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 (Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year  A   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091111.cfm  we read in the Gospel of Mathew about the need to forgive others, as we ourselves have been forgiven.  Jesus tells his disciples that they must not only forgive another person’s sins seven times, but seventy seven times -- or in other words, yes, you must forgive always.  We must never be like the unfaithful servant who obtains forgiveness from his master for a large debt, but turns around and does not forgive another regarding a minor offense.  We are reminded in the Psalm how God is kind and merciful, full of compassion.  We are called to have that same kindness and compassion to each other as God has abundantly shared that compassion and mercy with us.


In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org ,  we are visible signs of God’s concern, kindness and compassion.  When we meet with a person who is in need of help, we witness to God’s love by being a welcoming and soothing ear to hear their needs and stories.  We receive all without judgment.  But rather, we see the Image of God in each person we serve.  One hallmark of Catholic Charities is that each person should see the kindness and compassion of God at work in each of our services and ministries. Sometimes we fail at that witness and ask for forgiveness in turn.  We know that God’s abundant compassion is our motivating spirit to be love to each person we encounter.






Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate

The supremacy of technology tends to prevent people from recognizing anything that cannot be explained in terms of matter alone. Yet everyone experiences the many immaterial and spiritual dimensions of life. Knowing is not simply a material act, since the object that is known always conceals something beyond the empirical datum. All our knowledge, even the most simple, is always a minor miracle, since it can never be fully explained by the material instruments that we apply to it. In every truth there is something more than we would have expected, in the love that we receive there is always an element that surprises us. We should never cease to marvel at these things. In all knowledge and in every act of love the human soul experiences something “over and above”, which seems very much like a gift that we receive, or a height to which we are raised. The development of individuals and peoples is likewise located on a height, if we consider the spiritual dimension that must be present if such development is to be authentic. It requires new eyes and a new heart, capable of rising above a materialistic vision of human events, capable of glimpsing in development the “beyond” that technology cannot give. By following this path, it is possible to pursue the integral human development that takes its direction from the driving force of charity in truth.   (par. 77)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

See website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.




SUNDAY, September 11.  Tenth Anniversary of 9-11 events.
http://usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/september-11/index.cfm







WEDNESDAY, September 14.  Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  Early in the fourth century St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ's life. She razed the Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior's tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher over the tomb. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman.
The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus' head: Then "all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on."
To this day the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica's dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.








THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15.  Our Lady of Sorrow.  For a while there were two feasts in honor of the Sorrowful Mother: one going back to the 15th century, the other to the 17th century. For a while both were celebrated by the universal Church: one on the Friday before Palm Sunday, the other in September.
The principal biblical references to Mary's sorrows are in Luke 2:35 and John 19:26-27. The Lucan passage is Simeon's prediction about a sword piercing Mary's soul; the Johannine passage relates Jesus' words to Mary and to the beloved disciple.
Many early Church writers interpret the sword as Mary's sorrows, especially as she saw Jesus die on the cross. Thus, the two passages are brought together as prediction and fulfillment.
St. Ambrose (December7) in particular sees Mary as a sorrowful yet powerful figure at the cross. Mary stood fearlessly at the cross while others fled. Mary looked on her Son's wounds with pity, but saw in them the salvation of the world. As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary did not fear to be killed but offered herself to her persecutors.





FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16.  Catholic Charities Annual Voice of Hope Dinner.
http://www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org/index.php?id=216






SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.

It’s not too late to purchase Voice of Hope tickets! This annual fundraiser, to be held September 16, 2011, provides help and hope to many of our neighbors and friends in the
Diocese. Our goal this year is to change lives… one family at a time. To do that, we need you!  Order your tickets online at www.ccdoy.org, or call Catholic Charities’ Fund Raising Specialist, Nikole Baringer, at 330-744-8451, ext. 323.  We would love to see you there.

 PAPAL INTENTIONS:   September 2011

General Intention: That all teachers may know how to communicate love of the truth and instill authentic moral and spiritual values.



Missionary Intention: That the Christian communities of Asia may proclaim the Gospel with fervor, witnessing to its beauty with the joy of faith.

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 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Catholic-Charities-Diocese-of-Youngstown/138817639487339
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/