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. 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)
On Sunday (Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we read from the Gospel of
John about the continuing story of Jesus' feeding his followers. This time, Jesus' local community mumurs and whispers about Jesus' claim to be the 'bread of life.' Elijah's fear of continuing on his journey is relived when the angel reminds him to eat the bread provided from God. In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul reminds us that those who have been transformed by our beliefs feed by this "bread of life" will follow a new way of being: "And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love. . ."
In Catholic Charities we are called to be witnesses to the new way of being and doing. We must be examples in all of our work of kindness and compassion. Possibly the only kindness and compassion some of our clients ever receive might just be from their visit to one of our agencies/programs or a phone call to one of our staff. We are a sign of God's love in all we do.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "Charity is love received and given. It is “grace” (cháris). Its source is the wellspring of the Father's love for the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Love comes down to us from the Son. It is creative love, through which we have our being; it is redemptive love, through which we are recreated. Love is revealed and made present by Christ (cf. Jn 13:1) and “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5). As the objects of God's love, men and women become subjects of charity, they are called to make themselves instruments of grace, so as to pour forth God's charity and to weave networks of charity."
(Caritas in Veritate, par 5-1).
N.B. Note: Please consider joining our new Twitter account, CCDOY, for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
Some important date(s) this week:
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15. Assumption of 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. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.
Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis
August 8-9, 2009 – Sharing Hope in Tough Times is a Catholic Charities initiative to address spiritual, emotional and material concerns resulting from our troubled economy. To learn how you or your parish can connect with this effort, contact 330-744-8451, ext. 326.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
August 2009
General: That public opinion may be more aware of the problem of millions of displaced persons and refugees and that concrete solutions may be found for their often tragic situation.
Mission: That those Christians who are discriminated against and persecuted in many Countries because of the name of Christ may have their human rights, equality and religious freedom recognized, in order to be able to live and profess their own faith freely.
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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