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)
Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. (Ps 33:22)
On Sunday, (Second Sunday of Lent http://usccb.org/bible/readings/031614.cfm ) we read from the Gospel of Matthew about the encounter of Jesus and his disciples Peter, James and John on the mountain top. There these fearful disciples witness Jesus’ own encounter with Moses and Elijah. They experience the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Just at that moment of this tremendous experience, a voice is heard. What could be more profound? God proclaims that Jesus is His beloved Son with whom He is well pleased. We then hear that as God speaks, the disciples become afraid. Then we read in the gospel this very important moment:
‘But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’ And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.” Even after such an incredible experience, Jesus literally “touches” his friends to calm them of their anxiety and to let them know, truly, that God is with them. We hear in the first reading from the Book of Genesis for today’s Mass, that God shines His light on Abram, and calls him forth with a blessing. Jesus’ disciples then and we now constantly receive that same blessing each day as we encounter Jesus the Lord. But this encounter retold through the story of the Transfiguration is not an isolated event. Like the disciples who wanted to build tents to honor Jesus, Moses and Elijah, we cannot just stay still. We must live out that encounter we have with the Lord. We must be transfigured ourselves. We must be in the world in a different way. Our blessings from the Lord must be transfigured to love in the world.
Catholic Charities (http://www.ccdoy.org) continues to be that healing encounter with the Lord with many persons and families who come for help. Catholic Charities provides that immediate assistance that can help quell fears and anxieties that help individuals find stability. Catholic Charities, as well, is committed to help transform persons, families and communities, by journeying with them as they find hope and new opportunities to break out of poverty and isolation. Though our rootedness in our faith in Christ Jesus, we remain beacons of help and hope for those facing fears and pain. During this Lenten season, your gifts of time, treasure and talent through Catholic Charities and the Bishop’s Appeal (https://15181.thankyou4caring.org/) help the Church be there for each person, remembering them as God asks us to be changed by our encounter with Him, and reminds us of His everlasting love. Thanks.
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' Lenten Message 2014
"The Gospel is the real antidote to spiritual destitution"
By making himself poor, Jesus did not seek poverty for its own sake but, as Saint Paul says "that by his poverty you might become rich". This is no mere play on words or a catch phrase. Rather, it sums up God’s logic, the logic of love, the logic of the incarnation and the cross. God did not let our salvation drop down from heaven, like someone who gives alms from their abundance out of a sense of altruism and piety. Christ’s love is different! When Jesus stepped into the waters of the Jordan and was baptized by John the Baptist, he did so not because he was in need of repentance, or conversion; he did it to be among people who need forgiveness, among us sinners, and to take upon himself the burden of our sins. In this way he chose to comfort us, to save us, to free us from our misery. It is striking that the Apostle states that we were set free, not by Christ’s riches but by his poverty. Yet Saint Paul is well aware of the "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8), that he is "heir of all things" (Heb 1:2).
So what is this poverty by which Christ frees us and enriches us? It is his way of loving us, his way of being our neighbour, just as the Good Samaritan was neighbour to the man left half dead by the side of the road (cf. Lk 10:25ff). What gives us true freedom, true salvation and true happiness is the compassion, tenderness and solidarity of his love. Christ’s poverty which enriches us is his taking flesh and bearing our weaknesses and sins as an expression of God’s infinite mercy to us. Christ’s poverty is the greatest treasure of all: Jesus’ wealth is that of his boundless confidence in God the Father, his constant trust, his desire always and only to do the Father’s will and give glory to him. Jesus is rich in the same way as a child who feels loved and who loves its parents, without doubting their love and tenderness for an instant. Jesus’ wealth lies in his being the Son; his unique relationship with the Father is the sovereign prerogative of this Messiah who is poor. When Jesus asks us to take up his "yoke which is easy", he asks us to be enriched by his "poverty which is rich" and his "richness which is poor", to share his filial and fraternal Spirit, to become sons and daughters in the Son, brothers and sisters in the firstborn brother (cf. Rom 8:29).
It has been said that the only real regret lies in not being a saint (L. Bloy); we could also say that there is only one real kind of poverty: not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.
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.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19. St. Joseph, Husband of Mary
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.
Comment:
The Bible tells us nothing of Joseph in the years after the return to Nazareth except the incident of finding Jesus in the Temple (see Luke 2:41–51). Perhaps this can be taken to mean that God wants us to realize that the holiest family was like every other family, that the circumstances of life for the holiest family were like those of every family, so that when Jesus’ mysterious nature began to appear, people couldn’t believe that he came from such humble beginnings: “Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary...?” (Matthew 13:55a). It was almost as indignant as “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46b).
Quote:
“He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord’” (St. Bernardine of Siena).
Patron Saint of:
Belgium
Canada
Carpenters
China
Church
Death
Fathers
Happy death
Peru
Russia
Social justice
Travelers
Universal Church
Vietnam
Workers
For daily readings, visit USCCB Website (http://usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month)
CHARITIES NEWSBYTES
http://www.crsricebowl.org/wp-content/themes/crsricebowl2014/images/crs-rice-bowl-logo.pngLent is here. Catholic Relief Services RICE BOWL created an APP for your smart phone/tablet. (http://www.crsricebowl.org/app/) Please consider using this guide for your daily acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Consider an online donation at https://15181.thankyou4caring.org/orb
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
March
- Respect for Women. That all cultures may respect the rights and dignity of women.
- Vocations. That many young people may accept the Lord’s invitation to consecrate their lives to proclaiming the Gospel.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
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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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