Sunday, July 29, 2012

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for the week of July 29, 2012


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) 



http://www.sermons4kids.com/5000_title_slide.jpg

On Sunday, (Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time,  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072912.cfm

we read from the Gospel of  John about Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 men from a simple offering of 2 fish and 5 loaves.  Imagine, 5,000 men (not including women and children) come to feast on the words and actions of Jesus.  They see how he cares for everyone around Him, like a Good Shepherd.  Now Jesus sees that they are far from home, the day is late, and they need nourishment.  The apostles cannot fathom that Jesus could pull off such a meal.  In fact, that simple offering by a young child is used by Jesus as a sign of the Kingdom of God -- the abundance of life and nourishment we all need for our body and spirit.  Jesus gives of Himself to them then, and now to us today.  The Eucharistic celebration (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html) continues to urge us on in our love and compassion.


In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we continue to steward the many gifts of donations of time, talent and treasure in order to continue to help Catholics live out their faith in the “breaking of the bread.”  Our ministries and services witness to Jesus’ command to love one another and to feed the hungry, provide water to the thirsty, shelter to the homeless, healing to the sick, visitation to the prisoner and welcome to the stranger.  Jesus’ sharing of some simple gifts of fish and bread model for us how we are to be good stewards of the assets we have to care for those around us.  Your gift to the Bishop’s Appeal for Catholic Charities and Church, and donations to Catholic Charities,  ( https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=450afc) enable us to share our resources with others who are in need and in despair.  Thanks for all your donations of time, talent and treasure.  We promise to continue to live out our baptismal call to share what we have with those in need, as a daily offering rooted in the Eucharistic banquet, pointing to the Good News of the Kingdom of God breaking open each moment.





Reflection from 
Church Documents 
and
Official Statements

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship - Part I - The U.S. Bishops’ Reflection On Catholic Teaching And Political Life


How Does the Church Help the Catholic Faithful to Speak About Political and Social Questions?

The Right to Life and the Dignity of the Human Person

44. Human life is sacred. The dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. Direct attacks on innocent persons are never morally acceptable, at any stage or in any condition. In our society, human life is especially under direct attack from abortion. Other direct threats to the sanctity of human life include euthanasia, human cloning, and the destruction of human embryos for research.

45. Catholic teaching about the dignity of life calls us to oppose torture,7 unjust war, and the use of the death penalty; to prevent genocide and attacks against noncombatants; to oppose racism; and to overcome poverty and suffering. Nations are called to protect the right to life by seeking effective ways to combat evil and terror without resorting to armed conflicts except as a last resort, always seeking first to resolve disputes by peaceful means. We revere the lives of children in the womb, the lives of persons dying in war and from starvation, and indeed the lives of all human beings as children of God.





Some important date(s) this week:

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




SUNDAY AUGUST 29.  St. Martha
Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus were evidently close friends of Jesus. He came to their home simply as a welcomed guest, rather than as one celebrating the conversion of a sinner like Zacchaeus or one unceremoniously received by a suspicious Pharisee. The sisters feel free to call on Jesus at their brother’s death, even though a return to Judea at that time seems almost certain death.
No doubt Martha was an active sort of person. On one occasion (see Luke 10:38-42) she prepares the meal for Jesus and possibly his fellow guests and forthrightly states the obvious: All hands should pitch in to help with the dinner.
Yet, as biblical scholar Father John McKenzie points out, she need not be rated as an “unrecollected activist.” The evangelist is emphasizing what our Lord said on several occasions about the primacy of the spiritual: “...[D]o not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear…. But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:25b, 33a); “One does not live by bread alone” (Luke 4:4b); “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” (Matthew 5:6a).
Martha’s great glory is her simple and strong statement of faith in Jesus after her brother’s death. “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world’” (John 11:25-27).




CHARITIES NEWSBYTES

August 26.  Help support HMHP Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Care Center through participating in the Panerathon.   http://doy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=184%3Apanerathon&catid=45%3Astandalone&Itemid=95






 PAPAL INTENTIONS:   July 2012
General Intention: Work Security. That everyone may have work in safe and secure conditions.
Missionary Intention: Christian Volunteers. That Christian volunteers in mission territories may witness to the love of Christ.

August 2012

General Intention: That prisoners may be treated with justice and respect for their human dignity

Missionary Intention: Youth Witness to Christ. That young people, called to follow Christ, may be willing to proclaim and bear witness to the Gospel to the ends of the earth.


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



Note: Please consider joining our
FACEBOOK CAUSE http://apps.facebook.com/causes/106889 
FACEBOOK GROUP https://www.facebook.com/pages/Catholic-Charities-Diocese-of-Youngstown/138817639487339
TWITTER account, CCDOY, http://twitter.com/CCDOY
for current updates and calls to action that we can all use. 

See our website at http://www.doy.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/
 

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