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 (29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, http://www.usccb.org/nab/101710.shtml) we read in the Gospel of Luke about Jesus' parable of being persistent in our faith and in our prayer. The parable of the persistent woman demanding justice from the dishonest judge is a lesson for us: we need to constantly pray and be persistent in our faith, in good and bad times. In the second letter to Timothy, Paul writes that we as believers must always proclaim the Gospel "whether convenient or inconvenient." I also wonder that maybe the widow represents God's persistent call to us to transform our own lives and be faithful servants.
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we are called to witness to the Good News "whether convenient or inconvenient." Many do not always agree with us: maybe we seem "too Catholic" to some as we hold our positions on abortion, euthanasia, marriage, immigration, poverty and solidarity. But we must remain faithful to our Catholic identity in all things we do and what we stand for. We too must be persistent in our prayer for justice and in our witness for human dignity, recognizing that each and every person is made in the image of God.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate
"Morally responsible openness to life represents a rich social and economic resource. Populous nations have been able to emerge from poverty thanks not least to the size of their population and the talents of their people. On the other hand, formerly prosperous nations are presently passing through a phase of uncertainty and in some cases decline, precisely because of their falling birth rates; this has become a crucial problem for highly affluent societies. The decline in births, falling at times beneath the so-called 'replacement level', also puts a strain on social welfare systems, increases their cost, eats into savings and hence the financial resources needed for investment, reduces the availability of qualified labourers, and narrows the 'brain pool' upon which nations can draw for their needs. Furthermore, smaller and at times miniscule families run the risk of impoverishing social relations, and failing to ensure effective forms of solidarity. These situations are symptomatic of scant confidence in the future and moral weariness. It is thus becoming a social and even economic necessity once more to hold up to future generations the beauty of marriage and the family, and the fact that these institutions correspond to the deepest needs and dignity of the person. In view of this, States are called to enact policies promoting the centrality and the integrity of the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman, the primary vital cell of society, and to assume responsibility for its economic and fiscal needs, while respecting its essentially relational character." (par. 44b)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.htm
Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx
WEDNESDAY, October 20 St. Maria Bertilla Boscardin (1888-1922)
If anyone knew rejection, ridicule and disappointment, it was today’s saint. But such trials only brought Maria Bertilla Boscardin closer to God and more determined to serve him.
Born in Italy in 1888, the young girl lived in fear of her father, a violent man prone to jealousy and drunkenness. Her schooling was limited so that she could spend more time helping at home and working in the fields. She showed few talents and was often the butt of jokes.
In 1904 she joined the Sisters of St. Dorothy and was assigned to work in the kitchen, bakery and laundry. After some time Maria received nurses’ training and began working in a hospital with children suffering from diphtheria. There the young nun seemed to find her true vocation: nursing very ill and disturbed children. Later, when the hospital was taken over by the military in World War I, Sister Maria Bertilla fearlessly cared for patients amidst the threat of constant air raids and bombings.
She died in 1922 after suffering for many years from a painful tumor. Some of the patients she had nursed many years before were present at her canonization in 1961.
SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.
FAIR TRADE: Christmas Time Gift Sharing
As the Christmas season for gift giving approaches, consider using your purchasing power to support social justice by buying fair traded goods. Visit Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade website for ideas and links to shopping.http://www.crsfairtrade.org/
Through the first two quarters of 2010, Catholic Charities’ Christina House Domestic Violence Shelter has provided shelter to 43 women and children, assisted with 208 crisis phone calls, and provided supportive services to 224 people. This Sweetest Day weekend, pray for those who suffer abuse at the hands of their domestic partners.
Catholic Relief Services Responds to Floods in Pakistan
visit http://www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org/ccdoy-disaster-response.html for more information on donations.
PAPAL INTENTIONS: OCTOBER 2010
Catholic Universities
General: That Catholic Universities may more and more be places where, in the light of the Gospel, it is possible to experience the harmonious unity existing between faith and reason.
World Mission Day
Missionary: That the World Mission Day may afford an occasion for understanding that the task of proclaiming Christ is an absolutely necessary service to which the Church is called for the benefit of humanity.
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
Note: Please consider joining our
FACEBOOK CAUSE http://apps.facebook.com/causes/106889
FACEBOOK GROUP http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=461833870606
FACEBOOK FAN
TWITTER account, CCDOY, http://twitter.com/CCDOY
for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
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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