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, (Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070713.cfm ) we
read from the Gospel of Luke as Jesus sends out 72 other disciples to
proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. We note from Jesus’
message to these missionaries that they are to engage with people, with
humility and openness, and welcome them into the Kingdom not with force
but with respect and love. Today, we too are called to be missionaries
in the world: we are challenged to witness to our faith in the little
acts of our very lives. Our daily life can be an opportunity -- at
work, at home, at school, at the mall, driving, blogging -- of living
our faith and welcoming others to join us in the joy that we have found
knowing the abundant love and grace of God.
Catholic Charities (http://www.ccdoy.org)
continues that daily witness to the Good News of love and grace to each
person, family and community we work with and among. Charities’
workers daily encounter a person or family that needs material and
spiritual support. With the limited resources we have, Catholic
Charities’ staff -- many times in partnership with the St. Vincent de
Paul Society and other Catholic institutions -- find ways to meet the
needs of many such families. We also celebrate the many gifts and
talents that each person brings; no one is so poor that they cannot
share. In Catholic Charities, we share in that mission of the Church
given to us by Jesus, to be bearers of Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Thanks to your generous support to the Annual Bishop’s Appeal for
Catholic Charities and Church (http://www.doy.org) we continue to bring this Good News -- the Good News that God loves us and welcomes us is shared each day.
Reflection from Church Documents and Official Statements
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/images/year-of-faith-logo-montage.jpg
http://cmsimg.news-press.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A4&Date=20130315&Category=OPINION&ArtNo=303150023&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Editorial-Pope-Francis-unique-chance
Pope Francis: On the Freedom that Comes from God
Vatican City, June 30, 2013 (Zenit.org) |
Here is the translation of Pope Francis' address before and after the recitation of the Angelus in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters, hello!
(Last)
Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 9:51-62) contains a very important passage about
the life of Christ. It is the moment in which, as St. Luke writes,
“Jesus resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (9:51). Jerusalem
is the final goal, where Jesus, at his last Passover, must die and rise
again, and in this way carry out his mission of salvation.
From
that moment, after that resolute decision, Jesus aims right at the
target, and he clearly sets out the conditions to those whom he meets
and ask to follow him: there is no stable place to live; they must be
detach themselves from concern for human respect; they must not give in
to nostalgia for the past.
But
Jesus also says to his disciples, who are charged with preceding him on
the road to Jerusalem to announce his passage, not to impose anything:
if they are not accepted, they are to go elsewhere, they move forward.
Jesus never imposes anything, Jesus is humble, Jesus invites. If you
wish, come. This is Jesus’ humility: he always invites, he never
imposes.
All
of this makes us think. It tells us, for example, about the importance
that, conscience had even for Jesus: hearing the Father’s voice and
following him. Jesus, in his earthly existence, was not, so to speak,
“remote controlled.” He was the incarnate Word, the Son of God made man,
and at a certain point he firmly decided to go up to Jerusalem for the
last time; it was a decision he made with his conscience, but he did not
do it alone: he did it together with the Father, in full union with
him! He decided in obedience to the Father, listening carefully, in
intimacy, to his will. And because of this the decision was firm,
because it was made together with the Father. And in the Father Jesus
found the strength and the light for his journey. And Jesus was free, in
that decision he was free. Jesus wants us Christians to be free like
him, with that freedom that comes from this dialogue with the Father,
from this dialogue with God. Jesus does not want egotistical Christians,
who follow their own “I,” who do not speak with God; nor does he want
weak Christians, Christians without a will, Christians who are “remote
controlled,” incapable of creativity, who always seek to link themselves
to someone else’s will and are not free. Jesus wants us to be free but
where is this freedom found? It is found in dialogue with God in our
conscience. If a Christian does not know how to speak with God, does not
know how to listen to God in his own conscience, he is not free, he is
not free.
For
this reason we must learn how to listen more to our conscience. But be
careful! This does not mean following our own “I,” do that which
interests me, is convenient for me, that I like... It is not this! Our
conscience is the interior place where we listen to truth, to goodness,
where we listen to God; it is the interior place of my relation to him,
the one who speaks to my heart and helps me discern, to understand the
road that I must take, and once the decision is made, he helps me to go
forward, to remain faithful.
We
have a marvelous example of what this relationship with God in our
conscience is like, a recent marvelous example. Pope Benedict XVI gave
us this great example when the Lord made him understand, in prayer, what
was the step that he had to take. He followed – with a great sense of
discernment and courage – his conscience, that is, the will of God that
spoke in his heart. And this example of our Father is good for all of
us, as an example to follow.
Deep
inside herself Our Lady, with great simplicity, listened and meditated
on the Word of God and on that which happened to Jesus. She followed her
Son with intimate conviction, with firm hope. Mary helps us to become
more and more men and women of conscience, free in conscience, because
it is in conscience that there is dialogue with God. She helps us to
become more and more men and women capable of listening to God’s voice
and of following it with decision.
Some important date(s) this week:
See website http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.
THURSDAY, JULY 11. St. Benedict (480?-543)
It
is unfortunate that no contemporary biography was written of a man who
has exercised the greatest influence on monasticism in the West.
Benedict is well recognized in the later Dialogues of St. Gregory, but these are sketches to illustrate miraculous elements of his career.
Benedict
was born into a distinguished family in central Italy, studied at Rome
and early in life was drawn to the monastic life. At first he became a
hermit, leaving a depressing world—pagan armies on the march, the Church
torn by schism, people suffering from war, morality at a low ebb.
He
soon realized that he could not live a hidden life in a small town any
better than in a large city, so he withdrew to a cave high in the
mountains for three years. Some monks chose him as their leader for a
while, but found his strictness not to their taste. Still, the shift
from hermit to community life had begun for him. He had an idea of
gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give
them the benefit of unity, fraternity, permanent worship in one house.
Finally he began to build what was to become one of the most famous
monasteries in the world—Monte Cassino, commanding three narrow valleys
running toward the mountains north of Naples.
The
Rule that gradually developed prescribed a life of liturgical prayer,
study, manual labor and living together in community under a common
father (abbot). Benedictine asceticism is known for its moderation, and
Benedictine charity has always shown concern for the people in the
surrounding countryside. In the course of the Middle Ages, all
monasticism in the West was gradually brought under the Rule of St.
Benedict.
Today the Benedictine family is represented by two branches: the Benedictine Federation and the Cistercians.
Comment:
The
Church has been blessed through Benedictine devotion to the liturgy,
not only in its actual celebration with rich and proper ceremony in the
great abbeys, but also through the scholarly studies of many of its
members. Liturgy is sometimes confused with guitars or choirs, Latin or
Bach. We should be grateful to those who both preserve and adapt the
genuine tradition of worship in the Church.
Quote:
“Rightly,
then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office
of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy the sanctification of man is manifested
by signs perceptible to the senses...; in the liturgy full public
worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by
the Head and his members.
“From
this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an
action of Christ the priest and of his Body the Church, is a sacred
action, surpassing all others” (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 7).
For Daily Readings http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month
CHARITIES NEWSBYTES
Welcome to our Summer Interns: Catholic Charities is proud to have 2 interns this summer
1. Marie Voitus: Panera-thon..come join us...
Marie
Voitus -- a senior at Walsh University -- is working with Catholic
Charities and the HMHP Foundation to organize teams for the upcoming
August 25 PANERATHON and to help raise awareness of the benefits of the Panerathon
and the work of the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center
located at St. E's. This is part of our Catholic sponsored health care
ministry.
The easiest way for you to help this cause and support the efforts is to join the Panerathon.
100% of all proceeds directly support the Joanie Abdu Breast Care
Center through grant funded program, Joanie’s Promise so more women can
get breast care including screenings and services. Ohio has the 4th
highest mortality rate for breast cancer, but with your support we can
continue to provide preventative care to uninsured or under-insured
women who are eligible financially. Since the first year of the Panerathon
over 13,500 people have participated in raising half a million dollars
to support the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center and Joanie’s
Promise.
The
Catholic Diocese would like to start a team to participate for the
event; we hope you would join us in this event to help support this
valley and their fight against breast cancer. To sign up for the Panerathon, teams must consist of five people or more and can get registered online http://panerathon.org/.
If you would like more information about teams, feel free to contact Marie Voitus at 330.480.3055 or mxvoitus@hmis.org.
The race is August 25, 2013 at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio.
10k individual cost: $30 pre-registration, $35 day of race
2 mile individual run/walk: $25 pre-registration: $30 day of race
TEAM REGISTRATION: $20 per person
2) Fadi Mashhour Bataha: Fair Trade and Language Education
Fadi
Mashhour Bataha, a recent top ranked graduate in computer science from
the Bethlehem University in Bethlehem/West Bank/Palestine, will work
with Catholic Charities and the Office of Religious Education to develop
a fair trade marketing plan for our Fair Trade Tienda, and will assist
staff in the Catholic Charities Legal Immigration Office to study
Arabic. Fadi is one of seven interns sponsored by Catholic Charities
USA, and we are very excited to have him here for a month.
Please join me in welcoming Marie Voitus and Fadi Mashhour Bataha.
2013 Annual Bishop’s Appeal for Catholic Charities and Church.
The
in Church/parish appeal is now underway. Please consider a gift to
help support the work of Catholic Charities and other ministries of the
Diocese of Youngstown https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=450afc
PAPAL INTENTIONS: JULY
World Youth Day. That World Youth Day in Brazil may encourage all young Christians to become disciples and missionaries of the Gospel.
Asia. That throughout Asia doors may be open to messengers of the Gospel.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
|
Note: Please consider joining our
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.
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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