MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of January 11, 2009

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 (The Baptism of the Lord, B Cycle) we end the Christmas season with another "epiphany" of who the Christ is: Jesus, the Son of God. All week, the Liturgical readings have been sharing that many thought that John the Baptist might be the One. But John insisted that he "must decrease" as he pointed the way to Jesus, "who must increase." In today's Gospel, we see signs from God about the "identity" of His Son in his baptism and call to ministry: the tearing of the heavens, the sign of the Spirit, the appearance of the dove, and the Voice of God declaring favor. As John the Baptist points out the way to Jesus, we read in the second reading from St. John to his community, that we are children of God and are called upon to live out his commandments, especially the commandment to love. St John further reflects that God's commandments are "not burdensome" but rather Spirit filled..life giving.

In Catholic Charities we share in knowing our identity as tied to the Spirit....we are the service ministry of the Church that organizes love....love to one another. When persons and families visit us, we are that incarnated face of love, living out our baptismal call to serve and proclaim Good News. Catholic Charities provides that place where persons and families can come, see and feel the love of God, without burden; without cost. Our goal, like the prophet Isaiah proclaims, is to be that encounter on behalf of the Church with those in need, and call out: "All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!."


Some important date(s) this week:

MONDAY January 12 and Tuesday January 13: Workshops on Human Trafficking. Human Trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Victims of human trafficking are young children, teenagers, men and women. Approximately 600,000 to 800,000 victims annually are trafficked across international borders world wide, and thousands are trafficked every year right here in the United States.This program will be presented by Theresa Flores, author of The Sacred Bath, and is a must for parents, teachers, school counselors, students, social workers, social service and health providers. Catholic Charities in collaboration with Collaborative Initiative to End Human Trafficking/Religious Women are sponsoring three workshops: Jan 12 in Canton in the evening; Jan 13 at Cardinal Mooney in the morning (9 AM) and at St. Columba Hall, 6:30-8:30 pm. Call 330-744-8451 ext 320 for more information.

SATURDAY, January 17. St. Anthony the Abbot 251-356.
Following the death of his parents when he was about 20, Anthony insured that his sister completed her education, then he sold his house, furniture, and the land he owned, gave the proceeds to the poor, joined the anchorites who lived nearby, and moved into an empty sepulchre. At age 35 he moved to the desert to live alone; he lived 20 years in an abandoned fort. Anthony barricaded the place for solitude, but admirers and would-be students broke in. Hemiraculously healed people, and agreed to be the spiritual counselor of others. His recommendation was to base life on the Gospel. Word spread, and so many disciples arrived that Anthony founded two monasteries on the Nile, one at Pispir, one at Arsinoe. Many of those who lived near him supported themselves by making baskets and brushes, and from that came hispatronage of those trades. Descriptions paint him as uniformly modest and courteous. His example led many to take up themonastic life, and to follow his way. Late in life Anthony became a close friend of Saint Paul the Hermit, and he buried the aged anchorite, leading to his patronage of gravediggers. .His relationship with pigs and patronage of swineherds is a little complicated. Skin diseases were sometimes treated with applications of pork fat, which reduced inflammation and itching. As Anthony’s intervention aided in the same conditions, he was shown in art accompanied by a pig. People who saw the art work, but did not have it explained, thought there was a direct connection between Anthony and pigs - and people who worked with swine took him as their patron.

PAPAL INTENTIONS:


January 2009
General: That the family may become more and more a place of training in charity, personal growth and transmission of the faith.

Mission: That the different Christian confessions, aware of the need for a new evangelisation in this period of profound transformations, may be committed to announcing the Good News and moving towards the full unity of all Christians in order to offer a more credible testimony of the Gospel.

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/