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: 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. Committed to work 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 of Advent) we read in Mark's gospel about the need to be ever vigilant, and "watch" for the Lord, since we do not know the exact hour of his coming. But we have hope that the Kingdom of God is among us now and in the future. We are assured in the First Reading from Isaiah that we have a compassionate and loving God, who is Father to us all.
Advent is a time of waiting, watching, hoping. At Catholic Charities, we are called to spend time with persons and families who are in need of hope. Sometimes just waiting with someone and listening to them gives a person the extra strength he/she needs to get through a crisis. Thank you for all that you do.
Some important date(s) this week:
MONDAY, DECEMBER 1. World AIDS Day.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3. St. Francis Xavier. Nobleman from the Basque reqion. Studied and taught philosophy at the University of Paris, and planned a career as a professor. Friend of Saint Ignatius of Loyola who convinced him to use his talents to spread the Gospel. One of the founding Jesuits, and the first Jesuit missionary. Priest. In Goa, India, while waiting to take ship, he preached in the street, worked with the sick, and taught children their catechism. He would walk through the streets ringing a bell to call the children to their studies. Said to have converted the entire city. He scolded his patron, King John of Portugal, over the slave trade.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5. Saint Christina of Markgate Anglo-Saxon nobility, the daughter of Autti, a rich and influential guild merchant. At age 15 she visited Saint Albans abbey where she made a private vow of celibacy. Her parents opposed her vow, and arranged a marriage for her with a man named Berktred. Christina took her case to Bishop Robert Bloet who initially sided with her, but who was later bribed into changing his ruling. Christina was betrothed and married against her will, spending the first years of married life as a prisoner, refusing to consummate the union. With the help of ahermit named Eadwin, she escaped, and fled to Flamstead where she lived for two years with an anchoress named Alfwen.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
DECEMBER 2008
General:
That in the face of a spreading of a culture of violence and death the Church through her apostolic and missionary activity may promote with courage the culture of life.
Mission:
That especially in mission countries Christians may show with acts of fraternal love that the Child born in the stable at Bethlehem is the luminous Hope of the world.
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.
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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