Sunday, October 25, 2009

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of October 25, 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 (Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we read from the Gospel of Mark that Jesus welcomes, heals, and invites a blind man to follow him. Bartimaeus' faith opened his eyes to a new reality and a new calling. So too with us, we must be open to God's power of healing and invitation to follow Him.

In Catholic Charities clients call us and come to our office for some form of "healing." Sometimes persons visiting us are open to the healing presence of the Lord, which we at Catholic Charities continue to provide. But regardless of the client's faith, Catholic Charities continues to be a witness to God's love in the world. By a simple word, a food voucher, a referral to other services, time spent listening, or assistance with rent, Catholic Charities staff and volunteers see the face of God in each person we serve.

Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "The link between Populorum Progressio and the Second Vatican Council does not mean that Paul VI's social magisterium marked a break with that of previous Popes, because the Council constitutes a deeper exploration of this magisterium within the continuity of the Church's life. In this sense, clarity is not served by certain abstract subdivisions of the Church's social doctrine, which apply categories to Papal social teaching that are extraneous to it. It is not a case of two typologies of social doctrine, one pre-conciliar and one post-conciliar, differing from one another: on the contrary, there is a single teaching, consistent and at the same time ever new. It is one thing to draw attention to the particular characteristics of one Encyclical or another, of the teaching of one Pope or another, but quite another to lose sight of the coherence of the overall doctrinal corpus. Coherence does not mean a closed system: on the contrary, it means dynamic faithfulness to a light received. The Church's social doctrine illuminates with an unchanging light the new problems that are constantly emerging. This safeguards the permanent and historical character of the doctrinal “patrimony” which, with its specific characteristics, is part and parcel of the Church's ever-living Tradition. Social doctrine is built on the foundation handed on by the Apostles to the Fathers of the Church, and then received and further explored by the great Christian doctors. This doctrine points definitively to the New Man, to the “last Adam [who] became a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor 15:45), the principle of the charity that “never ends” (1 Cor 13:8). It is attested by the saints and by those who gave their lives for Christ our Saviour in the field of justice and peace. It is an expression of the prophetic task of the Supreme Pontiffs to give apostolic guidance to the Church of Christ and to discern the new demands of evangelization. For these reasons, Populorum Progressio, situated within the great current of Tradition, can still speak to us today." (Caritas in Veritate, par 12).

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 OCTOBER 31. Vigil of the Feast of All Saints (November 1). It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.


OCTOBER IS RESPECT LIFE MONTH:


Read and learn about the US Catholic Bishops' position on health care reform.


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

Reflection: Who is calling out to you for help? Their plea may not be as loud as that of Bartimaeus but they need you kind word or action just as much.

Prayer Intention: That the pleas of those in need will reach the ears of someone who can assist them.

PAPAL INTENTIONS:

October 2009
General: That Sunday may be lived as the day on which Christians gather to celebrate the risen Lord, participating in the Eucharist.

Mission: That the entire People of God, to whom Christ entrusted the mandate to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, may eagerly assume their own missionary responsibility and consider it the highest service they can offer humanity.


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, October 18, 2009

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION week of October 18, 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 (Twenty-Nineth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B ) we read from the Gospel of Mark that Jesus reminds his disciples that he is showing a new way of living: to serve and not to be served. In the second reading from the Letter to the
Hebrews we are told how our God is not some distant thought or deity, but One who became just like us, except for sin. But this Incarnation reveals a new understanding about God and ourselves: to humble oneself at the service of the other.

In Catholic Charities we are called to be servants to each person that comes to our door. Sometimes we maybe inclined to note that the persons who obtain assistance from us need to be more thankful or even some think that those who obtain such aid should be more deserving of our aid. But Jesus' message could not be clearer: we are to be the servant of all, especially to those who are seen as least in the world: the widows, the orphans and the strangers among us.


Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical
, Caritas in Veritate: "The publication of Populorum Progressio occurred immediately after the conclusion of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, and in its opening paragraphs it clearly indicates its close connection with the Council. Twenty years later, in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, John Paul II, in his turn, emphasized the earlier Encyclical's fruitful relationship with the Council, and especially with the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes. I too wish to recall here the importance of the Second Vatican Council for Paul VI's Encyclical and for the whole of the subsequent social Magisterium of the Popes. The Council probed more deeply what had always belonged to the truth of the faith, namely that the Church, being at God's service, is at the service of the world in terms of love and truth. Paul VI set out from this vision in order to convey two important truths. The first is that the whole Church, in all her being and acting — when she proclaims, when she celebrates, when she performs works of charity — is engaged in promoting integral human development. She has a public role over and above her charitable and educational activities: all the energy she brings to the advancement of humanity and of universal fraternity is manifested when she is able to operate in a climate of freedom. In not a few cases, that freedom is impeded by prohibitions and persecutions, or it is limited when the Church's public presence is reduced to her charitable activities alone. The second truth is that authentic human development concerns the whole of the person in every single dimension. Without the perspective of eternal life, human progress in this world is denied breathing-space. Enclosed within history, it runs the risk of being reduced to the mere accumulation of wealth; humanity thus loses the courage to be at the service of higher goods, at the service of the great and disinterested initiatives called forth by universal charity. Man does not develop through his own powers, nor can development simply be handed to him. In the course of history, it was often maintained that the creation of institutions was sufficient to guarantee the fulfilment of humanity's right to development. Unfortunately, too much confidence was placed in those institutions, as if they were able to deliver the desired objective automatically. In reality, institutions by themselves are not enough, because integral human development is primarily a vocation, and therefore it involves a free assumption of responsibility in solidarity on the part of everyone. Moreover, such development requires a transcendent vision of the person, it needs God: without him, development is either denied, or entrusted exclusively to man, who falls into the trap of thinking he can bring about his own salvation, and ends up promoting a dehumanized form of development. Only through an encounter with God are we able to see in the other something more than just another creature, to recognize the divine image in the other, thus truly coming to discover him or her and to mature in a love that 'becomes concern and care for the other.'” (Caritas in Veritate, par 11).

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

N.B. Our trip with some representatives from Ursuline High School Class of 1958 to San Jose Villanueva, El Salvador, was tremendous. We visited several hamlets connected to this village. The clear majority of residents earn between $1 and $3 a day. Electricity and potable water for most of these persons is non existent. We learned about a new ceramic pot which purifies water for use; a solar panel for small appliances and for an entire house; and a highly efficient wood burning stove safe to the touch for cooking. We hope to engage Ursuline High School alumni and current students in this project. Let me know if you would like more information.

Some important date(s) this week
:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23. Voice of Hope Dinner. Please come join us to celebrate the work of several individuals, parishes and institutions who work in collaboration with Catholic Charities to provide help and promote hope.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 St. Anthony Claret (1807-1870)
The "spiritual father of Cuba" was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queen’s chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris and to the First Vatican Council.

In his spare time as weaver and designer in the textile mills of Barcelona, he learned Latin and printing: the future priest and publisher was preparing. Ordained at 28, he was prevented by ill health from entering religious life as a Carthusian or as a Jesuit, but went on to become one of Spain’s most popular preachers.

He spent 10 years giving popular missions and retreats, always placing great emphasis on the Eucharist and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Her rosary, it was said, was never out of his hand. At 42, beginning with five young priests, he founded a religious institute of missionaries, known today as the Claretians.

He was appointed to head the much-neglected archdiocese of Santiago in Cuba. He began its reform by almost ceaseless preaching and hearing of confessions, and suffered bitter opposition mainly for stamping out concubinage and giving instruction to black slaves. A hired assassin (whose release from prison Anthony had obtained) slashed open his face and wrist. Anthony succeeded in getting the would-be assassin’s death sentence commuted to a prison term. His solution for the misery of Cubans was family-owned farms producing a variety of foods for the family’s own needs and for the market. This invited the enmity of the vested interests who wanted everyone to work on a single cash crop—sugar. Besides all his religious writings are two books he wrote in Cuba: Reflections on Agriculture and Country Delights.



OCTOBER IS RESPECT LIFE MONTH:


Read and learn about the US Catholic Bishops' position on health care reform. Visit their website http://usccb.org/healthcare/


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

Reflection: Serve someone this week by helping with apartment hunting, job searching or resume writing. You may just be the instrument God chose to answer someone’s prayer.

Prayer Intention: That all who are searching for security in their lives may be assured that they are cared for by God and our community.


PAPAL INTENTIONS: October 2009

General:
That Sunday may be lived as the day on which Christians gather to celebrate the risen Lord, participating in the Eucharist.

Mission: That the entire People of God, to whom Christ entrusted the mandate to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, may eagerly assume their own missionary responsibility and consider it the highest service they can offer humanity.




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/

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Pope: Access to Food Included in Right to Life

Pope: Access to Food Included in Right to Life

Sends Letter to FAO Director on World Food Day

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 16, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Ensuring that people have access to food is protecting their right to life, Benedict XVI wrote in a message on the occasion of World Food Day.

The Pope said this in a letter sent today to Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N.'s Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

World Food Day, observed every year on Oct. 16, commemorates the anniversary of the foundation of the FAO in 1945. The theme for this year is: "Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis."

The Pontiff began his message by noting "the urgency and need to intervene in favor of all those who are deprived of daily bread in so many countries, due to the lack of adequate conditions of food security."

He called the present global economic crisis, which affects the food security of the poorest nations, a situation that is "dramatic."

"To guarantee persons and nations the possibility of overcoming the plague of hunger means to ensure their concrete access to healthy and adequate nourishment," the Holy Father affirmed. "It is, in fact, a concrete manifestation of the right to life, which, though solemnly proclaimed, often continues to be far from full realization."

Benedict XVI said agriculture is "an essential element of food security" and an "integral component of economic activity."

"Agriculture must be able to have a sufficient level of investments and resources," he added.

"The goods of the earth are limited by nature," the Pope stated, "and hence that they require behavior that is responsible and capable of fostering food security, also thinking of future generations. Needed are a profound solidarity and long-term fraternity.

"The attainment of these objectives requires a necessary modification of lifestyles and ways of thinking. It obliges the international community and its institutions to intervene in a more adequate and determinant way."

Values

The Pontiff expressed his hope that any intervention on the part of the international community would protect "the methods of cultivation proper to each area," avoid "an inconsiderate use of natural resources," and "safeguard the values proper to the rural world and the fundamental rights of the laborers of the earth."

Benedict XVI recalled that a project to improve food availability has less to do with "privileges, profits and comfort," and more to do with "men, women, families and communities, which live in the poorest areas of the planet and which are, moreover, more vulnerable."

"Experience demonstrates," he noted, "that technical solutions, even the advanced, lack efficacy if they do not refer to the person, principal actor who, in his spiritual and material dimension, is the origin and end of all activity."

"Access to food is a fundamental right of persons and nations," he stated. "It could be a reality and hence a security if an adequate development is guaranteed in all the different regions."

The Pope concluded by affirming that the Church, "faithful to her vocation to be close to the poorest, promotes, supports and participates in the efforts made to allow each nation and community to have the necessary means to guarantee an adequate level of food security."

**********
Benedict XVI's Message for World Food Day

"Access to Food Is a Fundamental Right of Persons and Nations"

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 16, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the message Benedict XVI sent to Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N.'s Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on the occasion of World Food Day.

The day, observed every year on Oct. 16, commemorates the anniversary of the foundation of the FAO in 1945. The theme for this year is: "Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis."

* * *

To Mr. Jacques Diouf
Director General of FAO

If the celebration of World Food Day recalls the foundation of FAO and its action to combat hunger and malnutrition, it underscores above all the urgency and need to intervene in favor of all those who are deprived of daily bread in so many countries, due to the lack of adequate conditions of food security.

The present crisis, which goes across without distinction the whole of the sectors of the economy, affects particularly in a serious way the agricultural world, where the situation is dramatic. This crisis appeals to governments and to the different components of the international community to make determinant and effective choices.

To guarantee persons and nations the possibility of overcoming the plague of hunger means to ensure their concrete access to healthy and adequate nourishment. It is, in fact, a concrete manifestation of the right to life, which, though solemnly proclaimed, often continues to be far from full realization.

The topic chosen by FAO this year for World Food Day is "To Obtain Food Security in Times of Crisis." This invites one to regard agricultural work as an essential element of food security and, therefore, as an integral component of economic activity. For this reason, agriculture must be able to have a sufficient level of investments and resources. This topic reminds one and makes one understand that the goods of the earth are limited by nature, and hence that they require behavior that is responsible and capable of fostering food security, also thinking of future generations. Needed are a profound solidarity and long-term fraternity.

The attainment of these objectives requires a necessary modification of lifestyles and ways of thinking. It obliges the international community and its institutions to intervene in a more adequate and determinant way. I hope that this intervention will foster a cooperation that protects the methods of cultivation proper to each area and avoids an inconsiderate use of natural resources. I also hope that this cooperation will safeguard the values proper to the rural world and the fundamental rights of the laborers of the earth. Leaving privileges, profits and comfort aside, these objectives will be able to be realized for the advantage of men, women, families and communities, which live in the poorest areas of the planet and which are, moreover, more vulnerable. Experience demonstrates that technical solutions, even the advanced, lack efficacy if they do not refer to the person, principal actor who, in his spiritual and material dimension, is the origin and end of all activity.

More than an elemental necessity, access to food is a fundamental right of persons and nations. It could be a reality and hence a security if an adequate development is guaranteed in all the different regions. In particular, the tragedy of hunger will be able to be overcome only by "eliminating the structural causes that cause it and by promoting the agricultural development of the poorest countries through investments in rural infrastructure, irrigation systems, transport, the organization of markets, formation and diffusion of appropriate agricultural techniques, capable of utilizing in the best way possible the human, natural and socio-economic resources accessible in the main at the local level" (Caritas in Veritate, n. 27).

The Catholic Church, faithful to her vocation to be close to the poorest, promotes, supports and participates in the efforts made to allow each nation and community to have the necessary means to guarantee an adequate level of food security.

With these wishes, I renew, Mr. Director General, my expressions of highest consideration, and invoke on FAO, on the member States and all its personnel abundant heavenly blessings.

In the Vatican, October 8, 2009

Thursday, October 15, 2009

What Aid From 1 Country Means for Caritas

Victims of Natural Disasters Receive Assistance

ROME, OCT. 13, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- Some 300,000 people affected by natural disasters that have in the last two weeks devastated regions of Asia and the Pacific are receiving humanitarian aid through the Caritas network.

Local Caritas agencies in Sumatra, Cambodia, India, the Philippines and Samoa are implementing in their respective countries the emergency plans devised to identify the most urgent needs of the victims and the most vulnerable areas.

In general, the priorities of those affected are similar: urgent food and health aid, drinking water, household goods, warm clothing, building materials and psychological-social support for victims.

In Sumatra, Caritas Indonesia (KARINA) is helping 7,500 households (some 40,000 people) in the areas most scourged by the earthquake of last Sept. 30. A Joint Caritas Response Team, specialized in emergencies, is working in the districts of Padang and Pariaman, where they have identified priority areas in the towns of Sungai Sariak and Lurah Ampalu.

In addition to these victims, the Caritas team is also helping 10,000 victims in parishes in the city of Padang. The total estimated cost of the first phase of the emergency plan of Caritas Indonesia is €235,000 ($348,510).

Among the ongoing emergencies in Asia, the one affecting the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, due to the heavy rains of the last few weeks, has the greatest number of victims. Around 18 million people are affected and 2.5 million have been displaced, while 250,000 homes have been destroyed.

Caritas India has responded to this emergency with a plan valued at €1.5 million ($2.2 million), with which humanitarian aid will be given over the next three months to a population of 35,500 families (some 200,000 people) in more than 700 localities of nine districts.

The activities included in this emergency plan include the urgent distribution of water and food and the furnishing of family allotments of hygiene products, as well as the distribution of household goods, clothes and blankets.

In Samoa, where the tidal wave of Sept. 28 left thousands of people homeless, Caritas has prepared an emergency response plan amounting to an initial value of €145,000 ($215,000) to help the most affected communities.

Caritas Samoa, which has the support of experts from Caritas Australia, reported that in addition to the distribution of basic aid to the victims, in this first phase of the emergency they are giving priority to the psychological-social support of those affected, the recovery of educational activities and the delivery of temporary shelters.

For their part, Caritas of the Philippines and Cambodia continues to implement their respective plans in response to the emergency caused in both countries by Typhoon Ketsana. Whereas in the Philippines, the Caritas network plans to assist a population of 50,000 victims over the next three months, in Cambodia the population being assisted numbers 13,000 people.

All these emergencies are being supported financially by Caritas Spain, which over the past two weeks has approved allocations amounting to €50,000 for the appeal made by Caritas India, €100,000 for the emergency in Sumatra, €50,000 for Cambodia, €20,000 for Samoa and €100,000 for the Philippines.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of October 4, 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 (Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we read from the Gospel of Mark about Jesus' challenge to the legalistic understandings of his time about the nature of marriage. Jesus turns things upside down again. As He reminds us about the sacredness of marriage, he then welcomes a child to his side and turns our attention to another reality. As the first reading discusses the blessings of creation, and the second reading reminds us that Jesus himself became "flesh" and calls us his brothers/sisters, Jesus' embrace of that child may be a radical teaching moment: the trust-like love of a child and the unconditional love of a parent are made manifest despite our human failures in loving others. Jesus reflects the love of His Father, which is there at all times for us to dwell in and model, regardless of our human failings.

In Catholic Charities we oftentimes meet with persons who may be involved in broken relations and may not feel loved or wanted. Our call and challenge is to be that embrace of love, modeled on Jesus' love for us, for each person who comes into our offices or to whom we speak with on the phone. We may be the only touch of God for that person or family today or any day.

Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "The Church does not have technical solutions to offer and does not claim 'to interfere in any way in the politics of States.' She does, however, have a mission of truth to accomplish, in every time and circumstance, for a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation. Without truth, it is easy to fall into an empiricist and sceptical view of life, incapable of rising to the level of praxis because of a lack of interest in grasping the values — sometimes even the meanings — with which to judge and direct it. Fidelity to man requires fidelity to the truth, which alone is the guarantee of freedom (cf. Jn 8:32) and of the possibility of integral human development. For this reason the Church searches for truth, proclaims it tirelessly and recognizes it wherever it is manifested. This mission of truth is something that the Church can never renounce. Her social doctrine is a particular dimension of this proclamation: it is a service to the truth which sets us free. Open to the truth, from whichever branch of knowledge it comes, the Church's social doctrine receives it, assembles into a unity the fragments in which it is often found, and mediates it within the constantly changing life-patterns of the society of peoples and nations." (Caritas in Veritate, par 9-2).

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:

SUNDAY OCTOBER 4. St. Francis of Assisi. (1182-1226) Francis of Assisi was a poor little man who astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did, joyfully, without limit and without a sense of self-importance.

Serious illness brought the young Francis to see the emptiness of his frolicking life as leader of Assisi's youth. Prayer—lengthy and difficult—led him to a self-emptying like that of Christ, climaxed by embracing a leper he met on the road. It symbolized his complete obedience to what he had heard in prayer: "Francis! Everything you have loved and desired in the flesh it is your duty to despise and hate, if you wish to know my will. And when you have begun this, all that now seems sweet and lovely to you will become intolerable and bitter, but all that you used to avoid will turn itself to great sweetness and exceeding joy."

From the cross in the neglected field-chapel of San Damiano, Christ told him, "Francis, go out and build up my house, for it is nearly falling down." Francis became the totally poor and humble workman. On his deathbed, he said over and over again the last addition to his Canticle of the Sun, "Be praised, O Lord, for our Sister Death." He sang Psalm 141, and at the end asked his superior to have his clothes removed when the last hour came and for permission to expire lying naked on the earth, in imitation of his Lord.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11. Youngstown CROP WALK. Join walkers and runners at 2 pm in Wick Park to walk to raise money for hunger relief. Catholic Charities receives a percentage of the local share of this Walk. Thanks to all those who have participated in the past and this week.

OCTOBER IS RESPECT LIFE MONTH:

Catholic Charities Regional Agency maintains an adoption license and facilitates adoption services and placements on behalf of the four Catholic Charities social service agencies in the Diocese of Youngstown. For more information about adoption services or to learn about becoming a foster parent, call Nancy Voitus, Executive Director, at 330-744-3320.


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


Reflection: Job loss can make a person feel beaten down. Raise up a job seeker in your life with a friendly phone call of encouragement.

Prayer Intention: That those in need of assistance may find a hand ready to help and a heart ready to listen.

PAPAL INTENTIONS:

October 2009
General: That Sunday may be lived as the day on which Christians gather to celebrate the risen Lord, participating in the Eucharist.

Mission: That the entire People of God, to whom Christ entrusted the mandate to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, may eagerly assume their own missionary responsibility and consider it the highest service they can offer humanity.


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/

Friday, October 2, 2009

US Ambassador to Holy See Presents Credentials

For Text of US Ambassador to the Holy See's speech, see http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/u-s-ambassadors-speech-to-the-pope/

For Pope Benedict's response see:
http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/popes-speech-to-new-u-s-ambassador/