MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for week of January 24, 2010

Catholic Charities. 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: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called 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 (Third Sunday in Ordinary Time,Cycle C) we read about Jesus preaching from the scroll in the temple about the nature of his mission and ministry. He reads from Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me..to bring good news...to proclaim liberty.....to set captives free....to announce a year of jubilee." More important, as Jesus reads these sacred and ancient words, he proclaims to his listeners then and today: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, the Good News of God's love is alive here and now, calling for us to join in building the Kingdom of God. How do we do that: Jesus tells us over and over again: love one another.

In Catholic Charities we take the message of St. Paul to the Corinthians very seriously, as he writes: "If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it." We are part of the "healing and assistance" ministry of the Church, as the Spirit has given us all gifts to share with the community. Catholic Charities' role is to be that healing touch to those who suffer here locally and globally. Thanks for everyone who has helped make the Annual Bishop's Appeal for Catholic Charities and Church, our Keep the Kids Warm Campaign, our recent Men Who Cook events, and the CRS Haiti Relief Fund so successful

Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: "Today the picture of development has many overlapping layers. The actors and the causes in both underdevelopment and development are manifold, the faults and the merits are differentiated. This fact should prompt us to liberate ourselves from ideologies, which often oversimplify reality in artificial ways, and it should lead us to examine objectively the full human dimension of the problems. As John Paul II has already observed, the demarcation line between rich and poor countries is no longer as clear as it was at the time of Populorum Progressio. The world's wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities are on the increase. In rich countries, new sectors of society are succumbing to poverty and new forms of poverty are emerging. In poorer areas some groups enjoy a sort of 'superdevelopment' of a wasteful and consumerist kind which forms an unacceptable contrast with the ongoing situations of dehumanizing deprivation. 'The scandal of glaring inequalities'continues. Corruption and illegality are unfortunately evident in the conduct of the economic and political class in rich countries, both old and new, as well as in poor ones. Among those who sometimes fail to respect the human rights of workers are large multinational companies as well as local producers. International aid has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions both within the chain of donors and within that of the beneficiaries. Similarly, in the context of immaterial or cultural causes of development and underdevelopment, we find these same patterns of responsibility reproduced. On the part of rich countries there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care. At the same time, in some poor countries, cultural models and social norms of behaviour persist which hinder the process of development." (Caritas in Veritate, par 22).

N.B. Note: Please consider joining our new Twitter account, CCDOY, for current updates and calls to action that we can all use. http://twitter.com/CCDOY


Some important date(s) this week:

WEDNESDAY, January 27 St. Angela Merici (1470?-1540) founder of the Ursuline Sisters. Angela has the double distinction of founding the first teaching congregation of women in the Church and what is now called a “secular institute” of religious women, one especially for the purpose of re-Christianizing family life through solid Christian education of future wives and mothers.

THURSDAY, January 28. St. Thomas Aquinas, (1225-1274) By universal consent, Thomas Aquinas is the preeminent spokesman of the Catholic tradition of reason and of divine revelation. He is one of the great teachers of the medieval Catholic Church, honored with the titles Doctor of the Church and Angelic Doctor.



Please consider donating to the Catholic Relief Services Haitian Relief Fund by visiting us at http://www.ccdoy.org or make checks out to:
Catholic Relief Services - Haiti Fund
mail to: CRS -Haiti Fund, Diocese of Youngstown
144 W. Wood Street Youngstown, OH 44503


JANUARY is POVERTY AWARENESS MONTH. Visit Catholic Campaign for Human Development site at http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/index.htm


Sharing Hope In Tough Times: Catholic Charities Responds to Families Facing Economic Crisis

This year, Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) celebrates its 100th anniversary in the United States. As a member agency of CCUSA, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Youngstown will be celebrating this important milestone all year long. Please consider a gift to Catholic Charities in honor of someone you love. Your gift will show your support for the work of Catholic Charities in your diocese.


PAPAL INTENTIONS: JANUARY 2010
Young people and Social Communications Media
General: That young people may learn to use modern means of social communication for their personal growth and to better prepare themselves to serve society.

Christian Unity
Missionary: That every believer in Christ may be conscious that unity among all Christians is a condition for more effective proclamation 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/