Monday Morning Mission Meditation, August 31, 2008

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: 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.

KEY VALUE: Hospitality



On Sunday (22st Ordinary Time Sunday, Cycle A; Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27. ) we read in the Gospel how Jesus rebukes his disciples for not really being conformed to the message that Jesus is giving and calling us to live. Jesus teaches that there will be suffering and denial of self in his work, even to the point of death. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves to find new life in Him. St. Paul calls us: "Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect." The Prophet Jeremiah acknowledges that faithfulness to God's message can cause hardship, but he must be a prophet.

In Catholic Charities we are called to be faithful witnesses to the Good News of Jesus. We are called to be faithful to our identity as a ministry of the Church, despite any hardship that might include (persons rejecting us or making false accusations about what/who we are). We must be ever vigilant to follow our mission and vision even if others may tempt us to do something else more expedient. More importantly, we must be faithful to being there for the least of our brothers and sisters -- the poor -- regardless of public opinion or political correctness.

NOTE: Please keep the people of the Gulf Coast in your prayers....Visit our national website for information about the response of Catholic Charities USA and local agencies.


Some important date(s) this week:

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 5. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. 1910-1997. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the tiny woman recognized throughout the world for her work among the poorest of the poor, was beatified October 19, 2003. Born to Albanian parents in what is now Skopje, Macedonia (then part of the Ottoman Empire), Gonxha (Agnes) Bojaxhiu was the youngest of the three children who survived. For a time, the family lived comfortably, and her father's construction business thrived. But life changed overnight following his unexpected death.

In 1946, while riding a train to Darjeeling to make a retreat, Sister Teresa heard what she later explained as “a call within a call. The message was clear. I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.” She also heard a call to give up her life with the Sisters of Loreto and, instead, to “follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor.” After receiving permission to leave Loreto, establish a new religious community and undertake her new work, she took a nursing course for several months. She returned to Calcutta, where she lived in the slums and opened a school for poor children. Dressed in a white sari and sandals (the ordinary dress of an Indian woman) she soon began getting to know her neighbors—especially the poor and sick—and getting to know their needs through visits. For the next four decades Mother Teresa worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor. Her love knew no bounds. Nor did her energy, as she crisscrossed the globe pleading for support and inviting others to see the face of Jesus in the poorest of the poor. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.




(http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/saints/)




PAPAL INTENTIONS:


SEPTEMBER 2008
General:
That those who are forced to leave home and country because of war or oppressive regimes may be supported by Christians in the defense and protection of their rights.
Mission:
That faithful to the sacrament of matrimony every Christian family may cultivate the values of love and communion in order to be a small evangelizing community, sensitive and open to the material and spiritual needs of others

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 Catholic Charities website for links to the our ministries and services.

For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog

peace, brian

Catholic Charities: US Has Too Many Poor

Census Shows More People Living in Poverty

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, AUG. 28, 2008 ( Zenit.org ).- The president of Catholic Charities USA said it is "unacceptable" that there are 37.3 million poor people in a nation as prosperous as the United States.

Father Larry Snyder said this in response to statistics released Tuesday by the United States Census Bureau, which revealed that 800,000 more people are living in poverty in the United States this year.

"It is unacceptable that in a nation that is as prosperous as ours that 37.3 million people, including 13.3 million children, continue to live in poverty," Father Snyder said. "At 12.5%, the poverty rate indicates that reducing poverty is not a priority for this nation."
The priest said his organization and its member agencies serve nearly 8 million needy people a year.

"The poverty rate is not just another economic statistic," he said. "This unacceptable figure represents the millions of families we see each and every day who are struggling just to make ends meet."

Father Snyder affirmed that the downturn in the U.S. economy has worsened the situation.

"Across our nation, Catholic Charities agencies are seeing more and more people having to choose between putting food on the table, paying their utility bills, or making their rent or mortgage payments," he said. "Needing help with food, rent, clothing and prescriptions are all symptoms of much larger problems facing the poor and vulnerable in America, such as low wages and the lack of affordable housing and health care."

The charity organization has launched a campaign to cut the poverty rate in half by 2020. They are urging Americans to demand that their political representatives make poverty a priority.

"In this election year, candidates for public office -- especially our presidential candidates -- must move from rhetoric to action and propose comprehensive plans to address the needs of more than 37 million people living in poverty in the United States over the next decade," Father Synder said. "We call on all Americans to ask their candidates, 'If elected, what will you do to address poverty?'"

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION, August 24, 2008

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: 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. KEY VALUE: Hospitality On Sunday (21st Ordinary Time Sunday, Cycle A) we read in the Gospel how Jesus takes an opinion poll and then asks a pointed but profound question which changes history. In the first question, he asks his Apostles who others say that he is. Like in modern opinion polls, the Apostles all respond with reports of others' opinions about the nature and role of Jesus. Then Jesus asks a question that only one person, Simon, stops and answers: Who do YOU say that I am? This is a moment of truth: The Apostles have to declare who they say Jesus is. Only Simon, thereafter called Peter (The Rock), dares to answer: You are the Christ.....this declaration is the first time that the identity of Jesus is revealed most fully. It is a turning point in cosmic history: we now know the WORD personally. In Catholic Charities we are constantly challenged with better understanding, and explaining, what Catholic identity is and means. Many have opinions. One of the key insights of our Catholic identity comes from the fact that we are connected to the Bishop of the Diocese. The Bishop, as successor from the Apostles, links us to the universal Church, and to that very moment in history when Peter proclaimed his knowledge of the Christ. But what does it mean practically? Our Catholic identity means that we are called to serve like Jesus in the name of the Church. like our Vision and Mission statements attest. When people come to our places of services we represent the Church in providing healing, compassion, mercy and love. Thanks for all you do. . N.B. This past Wednesday and Thursday, I accompanied representative from the Raymond John Wean Foundation to St. Paul, MN, to visit a micro finance and alternative credit program for low income persons. It was a partnership between Lutheran Social Services, US Federal Credit Union and Thrivent Financial Services. This project aims to provide financial counseling, coaching, employment aid, tax services and direct financial services to persons considered outside the banking system (check cashing, payday advance lending and other such services with a heart and mission to empower people). This project, Eastside Financial Center (http://www.eastsidefinancialcenter.org/) sponsored by Lutheran Social Services, has been recognized as a Center for Working Families. Anxious to have a discussion about this interesting collaborative project. Some important date(s) this week: THURSDAY, AUGUST 28. St. Augustine of Hippo. (354-430) A Christian at 33, a priest at 36, a bishop at 41: many people are familiar with the biographical sketch of Augustine of Hippo, sinner turned saint. But really to get to know the man is a rewarding experience. There quickly surfaces the intensity with which he lived his life, whether his path led away from or toward God. The tears of his mother, the instructions of Ambrose and, most of all, God himself speaking to him in the Scriptures redirected Augustine’s love of life to a life of love. Having been so deeply immersed in creature-pride of life in his early days and having drunk deeply of its bitter dregs, it is not surprising that Augustine should have turned, with a holy fierceness, against the many demon-thrusts rampant in his day. His times were truly decadent—politically, socially, morally. He was both feared and loved, like the Master. The perennial criticism leveled against him: a fundamental rigorism.In his day, he providentially fulfilled the office of prophet. Like Jeremiah and other greats, he was hard-pressed but could not keep quiet. “I say to myself, I will not mention him,/I will speak in his name no more./But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,/imprisoned in my bones;/I grow weary holding it in,/I cannot endure it” (Jeremiah 20:9). (http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/saints/) PAPAL INTENTIONS: AUGUST 2008 General: That the human family may learn to respect God’s plan for the world and become ever more aware that Creation is God’s great gift. Mission: That the answer of the entire people of God to the common calling to holiness and mission may be promoted and fostered by means of careful discernment of charisms and constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation 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/ peace, brian

USCCB STATEMENT ON LABOR DAY, 2008

An American Catholic Tradition
Most Reverend William F. Murphy
Bishop of Rockville Centre
Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
September 1, 2008

http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2008.pdf

The late Msgr. George G. Higgins was a remarkable priest whose primary work for many
years was connecting the Church and the labor movement around Catholic teaching on worker
rights. One of his many contributions was to offer an annual Labor Day statement on issues of
work and economic justice. This American Catholic tradition has been continued by the bishop
chairman of the Conference committee that works on economic issues. As the new Chairman of
the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I take up this task with some trepidation but with a desire to begin by paying
homage to my friend of many years, Msgr. George Higgins.

Msgr. Higgins was a powerful bridge between the Catholic Church and the labor
movement. He was a realist, but a hopeful one. Monsignor was irascible and rather confident in
his opinions as well as in his convictions of what needed to be done. To his very core, he believed
that workers were best served by joining together with other workers in a union. I suspect he
would have had some trenchant comments about the situation of workers and wages, working
conditions, and the changing face of work in a globalized marketplace. While he would have
waxed eloquent about the “big picture,” his goal would never stray from an extraordinary ability
to measure the large economic issues by their impact on the average working man and woman.
Monsignor would have been harsh in his judgment about the greed and irresponsibility that
led to the mortgage foreclosure crisis. He would have had some caustic comments on the price of
gas for the working person and its impact on family life. He would have kept a keen eye on the
cost of living and its effect on family budgets, on the real value of current wages to buy
necessities, and on the challenges to our economy to diversify without losing sight of its
traditional strengths and opportunities.

Monsignor would have pointed out the lack of union representation in so many of the emerging industries and workplaces where exploitation has been most evident. He would have applauded any and every new initiative that brings labor leadership, management, and related interested parties together as "intermediate institutions" in our society that would be based on mutual respect. He would recognize that such respect furthers the good of the worker, the enterprises involved, and the common good.

Above all Msgr. Higgins would be concerned about the worker, the person, and the family
whose daily lives are affected by a host of factors. He would weigh up and measure all those
factors by their overall impact on human beings. And then he would have offered a couple of
basic suggestions that would move beyond hand wringing and negative assessments. Monsignor
would re-assert his faith in a nation and a people whose creative energies and productive
capacities should and would move us to a healthier economic situation. He would urge us to
remember that in a world of globalized activities, Catholic Social Teaching still offers one of the
best ways to assess whether the human person is the center of economic life or whether workers
who are poor and marginalized are forgotten.

A Nation Blessed
We are a nation blessed with extraordinary natural and human resources. We have great
economic capacity and creativity. We have extraordinary economic power and responsibility.
And, we are free! We all know we face challenges. But when did our nation not have challenges?
Where does it say that we should simply be recipients of the goods of this earth without working
for them, without earning them? Creativity and initiative are as much essential elements of our
lives today as they have been in the past. This freedom of creative initiative and energy needs to
be tempered by a deep sense of responsibility for one another, for our planet, and for the future.
The more we exercise self control in our possession and use of the goods of this earth, sharing
with others opportunities as well as products, the less need we will have for the kinds of
regulatory laws that become necessary when economic privateers and profit seeking pirates take
over whole areas of our economy.

We are a nation committed to both economic freedom and economic justice. But that
cannot mean freedom for me and justice for me alone. The classic linking of the human person
with the common good teaches us that we have to use our freedom and creativity not just for
ourselves and those we care for. It must extend to all those who are affected by our actions and by society’s goals. That means everybody in today’s globalized world.

A Globalized World
All these challenges and questions are framed in a new light with new dimensions in this
age of globalization. The world of work is different than in years past. Finance, production, trade,
and labor are no longer local, regional, or national entities, but global. Of itself globalization is a
neutral fact. It depends on who takes advantage of the current global economy and how it is put to use. Our present Holy Father Benedict XVI has suggested that this process offers “the hope of
wider participation in development” but warns against its risks of “worsening economic
inequality.” (May 26, 2007).

Here, two interrelated principles of Catholic Social Teaching come into play. The principle of subsidiarity champions the freedom of initiative that allows everyone scope and opportunity to be creative and productive and reap the benefits of hard work and energy. When taken to the extreme, it can become exploitive of others. Yet joined to the principle of solidarity, subsidiarity and all its creative impulses become harnessed to an end that includes the makers of a vibrant economy. This links their work into a set of relationships bringing new opportunities to one another across political and social divisions and especially across the great divide between rich and poor. Let interdependence become the “solidarity” of neighbor to neighbor in such a way that the subsidiarity of free creativity builds up and offers new possibilities for all neighbors, especially the poor and the vulnerable. The Church continues to echo the call of Pope John Paul II to “globalize solidarity.”

Catholic Social Teaching
The tradition of Catholic Social Teaching has much to offer in these tough economic
times. In the midst of the transformation of society during the Industrial Revolution, Pope Leo
XIII gave us enduring principles to deal with “new things” in his prophetic encyclical Rerum
Novarum. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have made the cause of justice for workers
their own, responding to the “new things” in economic life. When Pope John Paul II issued his
first “social encyclical,” Laborem Exercens, in 1981, he invited us to look at these issues from the
perennial viewpoint of the value of human work which finds its intrinsic meaning in the dignity of
the worker.

Msgr. Higgins applauded this teaching of the Holy Father. He saw it as a papal clarion call
for all the issues he championed in his own life. He was right because they are all the values
stemming from the truth about the inherent dignity and value of the human person that lies at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church continues to focus on the dignity of the worker as the key to the question of work and as the cornerstone of Catholic teaching on economic life. Our challenge is to assess our “new things” by the application of traditional moral principles expressed in Catholic Social Teaching that continue to have remarkable meaning and relevance to us as we celebrate Labor Day 2008.

Labor Day and Politics
This year, we will choose a new president, as well as one-third of the Senate, all the
members of the House of Representatives, and myriad state and local officials. The campaign has
already been long and, for many, arduous. What can I as a bishop add to this without echoing
what has been said better by others? Msgr. Higgins would urge you to look beyond the slogans
and the promises. He would ask you to assess the candidates' backgrounds and records. He would have a few choice words for those he deemed unworthy or neglectful of the rights of workers and the role of unions. But he would always insist on some basic principles that we all must follow.

The Bishops of the United States have put forth for Catholics and non-Catholics alike
some basic principles to consider. In publishing the new and, I believe, challenging statement,
Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, we bishops call Catholics to be active and
informed participants in political life. We do not seek to impose or imply a preference for one
candidate over another. We do propose what is incumbent on all men and women of good will: the formation of a correct conscience based on the truth about the human person and human society.

We cannot emphasize this enough. An informed conscience moves beyond personal feelings and
individual popularity. An informed conscience asks first what is right and true. An informed
conscience examines the candidates and the issues from the perspective of human life and dignity, the true good of every human person, the true good of society, the common good of us all in our nation and in this world.

What can I add to that? Never forget that human life is the supreme good in this world.
Never forget that human dignity is not an expendable commodity but belongs to everyone without exception. Every day we are pro-life. Every day we are champions of human dignity.

Our voices and our votes should shape society by bringing these inalienable truths into every particular proposal and program, every particular candidate’s projects and plans. The Bishops’ statement makes both links and distinctions between the fundamental duty to oppose what is intrinsically evil (i.e., the destruction of unborn life) and the obligation to pursue the common good (i.e., defending the rights of workers and pursuing greater economic justice).

I urge you to review and reflect on this challenging call to be salt, light, and leaven in this election year and beyond (see www.faithfulcitizenship.org).

A Catholic Framework
We Catholics have been blessed by a centennial of Catholic Social Teaching. I personally
have been privileged to work with three Popes in this field and have been formed by their vision
and their teaching. The Church offers this, not just to Catholics, but to all men and women of good will. We are convinced that the truths about the human person in society that come to us from both reason and revelation must be brought into all the economic, social, civil, political, and
cultural relationships that make up a good society. The human and moral dimensions of economic life are key principles in Catholic thought. Catholic social and moral teaching on these matters offers hope and direction in difficult times. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church provides us with a summary and synthesis of the Church’s teaching on economic life as well as other aspects of the Catholic social tradition. [See Chapter VI “Human Work” and Chapter VII “Economic Life,” Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (Washington, DC: USCCB, 2004 )]

I recommend it to you.


The bishops of the United States reflect this teaching as they outline key elements of a just
economy in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. These basics need to be part of the
national discussion as we choose leaders and develop policies for the future:

The economy must serve people, not the other way around.

Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation.

Employers contribute to the common good through the services or products they provide and by creating jobs that uphold the dignity and rights of workers—to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to adequate benefits and security in their old age, to the choice of whether to organize and join unions, to the opportunity for legal status for immigrant workers, to private property, and to economic initiative.

Workers also have responsibilities—to provide a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay, to treat employers and co-workers with respect, and to carry out their work in ways that contribute to the common good. Workers, employers, and unions should not only advance their own interests, but also work together to advance economic justice and the well-being of all. (#52)

Overcoming Poverty
Poverty has many faces. And they are the faces of our brothers and sisters here in our own
country and around the world. Whether I am in remote corners of Africa or the streets of
Lawrence, Massachusetts, I am convinced that when we face up to the needs of these our brothers and sisters, the challenge of overcoming poverty brings the Catholic community together. The Catholic Church is committed to making her contribution to alleviating the pain of poverty at every level: internationally, nationally, and especially locally through the magnificent endeavors of priests, religious, and laity in our parishes.

Things may be tough for an awful lot of us today. But no matter how difficult it might be for you or me, I believe each of us can name someone we know who is carrying a greater burden. I can hear Msgr. Higgins telling us “Don’t forget the other guy,” especially the person with less. That person has hopes and dreams, too. That person comes from a family and belongs to our human family. That person has dignity because all of us are created in the image of God.

Let me close by sharing with you some thoughts from Pope Benedict’s powerful
encyclical Deus Caritas Est:

Love of God and love of neighbor have become one: In the least of the brethren we find Jesus himself, and in Jesus we find God….Love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind is as essential to [the Church] as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel. (# 15, 22)

To one and all, I wish you a most happy and relaxing Labor Day with family and friends. I
hope this Labor Day will bring a renewed vigor as we seek to build together a society that cares
for its own, reaches out to the poor and vulnerable, and offers true hope to all. Let us share justly
and freely the goods of society and advance the good of every person and the common good of all.

Reflections for week of August 17, 2008

Reflections for week of August 17, 2008

*******************************
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: 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.

***** ***** *****

KEY VALUE: Hospitality

*******************************

On Sunday (20th Ordinary Time Sunday, Cycle A) we read in the Gospel how Jesus interacts with a "foreigner" or a member of a community not in alignment with the laws of Israel. this woman pleads for Jesus to have mercy on her and to heal her daughter from her torment. Jesus' disciples want Jesus to ignore her since that woman is not a member of "their community." The mother pleads. Jesus responds by healing her daugther and praises her true faith. In the Letter to the Romans, we are reminded of the mercy that we have received from God and calls us to do the same.

In Catholic Charities, we oftentimes serve persons who others believe to be "unworthy" of our time, care, assistance and advocacy. We witness to the belief that each person is made in the Image of God and is endowed with great dignity. Thank you for serving each and every person that comes to our doors. We are that place where the mercy of God is shown to each person despite how others may want us to respond to "others."

Thanks for all you do.

.

Some important date(s) this week:

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23 Sta Rosa de Lima. (1586-1617). The first canonized saint of the New World has one characteristic of all saints—the suffering of opposition—and another characteristic which is more for admiration than for imitation—excessive practice of mortification. She was born to parents of Spanish descent in Lima, Peru, at a time when South America was in its first century of evangelization.

She seems to have taken Catherine of Siena as a model, in spite of the objections and ridicule of parents and friends. The saints have so great a love of God that what seems bizarre to us, and is indeed sometimes imprudent, is simply a logical carrying out of a conviction that anything that might endanger a loving relationship with God must be rooted out. So, because her beauty was so often admired, Rose used to rub her face with pepper to produce disfiguring blotches. Later, she wore a thick circlet of silver on her head, studded on the inside, like a crown of thorns. When her parents fell into financial trouble, she worked in the garden all day and sewed at night. Ten years of struggle against her parents began when they tried to make Rose marry. They refused to let her enter a convent, and out of obedience she continued her life of penance and solitude at home as a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. So deep was her desire to live the life of Christ that she spent most of her time at home in solitude.

During the last few years of her life, Rose set up a room in the house where she cared for homeless children, the elderly and the sick. This was a beginning of social services in Peru. Though secluded in life and activity, she was brought to the attention of Inquisition interrogators, who could only say that she was influenced by grace. What might have been a merely eccentric life was transfigured from the inside. If we remember some unusual penances, we should also remember the greatest thing about Rose: a love of God so ardent that it withstood ridicule from without, violent temptation and lengthy periods of sickness. When she died at 31, the city turned out for her funeral. Prominent men took turns carrying her coffin.

(http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/saints/)

PAPAL INTENTIONS:

AUGUST 2008
General:
That the human family may learn to respect God’s plan for the world and become ever more aware that Creation is God’s great gift.
Mission:
That the answer of the entire people of God to the common calling to holiness and mission may be promoted and fostered by means of careful discernment of charisms and constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation

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. peace, brian

Speech by Donald Kerwin, Director of CLINIC/USCCB

"Renewing Hope"
by Donald Kerwin, National Migration Conference, 2008

I learned long ago that people mostly come to these gatherings to be reminded of why they do what they do. Thus, my intention is to speak to the values that underlie our work. Building on the conference’s theme and Cardinal Mahony’s key-note address, I’d like to speak about one virtue in particular, the virtue of hope.

Despite the harsh rhetoric, most people want to do the right thing on immigration, but they need a way to conceptualize the issue and to see immigrants as they truly are. How do we view immigrants? How do we see ourselves?

Migration plays the starring role in our faith tradition. For us, migration has always been a mystery in plain view. Hebrew Scripture tells the story of the Exodus and Exile of the Jewish people, and how these seminal experiences taught the Jewish people empathy toward migrants, not hard-heartedness. The first five books of Hebrew Scripture admonish us no less than 36 times to treat the stranger with justice and compassion.

In the New Testament, we find the stories of Joseph and Mary’s trip to Bethlehem, the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt, and the wise men’s journey to the Holy Family. We follow the itinerant ministry of Jesus, the apostles on the road to Emmaus, and Paul on the road to Damascus. We learn that Jesus identified with migrants and linked our salvation to our treatment of strangers and the dispossessed.

Members of the early Church, a missionary church, called themselves "parokoi" which means temporary residents, migrants, sojourners. Parokoi is the root of our modern word "parish." In our tradition, therefore, a parish is where sojourners gather.

In all of our history, in all of our experiences, God has accompanied us on our journeys. As a people, we have long known of the fear and prejudice that leads to hostility toward immigrants. We read in the Book of Exodus that, following Joseph’s death, the new Pharoh feared that the exiled people of Israel would become "too many and too mighty" (Ex 1:8-22). As a result, he enslaved them and afflicted them with "heavy burdens."

Immigrants have also played a decisive role in our national narrative, continuously enriching and renewing our nation. Earlier immigrants, the ancestors of many of us here this morning, came to this nation for the same reasons that today’s immigrants do. And they faced the same suspicions and criticisms. Nativists viewed them as lawless, disease-ridden, and not assimilable.

Their faith made them particularly suspect. Catholicism was attacked as incompatible with democracy. In a striking irony, nativists evoked religious liberty to justify their bigotry and discrimination.

We know that when we welcome immigrants and allow them to contribute fully to our country, it benefits all of us. Conversely:

• When we deny health care to an immigrant, we endanger public health.

• When we deny the possibility of a college education to immigrant children, we cruelly limit their ability to contribute.

• When we effectively deny immigrants access to the police, we undermine public safety.

• When we try to deny citizenship to children born in the United States, we take aim at the very ideals that make us a nation.

We do not want to create a permanent or hereditary underclass of residents -- mere "denizens" without security, prospects, or rights.

To us, the question is not what we don’t "get" about the "‘illegal’ in ‘illegal alien’" The question is what those who oppose us don’t get about God-given human dignity? What don’t they get about people exercising their rights and duties to migrate in order to support their families? Why can’t they see that immigrants contribute to the good of our nation with their labor, their faith, their family values, and their commitment to their communities? Why don’t they understand that an illegal entry may be technically a crime, but that it’s a peculiar crime indeed that people feel compelled to commit in order to feed their children? Whey don’t they see that strategies aimed at deporting or forcing out 12 million people would be a civil rights, social and economic catastrophe? In fact, these policies are a catastrophe in many communities. Or that people cannot be illegal, any more than fathers, mothers, sisters, or brothers can be illegal?

We believe in a nation comprised of people from different countries who are united by a commitment to our nation and to its core values of freedom, equality, rights, democracy, and opportunity. We do not believe that membership in our nation should turn on traits like ethnicity, race, nationality, or other inherited characteristics. We reject a vision that would deny citizenship to children born here, effectively making them stateless. We reject a vision that would rationalize or ignore the reality of people perishing in the desert, of families torn apart, of people denied the ability to subsist.

Hope – like justice and hospitality -- is one of the great biblical themes that guide our work. Hope for a better life for migrants and for all of us. Hope for the conversion of hearts and minds that are disfigured by confusion, suspicion, anger and ignorance. Hope that our nation will come to embrace people who share its ideals and embody its virtues. Hope that our elected officials will create a better system and will have the courage to enact positive immigration reform.

Hope does not mean we will always get what we want from our limited and imperfect perspective. Mother Theresa reminded us that "we’re not supposed to be successful, but faithful." However, hope does mean that we will never be resigned to the current state of affairs.
And we have reason to hope. You would be hopeful if you were rooted in a tradition which lived and taught that:

• all persons have equal dignity and rights.

• a state has a right to control its borders, but not at the expense of those who are migrating to realize their God-given rights

• sovereignty is not about denying rights, but about locating responsibility for honoring them

• the rule of law is not about about putting people outside the law, but protecting them within the law

• rights turns on human dignity, not on membership in a particular state or immigration status

• honoring rights serves the good of everybody which is the very purpose of government

• the "common good" is not the greater good, but it embraces the rights and prosperity of everybody, including those without legal status

• cultural diversity should not be feared because culture is where people locate their deepest values

• migration presents an opportunity to unify people based on their values

This kind of vision would give you hope. And, friends, this is the Catholic vision. Here is what the U.S. bishops said when asked to extend the Justice for Immigrants campaign for another few years. They said that the campaign would not be extended for three or five years; it would be extended until our nation provides justice for immigrants. We should all take hope from that response.

Let me end by sharing a success story from Elena Segura and the Justice for Immigrants campaign in Chicago. As part of that campaign, a group of 2,500 women committed to pray for immigration reform. Some committed to pray for months, others for years. Their slogan is Oracion Y Accion Hasta Que Pase La Ley De Inmigracion. They use the image of those who carried the ark of the covenant around Jericho. Around and around Jericho the priests and people walked with the ark. Around and around seven times until the walls of Jericho fell down.
And around and around the prayers of the women in Chicago travel. Around and around the halls of Congress and of the Department of Homeland Security. Around and around the borders between our countries. Around and around the borders in our minds, borders that separate us from our brothers and sisters. The women pray that the wall in our nation’s collective heart will fall. Have hope. Be strong in your faith. It will.

Thank you.

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION, August 10, 2008

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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: 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.

***** ***** *****

KEY VALUE: Hospitality

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On Sunday (19th Ordinary Time Sunday, Cycle A) we read in the Gospel how Jesus challenges us to have faith and not be afraid. We hear how the Prophet Elijah, who earlier had witnessed the grand power of Yahweh through fire, now finds GOD in the quiet of a whisper. Peter, the Rock, begins to sink as he places demands on Jesus to enable him to walk on the water, but finally realizes that Jesus is truly holding on to him despite his fears and doubts. Jesus provides a lasting model: the boat on the sea is the Church itself. No wind or storm will topple it. We too can find GOD in the grand events and in the smallest of moments.

As Catholic Charities, we are called to remain as faithful as we can to our mission and work. We are part of that boat on a turbulent sea. We are the ones that people come to for help in their own lives, who sometimes feel that they are drowning under the weight of suffering or despair. As a ministry of the Church, we are that ever present arm of Jesus holding on to those in need. Even the smallest effort -- like giving a smile or gentle response over the phone - provides others with the presence of the LORD in their life.

Thanks for all you do.

.

Some important date(s) this week:

MONDAY AUGUST 11. St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253). At 18, she escaped one night from her father’s home, was met on the road by friars carrying torches, and in the poor little chapel called the Portiuncula received a rough woolen habit, exchanged her jeweled belt for a common rope with knots in it, and sacrificed the long tresses to Francis’ scissors. They lived a simple life of great poverty, austerity and complete seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them as a Second Order (Poor Clares). Francis obliged her under obedience at age 21 to accept the office of abbess, one she exercised until her death. The greatest emphasis, of course, was on gospel poverty. They possessed no property, even in common, subsisting on daily contributions. When even the pope tried to persuade her to mitigate this practice, she showed her characteristic firmness: “I need to be absolved from my sins, but I do not wish to be absolved from the obligation of following Jesus Christ.”

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15. SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.

We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However, by the thirteenth century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated under various names (Commemoration, Dormition, Passing, Assumption) from at least the fifth or sixth century. Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. Nevertheless, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testament, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory.

(http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/saints/)

PAPAL INTENTIONS:

AUGUST 2008
General:
That the human family may learn to respect God’s plan for the world and become ever more aware that Creation is God’s great gift.
Mission:
That the answer of the entire people of God to the common calling to holiness and mission may be promoted and fostered by means of careful discernment of charisms and constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation

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. peace, brian

MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION FOR AUGUST 4, 2008

*******************************
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: 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.

***** ***** *****

KEY VALUE: Hospitality

*******************************

On Sunday (18th Ordinary Time Sunday, Cycle A) we read in the Gospel how Jesus provides food for the body and the spirit for thousands gathered to hear him, be healed by him, and come to know him. The prophet Isaiah tells of a time, both now and in the future -- like the Kingdom of God -- wherein those who are weary, in need, tired, poor, are called upon to come to the Lord for refreshment. Jesus organizes the 5,000 men, not counting women and children, to sit together and share their food -- a model of the Eucharist.

In Catholic Charities, we are that organized charity of the Bishop to be the place where those who are weary, tired, poor and in pain can come to find refreshment and peace. We are that place of hospitality and hope that makes the Kingdom of God alive now and as a foretaste of the future. Like St Paul, we are there to remind each person/family that comes to us that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

During this past week, I spent some time with the seven families impacted by the recent ICE raid (thanks to Joe Miles, Jeff Stewart and Nazario Mendoza for their help with organizing a workshop and for planning support; much thanks also to Nancy Voitus, George Garchar, Naomi Hokky and especially Meg Andersen for their support and advice since we needed many persons to help plan our response). In today's Gospel we read that there were 5, 000 men, not counting women and children, "feed" by Jesus. Of those remaining from that ICE raid, only the women and children were left. Catholic Charities is called upon, again and again, to respond to the widow, the orphan, and the stranger among us. Thanks for all you do.

.

Some important date(s) this week:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6. Transfiguration of the Lord. All three Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36). With remarkable agreement, all three place the event shortly after Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus’ first prediction of his passion and death. Peter’s eagerness to erect tents or booths on the spot suggests it occurred during the Jewish weeklong, fall Feast of Booths. In spite of the texts’ agreement, it is difficult to reconstruct the disciples’ experience, according to Scripture scholars, because the Gospels draw heavily on Old Testament descriptions of the Sinai encounter with God and prophetic visions of the Son of Man. Certainly Peter, James and John had a glimpse of Jesus’ divinity strong enough to strike fear into their hearts. Such an experience defies description, so they drew on familiar religious language to describe it. And certainly Jesus warned them that his glory and his suffering were to be inextricably connected—a theme John highlights throughout his Gospel. Tradition names Mt. Tabor as the site of the revelation. A church first raised there in the fourth century was dedicated on August 6.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8. St. Dominic. 1170-1221. Born of wealthy Spanish nobility. Son of Blessed Joan of Aza. When she was pregnant, his mother had a vision that her unborn child was a dog who would set the world on fire with a torch it carried in its mouth; a dog with a torch in its mouth became a symbol for the order which he founded, the Dominicans. At Dominic's baptism, Blessed Joan saw a star shining from his chest, which became another of his symbols in art, and led to his patronage of astronomy. Founded the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans) in 1215, a group who live a simple, austere life, and an order of nuns dedicated to the care of young girls. Reported miracle worker who brought four people back from the dead. Legend says that Dominic received a vision of a beggar who, like Dominic, would do great things for the Faith. Dominic met the beggar the next day. He embraced him and said, "You are my companion and must walk with me. If we hold together, no earthly power can withstand us." The beggar was Saint Francis of Assisi

(http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/saints/)

PAPAL INTENTIONS:

AUGUST 2008
General:
That the human family may learn to respect God’s plan for the world and become ever more aware that Creation is God’s great gift.
Mission:
That the answer of the entire people of God to the common calling to holiness and mission may be promoted and fostered by means of careful discernment of charisms and constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation