our lives with integrity. He chastises the leaders of his time, and us today, to remember that what is evil and wrong comes from inside and not from the outside. The Letter from James reminds believers that we should "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world."

In Catholic Charities we are charged with helping believers to live out their baptismal call to be "doers of the word" and helping organize the "care for orphans and widows." Through our many programs and ministries of social service and social action, we organize love for widows, orphans and strangers. Your much appreciated support helps make the Good News real and tangible for persons and families who need a word and deed filled with hope and love.

Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "'Caritas in veritate' is the principle around which the Church's social doctrine turns, a principle that takes on practical form in the criteria that govern moral action. I would like to consider two of these in particular, of special relevance to the commitment to development in an increasingly globalized society: justice and the common good.

First of all, justice. Ubi societas, ibi ius: every society draws up its own system of justice. Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is “mine” to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is “his”, what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting. I cannot “give” what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice. If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just towards them. Not only is justice not extraneous to charity, not only is it not an alternative or parallel path to charity: justice is inseparable from charity, and intrinsic to it. Justice is the primary way of charity or, in Paul VI's words, “the minimum measure” of it, an integral part of the love “in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18), to which Saint John exhorts us. On the one hand, charity demands justice: recognition and respect for the legitimate rights of individuals and peoples. It strives to build the earthly city according to law and justice. On the other hand, charity transcends justice and completes it in the logic of giving and forgiving.. The earthly city is promoted not merely by relationships of rights and duties, but to an even greater and more fundamental extent by relationships of gratuitousness, mercy and communion. Charity always manifests God's love in human relationships as well, it gives theological and salvific value to all commitment for justice in the world." (Caritas in Veritate, par 6).


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:


SATURDAY SEPT 5. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Daughter of an Albanian businessman who died when Agnes was nine years old. Nun, missionary and teacher in Calcutta, India in 1928. In 1948 she left the convent to work alone with the poor, and became an Indian citizen. She founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. In 1957 the Missionaries of Charity started their work with lepers and in disaster areas. She received the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1972, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, and the Missionaries today work in 30 countries.




Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis

August 29-30, 2009 – If you have not made a gift to the 2009 Bishop’s Appeal for Catholic Charities and Church, it is not too late. Please consider a gift in any amount to support the work of Catholic Charities throughout the Diocese of Youngstown.



PAPAL INTENTIONS:


August 2009
General: That public opinion may be more aware of the problem of millions of displaced persons and refugees and that concrete solutions may be found for their often tragic situation.

Mission: That those Christians who are discriminated against and persecuted in many Countries because of the name of Christ may have their human rights, equality and religious freedom recognized, in order to be able to live and profess their own faith freely.

September 2009
General: That the word of God may be better known, welcomed and lived as the source of freedom and joy.

Mission: That Christians in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, who often meet with great difficulties, may not be discourage from announcing the Gospel to their brothers, trusting in the strength of the Holy Spirit.




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/

Sunday, August 23, 2009

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of August 23, 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: 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 (Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we read from the Gospel of
John how Jesus questions his disciples whether they will continue to follow him, since many others had left. The readings for today are all about choices: who do we follow? How do we make our own choices?

In Catholic Charities we are called to be faithful to the mission and ministry of Jesus. We too have to make choices sometimes about the work we do: do we go after that grant? Do we provide a specific service? What services do we let go of? As we engage in such planning and decisions, we remain committed to serve those who are in most need. We also know that advocacy for those who have no voice is a choice that we make based in our Church's tradition of justice.

Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "This dynamic of charity received and given is what gives rise to the Church's social teaching, which is caritas in veritate in re sociali: the proclamation of the truth of Christ's love in society. This doctrine is a service to charity, but its locus is truth. Truth preserves and expresses charity's power to liberate in the ever-changing events of history. It is at the same time the truth of faith and of reason, both in the distinction and also in the convergence of those two cognitive fields. Development, social well-being, the search for a satisfactory solution to the grave socio-economic problems besetting humanity, all need this truth. What they need even more is that this truth should be loved and demonstrated. Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalized society at difficult times like the present." (Caritas in Veritate, par 5-2).

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:

SATURDAY AUGUST 29. Death of St. John the Baptist. Cousin of Jesus Christ. Son of Zachary, a priest of the order of Abia whose job in the temple was to burnincense; and of Elizabeth, a descendent of Aaron. As Zachary was ministering in the Temple, an angelbrought him news that Elizabeth would bear a childfilled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of his birth. Zachary doubted and was struck dumb until John’s birth. Prophet. John began his ministry around age 27, wearing a leather belt and a tunic of camel hair, living off locusts and wild honey, and preaching a message of repentance to the people of Jerusalem. He converted many, and prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. He BaptizedChrist, after which he stepped away and told his disciples to follow Jesus. Imprisoned by King Herod. He died a victim of the vengeance of a jealous woman; he was beheaded, and his head brought to her on a platter. Saint Jerome says Herodias kept the head for a long time after, occassionally stabbing the tongue with his dagger because of what John had said in life.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30. Bishop Murry will celebrate Mass at the Hartville Migrant Camp, where he will baptize 5 children and give First Communion to 13 young adults.



Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis

August 22-23, 2009 – Over 50 people serve as volunteer guardians for frail elderly and mentally disabled adults through Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County’s volunteer guardianship program. These volunteers act as caring advocates and surrogate decision makers to those who have no other alternatives or family members to take on this role. So far in 2009, 74 people received guardianship services through Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County.



PAPAL INTENTIONS:

August 2009
General: That public opinion may be more aware of the problem of millions of displaced persons and refugees and that concrete solutions may be found for their often tragic situation.

Mission: That those Christians who are discriminated against and persecuted in many Countries because of the name of Christ may have their human rights, equality and religious freedom recognized, in order to be able to live and profess their own faith freely.



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/

Monday, August 10, 2009

Catholic Charities USA: The Personal Pain of Economic Disaster

2nd Quarter Snapshot Survey:
Mental Health Counseling Needs Surge Without Resources to Cover
Alexandria, VA—Catholic Charities USA released its 2nd Quarter Snapshot Survey today revealing a dramatic increase nationwide in requests for services and an alarming reduction in resources.

Citing “the growing personal pain of economic disaster,” Catholic Charities’ agencies around the country report that State and Local budget cuts have had a huge impact on the ability of Catholic Charities agencies to respond to the poorest in their communities—a situation that has only deepened since Catholic Charities 1st Quarter Snapshot Survey results.

“The facts continue to paint a very troubling picture,” said Rev. Larry Snyder, President of Catholic Charities USA. “Our agencies report brutal budget cuts and painful staff lay-offs at a time when the most disenfranchised members of our society need us the most. Increasing numbers of our own volunteers and employees have been forced to become clients of our services. Life is being lived at a new level of stress and need.”

Of the 40 Catholic Charities agencies responding to the Snapshot Survey, 50% indicated that States are diminishing contracts or worse yet not paying on existing contracts. One Catholic Charities agency reported that their State owes them more than $25 million for services it contracted for. This is not an isolated case, with 7 additional agencies reporting that States owe them between $1 million and $10 million.

Very telling of the times, numerous Catholic Charities agencies communicated that they simply could not complete the Snapshot Survey—they had no time. They were using every possible minute and resource to meet the needs of an increasing number of poor requesting our services. Here’s a sampling of how our agencies describe the reality of the world they are facing each day:

■“We may not be able to continue to offer service to children”
■“If it continues, we will have to curtail shelter”
■“We need more money, not less, to help the poor”
■“Budget cuts are devastating our drug and alcohol program”
■“We have to lay-off staff”
“As difficult as it is, we remain more committed than ever,” Fr. Snyder added. “Many organizations and services that may be forced to close their doors are turning to us for help and we stand ready to support as best we can. ‘Now. . .more than ever’, is somewhat of a rallying cry under these circumstances, and as any hint of recovery begins we will fully stand with the poor as their voice.”

-30-

Catholic Charities USA’s members—more than 1,700 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions nationwide—provide help and create hope for nearly 8 million people a year regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds. For almost 300 years, Catholic Charities agencies have worked to reduce poverty by providing a myriad of vital services in their communities, ranging from health care and job training to food and housing. In 2010, Catholic Charities USA celebrates its centennial anniversary.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of August 9, 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: 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 (Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we read from the Gospel of
John about the continuing story of Jesus' feeding his followers. This time, Jesus' local community mumurs and whispers about Jesus' claim to be the 'bread of life.' Elijah's fear of continuing on his journey is relived when the angel reminds him to eat the bread provided from God. In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul reminds us that those who have been transformed by our beliefs feed by this "bread of life" will follow a new way of being: "And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love. . ."

In Catholic Charities we are called to be witnesses to the new way of being and doing. We must be examples in all of our work of kindness and compassion. Possibly the only kindness and compassion some of our clients ever receive might just be from their visit to one of our agencies/programs or a phone call to one of our staff. We are a sign of God's love in all we do.

Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "Charity is love received and given. It is “grace” (cháris). Its source is the wellspring of the Father's love for the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Love comes down to us from the Son. It is creative love, through which we have our being; it is redemptive love, through which we are recreated. Love is revealed and made present by Christ (cf. Jn 13:1) and “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5). As the objects of God's love, men and women become subjects of charity, they are called to make themselves instruments of grace, so as to pour forth God's charity and to weave networks of charity."
(Caritas in Veritate, par 5-1).

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:


SATURDAY, AUGUST 15. Assumption of Mary. On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.



Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis


August 8-9, 2009 – Sharing Hope in Tough Times is a Catholic Charities initiative to address spiritual, emotional and material concerns resulting from our troubled economy. To learn how you or your parish can connect with this effort, contact 330-744-8451, ext. 326.



PAPAL INTENTIONS:


August 2009
General: That public opinion may be more aware of the problem of millions of displaced persons and refugees and that concrete solutions may be found for their often tragic situation.

Mission: That those Christians who are discriminated against and persecuted in many Countries because of the name of Christ may have their human rights, equality and religious freedom recognized, in order to be able to live and profess their own faith freely.




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/

Sunday, August 2, 2009

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of August 2, 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: 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 (Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B ) we read from the Gospel of
John about the continuing story of Jesus' feeding his followers. Jesus responds to the multitudes who are seeking a sign. They remind Jesus that Moses had feed Israel with manna in the desert. Jesus proclaims that He is the living bread and that all who partake of Him with have everlasting life.

In Catholic Charities we continue to provide care and nourishment to many who seek help and a sign of God's love. By our service and compassion, and hospitality, we help those who come for social support see a genuine sign from God. That they in fact are loved and welcomed. Like all of us, those who seek a food voucher or utility assistance or housing counseling are seeking a sign of God's presence in their lives. Catholic Charities staff and volunteers are one of those signs that God is truly among us. We share with them the hope of everlasting life and joy, but not in some future distant time, but here and now, in this place (as the lyrics to the song "Gather Us In" remind us).

Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: Because it is filled with truth, charity can be understood in the abundance of its values, it can be shared and communicated. Truth, in fact, is lógos which creates diá-logos, and hence communication and communion. Truth, by enabling men and women to let go of their subjective opinions and impressions, allows them to move beyond cultural and historical limitations and to come together in the assessment of the value and substance of things. Truth opens and unites our minds in the lógos of love: this is the Christian proclamation and testimony of charity. In the present social and cultural context, where there is a widespread tendency to relativize truth, practising charity in truth helps people to understand that adhering to the values of Christianity is not merely useful but essential for building a good society and for true integral human development. A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world. Without truth, charity is confined to a narrow field devoid of relations. It is excluded from the plans and processes of promoting human development of universal range, in dialogue between knowledge and praxis.
(Caritas in Veritate, par 4).

N.B. Note: Please consider joining our new Twitter account, CCDOY, for current updates and calls to action that we can all use. http://twitter.com/CCDOY

Some important date(s) this week:


THURSDAY, AUGUST 6. TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8. The Mexican Consulate will be processing papers and identifications for Mexican nations at the Cathedral of St. Columba Parish all day. Thanks to George Garchar, Naomi Hokky, Adrian Labra and Joe Miles in coordinating this visit by the Mexican Consulate.



Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis


August 1-2, 2009 – Did you know that Catholic Charities has 15 service sites throughout the Diocese of Youngstown? Visit us on the web at www.ccdoy.org to find the location nearest you.




PAPAL INTENTIONS:


August 2009
General: That public opinion may be more aware of the problem of millions of displaced persons and refugees and that concrete solutions may be found for their often tragic situation.

Mission: That those Christians who are discriminated against and persecuted in many Countries because of the name of Christ may have their human rights, equality and religious freedom recognized, in order to be able to live and profess their own faith freely.




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/