Saturday, March 26, 2011

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for the week of March 27, 2011

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 (Third Sunday in Lent Year A http://www.usccb.org/nab/032711.shtml ) we read in the Gospel of John about the encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman retrieving water from the well of Jacob. She believes that she is doing a normal activity of getting water for daily life; Jesus’ presence changes that. He offers her - and us -- “living water.” This Samaritan woman is open to the invitation and finds out more about herself and about God’s love and abundance. With that acceptance, her life changes. She is transformed and knows hope first hand.


In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we are called to give living water and hope to each person that comes to our places for assistance. We may provide some material aid to help persons get through the day, but as a ministry of the Church we go even further....we offer a glimpse of God’s generous love and hope by the hospitality we show, the kindness we display, the patience we practice, and the love that we give. Sometimes, sharing that hope and love in small and ordinary ways helps us and those we serve see the extraordinary abundance of God.


Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate


Fruitful dialogue between faith and reason cannot but render the work of charity more effective within society, and it constitutes the most appropriate framework for promoting fraternal collaboration between believers and non-believers in their shared commitment to working for justice and the peace of the human family. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, the Council fathers asserted that “believers and unbelievers agree almost unanimously that all things on earth should be ordered towards man as to their centre and summit”. For believers, the world derives neither from blind chance nor from strict necessity, but from God's plan. This is what gives rise to the duty of believers to unite their efforts with those of all men and women of good will, with the followers of other religions and with non-believers, so that this world of ours may effectively correspond to the divine plan: living as a family under the Creator's watchful eye. A particular manifestation of charity and a guiding criterion for fraternal cooperation between believers and non-believers is undoubtedly the principle of subsidiarity, an expression of inalienable human freedom. Subsidiarity is first and foremost a form of assistance to the human person via the autonomy of intermediate bodies. Such assistance is offered when individuals or groups are unable to accomplish something on their own, and it is always designed to achieve their emancipation, because it fosters freedom and participation through assumption of responsibility. Subsidiarity respects personal dignity by recognizing in the person a subject who is always capable of giving something to others. By considering reciprocity as the heart of what it is to be a human being, subsidiarity is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state. It is able to take account both of the manifold articulation of plans — and therefore of the plurality of subjects — as well as the coordination of those plans. Hence the principle of subsidiarity is particularly well-suited to managing globalization and directing it towards authentic human development. In order not to produce a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature, the governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity, articulated into several layers and involving different levels that can work together. Globalization certainly requires authority, insofar as it poses the problem of a global common good that needs to be pursued. This authority, however, must be organized in a subsidiary and stratified way, if it is not to infringe upon freedom and if it is to yield effective results in practice.. (par. 57)


http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.htm



Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx

See website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.



SEASON OF LENT:
In his 2011 Lenten Message http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20101104_lent-2011_en.html, Pope Benedict XVI focuses on the Sacrament of Baptism. He notes: “By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship with the ‘world’ that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbor.”

Questions to Examine Conscience in the Light of Catholic Social Teaching http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/socialteaching/examine.shtml This examination can be used as a supplement to the traditional examination of conscience during Penance services or the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

OPERATION RICE BOWL: PRAY. FAST. GIVE. Weekly reflection
http://donate.crs.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=21965.0&printer_friendly=1


SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.

Catholic Relief Services http://www.crs.org is accepting donations to help Caritas Japan respond to the short and long term impact of the earthquake and tsunami. Please send check to Catholic Relief Services - Japan Disaster Relief, c/o Social Action Office 144 W. Wood Street Youngstown, OH 44503. You can donate directly on line at www.ccdoy.org. Thanks.

Catholic Charities served over 39,000 people in 2010, and provided compassionate information and referral services to an additional 29,000 people. Your support for the Annual Bishop’s Appeal helps Catholic Charities serve those individuals and families in need throughout the Diocese of Youngstown. Please be generous in your support for the 2011 Bishop’s Appeal


PAPAL INTENTIONS: March 2011

General Intention: That the nations of Latin America may walk in fidelity to the Gospel and be bountiful in social justice and peace.

Missionary Intention: That the Holy Spirit may give light and strength to the Christian communities and the faithful who are persecuted or discriminated against because of the Gospel.

April 2011

General Intention: That the Church may offer new generations, through the believable proclamation of the Gospel, ever-new reasons of life and hope.

Missionary Intention: That missionaries, with the proclamation of the Gospel and their witness of life, may bring Christ to all those who do not yet know Him.


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





Note: Please consider joining our
FACEBOOK CAUSE http://apps.facebook.com/causes/106889
FACEBOOK GROUP http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=461833870606
FACEBOOK FAN
TWITTER account, CCDOY, http://twitter.com/CCDOY
for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.

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, March 19, 2011

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for the week of March 20, 2011

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 (Second Sunday in Lent Year A http://www.usccb.org/nab/032011.shtml ) we read in the Gospel of Matthew about the Transfiguration of the Lord, wherein Jesus visits with Elijah and Moses (the prophets and the law) with some apostles as witnesses. A voice proclaims: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." The apostles, though claiming that they are glad to be in God's Presence, still are afraid. Jesus tells them not to be afraid. Here we have a glimpse into the Presence of God: Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets and ushers in the Kingdom of God. We are called to listen to Him. And follow.

In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we too are witnesses to the Good News of God's Presence. As a ministry of the Church, we listen to God's Word, and live that Word out as we bring life, healing, hope and joy to each person we encounter. We are reminded that we are always in God's Presence and bring that knowledge to the work we do, day in and day out. We see the Image of God in each person we serve and encounter. We are called to bring Good News of hope to each person we help: maybe we cannot fulfill their entire request for assistance, but we can and do offer, as well, an abundance of love and hope in Jesus' name.



Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate

The Christian religion and other religions can offer their contribution to development only if God has a place in the public realm, specifically in regard to its cultural, social, economic, and particularly its political dimensions. The Church's social doctrine came into being in order to claim “citizenship status” for the Christian religion. Denying the right to profess one's religion in public and the right to bring the truths of faith to bear upon public life has negative consequences for true development. The exclusion of religion from the public square — and, at the other extreme, religious fundamentalism — hinders an encounter between persons and their collaboration for the progress of humanity. Public life is sapped of its motivation and politics takes on a domineering and aggressive character. Human rights risk being ignored either because they are robbed of their transcendent foundation or because personal freedom is not acknowledged. Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue and effective cooperation between reason and religious faith. Reason always stands in need of being purified by faith: this also holds true for political reason, which must not consider itself omnipotent. For its part, religion always needs to be purified by reason in order to show its authentically human face. Any breach in this dialogue comes only at an enormous price to human development. (par. 56)


http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.htm



Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx

See website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.


FRIDAY MARCH 25. Annunciation of the Lord. The feast of the Annunciation goes back to the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the Incarnation: God has become one of us. From all eternity God had decided that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now, as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love. Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering and an agonizing death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Mary has an important role to play in God’s plan. From all eternity God destined her to be the mother of Jesus and closely related to him in the creation and redemption of the world. We could say that God’s decrees of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of Incarnation. Because Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she owes to the Trinity.
She is the virgin-mother who fulfills Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out the will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38).
Together with Jesus, the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth. She is the human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of human existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She shows how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances of life. She exemplifies what the Church and every member of the Church is meant to become. She is the ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of God. She manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of us.



SEASON OF LENT:
In his 2011 Lenten Message http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20101104_lent-2011_en.html, Pope Benedict XVI focuses on the Sacrament of Baptism. He notes: “By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship with the ‘world’ that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbor.”

Questions to Examine Conscience in the Light of Catholic Social Teaching http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/socialteaching/examine.shtml This examination can be used as a supplement to the traditional examination of conscience during Penance services or the Sacrament of Reconciliation.




SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.

Disaster in Japan: CRS Responds

Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org) is accepting donations to help Caritas Japan respond to the short and long term impact of the earthquake and tsunami. Please send check to Catholic Relief Services - Japan Disaster Relief, c/o Social Action Office 144 W. Wood Street Youngstown, OH 44503. You can donate directly on line at www.ccdoy.org. Thanks.

Catholic Charities Fact:
Catholic Charities provided food assistance to 3,686 people in 2010. As you fast during this Lenten Season, remember our brothers and sisters who fast out of necessity rather than choice. Consider making a donation to food pantries sponsored by Catholic Charities, your local parish or your community to help them feed those who are hungry.


PAPAL INTENTIONS: March 2011


General Intention: That the nations of Latin America may walk in fidelity to the Gospel and be bountiful in social justice and peace.

Missionary Intention: That the Holy Spirit may give light and strength to the Christian communities and the faithful who are persecuted or discriminated against because of the Gospel.


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



Note: Please consider joining our
FACEBOOK CAUSE http://apps.facebook.com/causes/106889
FACEBOOK GROUP http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=461833870606
FACEBOOK FAN
TWITTER account, CCDOY, http://twitter.com/CCDOY
for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.

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, March 11, 2011

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for the week of March 13, 2011

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 in Lent Year A http://usccb.org/nab/031311.shtml ) we read in the Gospel of Matthew about the temptations Jesus experienced in the desert. Hunger, power, glory. Do we not sometimes hunger for things that are not of God? Do we sometimes want to use our power for our own ends and not for the building up of the Kingdom of God? Do we not want, at times, to be shone honor and glory rather than serve and live as a servant, worshiping the One true God? Lent is a time to enter into a place/space -- a desert -- to reflect upon how we in fact hunger for God, serve others, and worship only One God our Creator.


In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we too help people sort through what is important in life. We help our clients meet their needs materially but also by being a witness to that love of God that is all embracing and all welcoming. We use our resources to help not to get repayment or praise, but rather to serve others humbly and lovingly as Jesus himself modeled for us.




Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate


For this reason, while it may be true that development needs the religions and cultures of different peoples, it is equally true that adequate discernment is needed. Religious freedom does not mean religious indifferentism, nor does it imply that all religions are equal. Discernment is needed regarding the contribution of cultures and religions, especially on the part of those who wield political power, if the social community is to be built up in a spirit of respect for the common good. Such discernment has to be based on the criterion of charity and truth. Since the development of persons and peoples is at stake, this discernment will have to take account of the need for emancipation and inclusivity, in the context of a truly universal human community. “The whole man and all men” is also the criterion for evaluating cultures and religions. Christianity, the religion of the “God who has a human face”, contains this very criterion within itself. (par. 55b)


http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.htm


Some important date(s) this week:http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx

See website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.



MONDAY MARCH 15. ST. LOUISE DE MARILLAC (d. 1660) Louise, born near Meux, France, lost her mother when she was still a child, her beloved father when she was but 15. Her desire to become a nun was discouraged by her confessor, and a marriage was arranged. One son was born of this union. But she soon found herself nursing her beloved husband through a long illness that finally led to his death.
Louise was fortunate to have a wise and sympathetic counselor, St. Francis de Sales, and then his friend, the Bishop of Belley, France. Both of these men were available to her only periodically. But from an interior illumination she understood that she was to undertake a great work under the guidance of another person she had not yet met. This was the holy priest M. Vincent, later to be known as St. Vincent de Paul.

At first he was reluctant to be her confessor, busy as he was with his "Confraternities of Charity." Members were aristocratic ladies of charity who were helping him nurse the poor and look after neglected children, a real need of the day. But the ladies were busy with many of their own concerns and duties. His work needed many more helpers, especially ones who were peasants themselves and therefore close to the poor and could win their hearts. He also needed someone who could teach them and organize them.

Only over a long period of time, as Vincent de Paul became more acquainted with Louise, did he come to realize that she was the answer to his prayers. She was intelligent, self-effacing and had physical strength and endurance that belied her continuing feeble health. The missions he sent her on eventually led to four simple young women joining her. Her rented home in Paris became the training center for those accepted for the service of the sick and poor. Growth was rapid and soon there was need of a so-called rule of life, which Louise herself, under the guidance of Vincent, drew up for the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (though he preferred "Daughters" of Charity).

He had always been slow and prudent in his dealings with Louise and the new group. He said that he had never had any idea of starting a new community, that it was God who did everything. "Your convent," he said, "will be the house of the sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital." Their dress was to be that of the peasant women. It was not until years later that Vincent de Paul would finally permit four of the women to take annual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. It was still more years before the company would be formally approved by Rome and placed under the direction of Vincent's own congregation of priests.

Many of the young women were illiterate and it was with reluctance that the new community undertook the care of neglected children. Louise was busy helping wherever needed despite her poor health. She traveled throughout France, establishing her community members in hospitals, orphanages and other institutions. At her death on March 15, 1660, the congregation had more than 40 houses in France. Six months later St. Vincent de Paul followed her in death.

Louise de Marillac was canonized in 1934 and declared patroness of social workers in 1960.



THURSDAY, MARCH 17. St. PATRICK (415?-493?) Legends about Patrick abound; but truth is best served by our seeing two solid qualities in him: He was humble and he was courageous. The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference guided the life of God’s instrument for winning most of Ireland for Christ.

Details of his life are uncertain. Current research places his dates of birth and death a little later than earlier accounts. Patrick may have been born in Dunbarton, Scotland, Cumberland, England, or in northern Wales. He called himself both a Roman and a Briton. At 16, he and a large number of his father’s slaves and vassals were captured by Irish raiders and sold as slaves in Ireland. Forced to work as a shepherd, he suffered greatly from hunger and cold.

After six years, Patrick escaped, probably to France, and later returned to Britain at the age of 22. His captivity had meant spiritual conversion. He may have studied at Lerins, off the French coast; he spent years at Auxerre, France, and was consecrated bishop at the age of 43. His great desire was to proclaim the Good News to the Irish.

In a dream vision it seemed “all the children of Ireland from their mothers’ wombs were stretching out their hands” to him. He understood the vision to be a call to do mission work in pagan Ireland. Despite opposition from those who felt his education had been defective, he was sent to carry out the task. He went to the west and north, where the faith had never been preached, obtained the protection of local kings and made numerous converts.

Because of the island’s pagan background, Patrick was emphatic in encouraging widows to remain chaste and young women to consecrate their virginity to Christ. He ordained many priests, divided the country into dioceses, held Church councils, founded several monasteries and continually urged his people to greater holiness in Christ.

He suffered much opposition from pagan druids, and was criticized in both England and Ireland for the way he conducted his mission.

In a relatively short time the island had experienced deeply the Christian spirit, and was prepared to send out missionaries whose efforts were greatly responsible for Christianizing Europe.

Patrick was a man of action, with little inclination toward learning. He had a rocklike belief in his vocation, in the cause he had espoused.

One of the few certainly authentic writings is his Confessio, above all an act of homage to God for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.

There is hope rather than irony in the fact that his burial place is said to be in strife-torn Ulster, in County Down.



SATURDAY JANUARY 19. ST. JOSEPH. The Bible pays Joseph the highest compliment: he was a “just” man. The quality meant a lot more than faithfulness in paying debts.
When the Bible speaks of God “justifying” someone, it means that God, the all-holy or “righteous” One, so transforms a person that the individual shares somehow in God’s own holiness, and hence it is really “right” for God to love him or her. In other words, God is not playing games, acting as if we were lovable when we are not.

By saying Joseph was “just,” the Bible means that he was one who was completely open to all that God wanted to do for him. He became holy by opening himself totally to God.

The rest we can easily surmise. Think of the kind of love with which he wooed and won Mary, and the depth of the love they shared during their marriage.

It is no contradiction of Joseph’s manly holiness that he decided to divorce Mary when she was found to be with child. The important words of the Bible are that he planned to do this “quietly” because he was “a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame” (Matthew 1:19).

The just man was simply, joyfully, wholeheartedly obedient to God—in marrying Mary, in naming Jesus, in shepherding the precious pair to Egypt, in bringing them to Nazareth, in the undetermined number of years of quiet faith and courage.



SEASON OF LENT:In his 2011 Lenten Message http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20101104_lent-2011_en.html, Pope Benedict XVI focuses on the Sacrament of Baptism. He notes: “By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship with the ‘world’ that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbor.”


Questions to Examine Conscience in the Light of Catholic Social Teaching http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/socialteaching/examine.shtml This examination can be used as a supplement to the traditional examination of conscience during Penance services or the Sacrament of Reconciliation.


SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.



Catholic Charities runs lean! Approximately 92 cents of every dollar Catholic Charities receives is used to fund programs and services for people in need. The 8 cents Catholic Charities uses for administration allows qualified professionals to keep an eye on “the big picture,” ensuring that Catholic Charities is meeting its mission, maximizing its funding and human resources, and operating in a manner that is not only efficient, but effective. For more information, contact Brian Corbin, Executive Director of Catholic Charities and Health Affairs, at 330-744-8451, ext. 320 or at charities@youngstowndiocese.org
PAPAL INTENTIONS: March 2011
General Intention: That the nations of Latin America may walk in fidelity to the Gospel and be bountiful in social justice and peace.

Missionary Intention: That the Holy Spirit may give light and strength to the Christian communities and the faithful who are persecuted or discriminated against because of the Gospel.




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


Note: Please consider joining our
FACEBOOK CAUSE http://apps.facebook.com/causes/106889 FACEBOOK GROUP http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=461833870606FACEBOOK FAN
TWITTER account, CCDOY, http://twitter.com/CCDOYfor current updates and calls to action that we can all use.



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, March 10, 2011

Address of Holy See to UN on Food Security

Address of Holy See to UN on Food Security
"The Right to Food Is … Intrinsically Linked to the Right to Life"
GENEVA, Switzerland, MARCH 9, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Archbishop Silvano Tomasi delivered Tuesday at the 16th ordinary session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva regarding food security.
* * *
Mr. President,

1. The right to food is a basic right because it is intrinsically linked to the right to life. Almost a billion people, however, do not enjoy this right. The challenge for the world's community is "to tackle one of the gravest challenges of our time: freeing millions of human beings from hunger, whose lives are in danger due to a lack of daily bread."

Two conditions are involved: there must be safe food available in sufficient quantity; each person should have access to food. Special attention should be directed to the 2.5 billion people dependent on agriculture for their daily sustenance. Among this population are found most of the people who suffer from malnutrition and hunger. Solutions exist to improve the situation, but they demand vigorous action by the governments and peoples of the countries concerned. The international community is also expected to act. My Delegation would like to indicate some conditions it thinks necessary for the enjoyment of the human right to food and the development of policies of food security as a prerequisite for self-sufficiency.

2. First, it is necessary to recognize and strengthen the central role of agriculture in economic activity; thus, to reduce malnutrition in rural areas, production per person must increase in order to enhance local, regional or national food independence. Investments to improve productivity are required in the areas of seeds, training, sharing of tools for cultivation and of the means for marketing. Structural changes are also demanded according to the specificity of individual states. For example, we must ensure security of land tenure for farmers, especially for those with small landholdings. The customary right of land ownership may be reconsidered. A clear property right gives the farmer the opportunity to pledge his land in exchange for seasonal credit to purchase necessary inputs. In addition, the aim of land tenure has now become increasingly important in the face of the expansion of the phenomenon of land grabs. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 80% of the land is occupied by poor who have no land titles. In addition, membership in cooperatives and access to information services would strengthen productivity.

3. We must ensure that food flows to those who need it. The current food crises have shown that some regions are facing serious shortfalls, and in areas that traditionally produce food the stocks are now exhausted or limited. These circumstances entail strong restrictions to food aid in emergency situations. The smooth flow of food products involves several conditions: local markets should be efficient, transparent and open; information must flow efficiently; investment in roads, transport and storage of crops is indispensable. Barriers to exports that have been decided by sovereign states must be limited. These barriers temporarily exacerbate deficits in importing countries and strongly raise prices; finally, food aid that plays a vital role in cases of disasters must not disrupt local agricultural production. For example, the distribution of large amounts of food either free or cheap can ruin the farmers of the region who can no longer sell their products. In so doing, we jeopardize the future of local agriculture.

4. Adequate measures, therefore, should be taken to protect farmers against price volatility which has a strong impact on food security for several reasons: high prices make food unaffordable for the poor and low prices give farmers the incorrect information on needed seedlings after harvest for the following year. To prevent price volatility or at least weaken its impact, local food crops need to be protected against sudden disruptions in international prices. The customs duty at the entrance of an importing country (or the cyclical adjustment of special and differential treatment) must take into account both the needs of poor consumers and secondly the price to be paid to small farmers so they may afford a dignified standard of living and promote production. Speculation should be limited to the actors necessary for the proper functioning of the future markets. Governments should refrain from introducing measures that increase volatility, and are called to reconsider that food cannot be like any commodity, a matter of speculation or an instrument of political pressure. The establishment of regional stockpiles of raw food (cereals, oil, sugar) can have a twofold benefit: these stocks can be sold at an affordable price in case of shock and they can play a moderating role against the volatility of local prices.

5. The availability of food is not a sufficient factor to ensure food for everyone. People must have sufficient income to purchase food or food should have an affordable price for the poor. This raises the question of a comprehensive safety net that may consist in making available food products at subsidized prices for the poorest people at a regional level. The level of subsidy would vary according to the market price so that the cost of subsidized food can remain stable. It is illusory to believe there is a "good price" for wheat or corn. The price that a poor consumer may be able to pay may not correspond with what a small African farmer needs to live. We must construct mechanisms that bridge the gap between these two prices and for the poorest countries solidarity requires that they be internationally funded.

6. A recent development in the world search for food security regards the purchase or rent of large extensions of arable land on the part of foreign organizations in countries other than their own. It seems a reasonable precondition to require that the people who are in the area should be respected, included in the project, and that the level of food security in the region should be increased. This said, investment in hunger and agriculture is essential to eradicate hunger and malnutrition.

7. In conclusion, Mr. President, food insecurity is not inevitable, given the vast agricultural and pastoral areas to be exploited still. With a concerted and determined action sustained by the ethical conviction that the human family is one and must move forward in solidarity, urban and rural populations together, the right to food can be implemented for every person.

Monday, March 7, 2011

US Catholic Bishops Comment on Federal Budget Discussions

BISHOPS CONTINUE TO URGE CONGRESS TO REMEMBER THE POOR IN BUDGET PRIORITIES

WASHINGTON—Congress should place the needs of the poor, unemployed, hungry
and other vulnerable people first as it sets its budget priorities for
Fiscal Year 2011, said the bishop who oversees domestic policy on behalf of
the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
“The spending choices of Congress have clear moral and human
dimensions; they reflect our values as a people,” said Bishop Stephen
Blaire of Stockton, California, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic
Justice and Human Development, in a March 4 letter to the U.S. Senate.
“Some current proposals call for substantial reductions, particularly in
those programs that serve the poorest and most vulnerable people in our
nation. In a time of economic crisis, poor and vulnerable people are in
greater need of assistance, not less.”
Bishop Blaire cited over $5 billion in proposed cuts to
programs including community health centers, affordable housing, job
training programs, education programs for low-income people and refugee
funding as having a severe impact on the poor and vulnerable.
Bishop Blaire acknowledged the need to address the federal
deficit to ensure stability for future generations, as well as the need to
preserve national security, noting that the way to do this is not to create
greater insecurity for the poor but through shared sacrifice for all. He
also voiced support for provisions that continue to ban federal abortion
funding and restore the ban in the District of Columbia.
The full text of the letter can be found online:
www.usccb.org/sdwp/Final-2011-CR-letter-Domestic-Senate.pdf. Bishop
Blaire’s letter echoes a February 22 letter from Bishop Howard J. Hubbard
of Albany, New York, chairman of the USCCB Committee on International
Justice and Peace, and Ken Hackett, president of Catholic Relief Services
(CRS), in which they argued that assistance to the world’s poor needed to
be a budget priority: http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/2011-02SenateCRLetterFinal.pdf