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 (Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B) we read from the Gospel of
John how Jesus questions his disciples whether they will continue to follow him, since many others had left. The readings for today are all about choices: who do we follow? How do we make our own choices?
In Catholic Charities we are called to be faithful to the mission and ministry of Jesus. We too have to make choices sometimes about the work we do: do we go after that grant? Do we provide a specific service? What services do we let go of? As we engage in such planning and decisions, we remain committed to serve those who are in most need. We also know that advocacy for those who have no voice is a choice that we make based in our Church's tradition of justice.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "This dynamic of charity received and given is what gives rise to the Church's social teaching, which is caritas in veritate in re sociali: the proclamation of the truth of Christ's love in society. This doctrine is a service to charity, but its locus is truth. Truth preserves and expresses charity's power to liberate in the ever-changing events of history. It is at the same time the truth of faith and of reason, both in the distinction and also in the convergence of those two cognitive fields. Development, social well-being, the search for a satisfactory solution to the grave socio-economic problems besetting humanity, all need this truth. What they need even more is that this truth should be loved and demonstrated. Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalized society at difficult times like the present." (Caritas in Veritate, par 5-2).
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 29. Death of St. John the Baptist. Cousin of Jesus Christ. Son of Zachary, a priest of the order of Abia whose job in the temple was to burnincense; and of Elizabeth, a descendent of Aaron. As Zachary was ministering in the Temple, an angelbrought him news that Elizabeth would bear a childfilled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of his birth. Zachary doubted and was struck dumb until John’s birth. Prophet. John began his ministry around age 27, wearing a leather belt and a tunic of camel hair, living off locusts and wild honey, and preaching a message of repentance to the people of Jerusalem. He converted many, and prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. He BaptizedChrist, after which he stepped away and told his disciples to follow Jesus. Imprisoned by King Herod. He died a victim of the vengeance of a jealous woman; he was beheaded, and his head brought to her on a platter. Saint Jerome says Herodias kept the head for a long time after, occassionally stabbing the tongue with his dagger because of what John had said in life.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 30. Bishop Murry will celebrate Mass at the Hartville Migrant Camp, where he will baptize 5 children and give First Communion to 13 young adults.
Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis
August 22-23, 2009 – Over 50 people serve as volunteer guardians for frail elderly and mentally disabled adults through Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County’s volunteer guardianship program. These volunteers act as caring advocates and surrogate decision makers to those who have no other alternatives or family members to take on this role. So far in 2009, 74 people received guardianship services through Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County.
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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