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 (Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, A Cycle ) we read in Matthew's gospel about the story of the Last Judgment. We are confronted with the a final question: how did each of us respond to Jesus? Who, Lord? If we knew it was you, we certainly would have been there for you.....but no, we are challenged: how did you respond to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine? How you responded to them is how you responded to Me. We hear this echoed in the first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, "The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal..." One artwork which helps articulate this idea includes the work "Christ of the Breadline" by Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990)
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the Preacher of the Papal Household, writes in his reflections on these readings today: "The solemnity of Christ the King, with the Gospel of the final judgment, responds to the most universal of human hopes. It assures us that injustice and evil will not have the last word and at the same time it calls on us to live in such a way that justice is not a condemnation for us, but salvation, and we can be those to whom Christ will say: 'Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'"
At Catholic Charities, we are called to help others respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters, as though they were Jesus himself.
Some important date(s) this week:
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27. Happy Thanksgiving. Please pray for the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall volunteers and staff, who are working today. Thanks for all you do!
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
NOVEMBER 2008
General:
That the testimony of love offered by the Saints, may fortify Christians in their service to God and neighbour, imitating Christ who came not to be served but to serve.
Mission:
That Christian communities in Asia, contemplating the face of Christ, may find the most suitable way to announce Him in full fidelity to the Gospel to the peoples of that vast continent so rich in culture and ancient forms of spirituality.
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/
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