Sunday, December 25, 2011




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) 


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On Sunday (Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/122511.cfm) we read in the Gospel of  John the Prologue to his entire work,  that  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. “   Jesus -- who we celebrate today at his coming -- is the Son of the Living God.  This Only Begotten Son, the “Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  God is with us.


In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org ,  we celebrate this great feast each day as we welcome someone to our offices or on the phone.  We believe that as Jesus became Flesh to be with us, we at Catholic Charities continue that mandate to be in solidarity with all persons, especially those who are poor and living in desperation.  Christmas is that great day when we see again the power and mystery of God:  God is with us.  Knowing that, we can give hope to persons seeking that compassionate assurance that we are not alone but graced with the Spirit.  Merry Christmas.


Reflection from Church Documents and Official Statements

Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace
TOWARDS REFORMING THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL AND MONETARY SYSTEMS IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL PUBLIC AUTHORITY, October 24, 2011


On the way to building a more fraternal and just human family and, even before that, a new humanism open to transcendence, Blessed John XXIII’s teaching seems especially timely. In the prophetic Encyclical Pacem in Terris of 1963, he observed that the world was heading towards ever greater unification. He then acknowledged the fact that a correspondence was lacking in the human community between the political organization “on a world level and the objective needs of the universal common good”. He also expressed the hope that one day “a true world political authority” would be created.

In view of the unification of the world engendered by the complex phenomenon of globalization, and of the importance of guaranteeing, in addition to other collective goods, the good of a free, stable world economic and financial system at the service of the real economy, today the teaching of Pacem in Terris appears to be even more vital and worthy of urgent implementation.

 


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.

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28.  Holy Innocents.    Herod “the Great,” king of Judea, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He killed his wife, his brother and his sister’s two husbands, to name only a few.
Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts and, warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt.
Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children...” (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob/Israel. She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity.



SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.

Catholic Charities' annual Keep the Kids Warm campaign begins on the Feast of the Holy Family (December 30) and runs through the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (January 9, 2012). Keep the Kids Warm is an important annual effort to raise utility assistance funds for families served by Catholic Charities throughout the Diocese of Youngstown. One hundred percent (100%) of all funds raised through this effort are returned to the county in which they were collected to help meet needs in the donor's own community. Thank you for your consideration of a donation now.  http://www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org/ccdoy-238.html





 PAPAL INTENTIONS:   December 2011

General Intention: Peace among All Peoples.
That all peoples may grow in harmony and peace through mutual understanding and respect.


Missionary Intention: That children and young people may be messengers of the Gospel and that they may be respected and preserved from all violence and exploitation.

Corporal Works of Mercy:  The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
  1. Feed the hungry
  2. Give drink to the thirsty
  3. Clothe the naked
  4. Shelter the homeless
  5. Visit the sick
  6. Visit those in prison
  7. 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/
 

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