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) 




http://www.blessedsacramentuki.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Four-Purple-Advent-Candles-on-Wreath-One-Lit.jpg

On Sunday (First Sunday of Advent  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112711.cfm ) we read in the Gospel of Mark about Jesus’ call to be on the “watch” for you never know the day of His coming.  Be watchful.  Be ready.  Sounds like a Scout’s pledge but it is more.  In this time of new beginnings in the Church’s Liturgical calendar, we celebrate the first Sunday of the year.  As we prepare for Christmas during this Advent, we are called to reflect upon our lives and ask the questions:  “Am I ready for the Lord’s coming? Am I awake? Am I ready to allow God to enter into my life/world”?

In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org ,  we see the face of God in each person we meet.  Sometimes persons coming to us for assistance are not always prepared; sometimes the stress, anxiety and fear overtakes them.   Our staff work to help these persons to try to prepare for the future through the immediate assistance we might offer.  Our goal, however, is always to help a person/family break out of poverty.  We try to help them be on the look out for opportunities and new ways of doing things.  During this Advent Season, I ask you to pray for all of our staff, volunteers and donors, and especially for those persons/families that come to our agencies, that God may bless them in their work to unloosen their fears, anxieties and stress as we await together the Coming of the Lord.




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



After the Second Vatican Council in his Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio of 1967, Paul VI already clearly and prophetically denounced the dangers of an economic development conceived in liberalist terms because of its harmful consequences for world equilibrium and peace. The Pontiff asserted that the defence of life and the promotion of people’s cultural and moral development are the essential conditions for the promotion of authentic development. On these grounds, Paul VI said that full and global development is “the new name of peace”.

Forty years later, in its annual Report of in 2007, the International Monetary Fund recognized the close connection between an inadequately managed process of globalization on the one hand, and the world’s great inequalities on the other. Today the modern means of communication make these great economic, social and cultural inequalities obvious to everyone, rich and poor alike, giving rise to tensions and to massive migratory movements.

Nonetheless, it should be reiterated that the process of globalisation with its positive aspects is at the root of the world economy's great development in the twentieth century. It is worth recalling that between 1900 and 2000 the world population increased almost fourfold and the wealth produced worldwide grew much more rapidly, resulting in a significant rise of average per capita income. At the same time, however, the distribution of wealth did not become fairer but in many cases worsened.

What has driven the world in such a problematic direction for its economy and also for peace?

First and foremost, an economic liberalism that spurns rules and controls. Economic liberalism is a theoretical system of thought, a form of “economic apriorism” that purports to derive laws for how markets function from theory, these being laws of capitalistic development, while exaggerating certain aspects of markets. An economic system of thought that sets down a priori the laws of market functioning and economic development, without measuring them against reality, runs the risk of becoming an instrument subordinated to the interests of the countries that effectively enjoy a position of economic and financial advantage.






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.




http://www.monasteryicons.com/graphics/products/large/398.jpg

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3.  St. Francis Xavier
(1506-1552)    Jesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him.
Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534 joined his little community (the infant Society of Jesus). Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope.
From Venice, where he was ordained a priest in 1537, Francis Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India.
Wherever he went, he lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy.
Francis went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa.




SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.

During the month of November, as we prepare for our national holiday, Thanksgiving, we want to give thanks to persons, parishes, groups, and schools who have supported the work of Catholic Charities throughout the year.  This week, I would like to give special thanks to Mercy Medical Center  http://www.cantonmercy.org/ -- its hospitals, clinics, and all of its system -- for their on going commitment to serve those in need. 

 PAPAL INTENTIONS:   November 2011

General Intention: That the Eastern Catholic Churches and their venerable traditions may be known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure for the whole Church.

Missionary Intention: Justice and Reconciliation in Africa.
That the African continent may find strength in Christ to pursue justice and reconciliation as set forth by the second Synod of African Bishops.



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 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/
 

Christmas Gifts Anyone? Fair Trade Coffee, Teas and Other Goods

Please consider purchasing Fair Traded goods for gifts for family, friends, neighbors and
colleagues. Consider giving yourself Fair Traded coffee or tea for your daily routine. Your investing in
Fair Traded goods helps to promote international and local economic justice by paying fair wages to
many persons throughout the world that live on less than $2 a day.  Visit http://www.crsfairtrade.org/ for access to fair traded products sponsored or related to Catholic Relief Services.

In the local Youngstown area, economic justice can also be done by utilizing the services of locally cooperatively owned businesses for your needs, like the Beatitude House Green Clean Cooperative, which recently obtained a national grant from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).  This cooperative provides residential and commercial cleaning services.

Below is a Thanksgiving Day Message and Blessing from Rev. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, and from Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Youngstown.

During this holiday season, we at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Youngstown are faced with an increased demand for services such as our food pantries and St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchens.  

For additional information on our local programs and services and to learn ways you can help, please contact  Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Youngstown. 

May you and yours have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day Message and Blessing

“Do not forget the millions living in poverty that aren’t as fortunate as we are”

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), among the nation’s largest human services organizations working to reduce poverty in America, is mindful this Thanksgiving of the millions in our nation that face the challenges of hunger, unemployment, and homelessness.  This week, as families with the resources to do so gather to share in thanks and gratitude, Rev. Larry Snyder, president of CCUSA, reminds us to reach out to those in need:

“Soon, we will be sharing food around the Thanksgiving table with our friends and family.  But we must not forget the millions of individuals living in poverty in communities across the country who are not as fortunate as we are. 

“This is especially true around the holiday season, as food pantries face increased demand and some struggle to keep enough food stocked to meet the needs of individuals that seek assistance. 

“Feeding the hungry is mandated by Scripture and is one of the core tenets of Catholic social justice. Across the country local agencies support a vast network of soup kitchens and food pantries, emergency shelters, temporary and transitional housing and permanent affordable housing, to help homeless families and individuals.

“On this Thanksgiving, I am eternally grateful for the backbone of the Catholic Charities network-- the hundreds of thousands of individuals that lend their hearts and hands at local Catholic Charities agencies each year.  

“Our Catholic values, teachings, and traditions are the foundation for the work we do at CCUSA.  I urge everyone to think of the millions of individuals living in poverty which represent children, single parents, and consider donating at least one dollar, one hour, one canned good, to support programs and services in your community that provide assistance to those in need.”

***

Each year Catholic Charities serves over 10 million people regardless of their religious, social or economic backgrounds.  To learn more about the programs and services in your local community, please visit www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.

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) 


http://www.artinthepicture.com/artists/Michelangelo/judgment.jpeg

On Sunday (Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ The King

 Year  A  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112011.cfm ) we read in the Gospel of Mathew about the parable of the Last Judgment.  In the first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, we hear of God’s concern for us: “The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal...”  Jesus parable of the Last Judgment brings to sharp focus the essence of this Old Testament prophecy: “when i was hungry.....you gave me food...”   In this last Sunday in Ordinary Time, we celebrate the Solemnity of Jesus Christ as the King.  Jesus’ proclamation of the end times reminds us that we will be judged by our intentions and actions, especially regarding our concern for our most needy brothers and sisters.

In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org ,  we are the arm of the bishop -- The Church -- called upon to help organize our response to those who are hungry, thirsty, in prison, sick, a stranger or without shelter.  All believers -- disciples -- are called to see Jesus in the face of those in need right in our own midst and throughout the world.  Catholic Charities, with Caritas throughout the world, helps to organize that love -- bringing people together in solidarity with each other.  In these last week of the Church year, I ask you to reflect upon how you respond to Jesus’ call to “do it to me.”  Thanks for all you do.


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

A liberalist approach, unsympathetic towards public intervention in the markets, chose to allow an important international financial institution to fall into bankruptcy, on the assumption that this would contain the crisis and its effects. Unfortunately, this spawned a widespread lack of confidence and a sudden change in attitudes. Various public interventions of enormous scope (more than 20% of gross national product) were urgently requested in order to stem the negative effects that could have overwhelmed the entire international financial system.

The consequences for the real economy, what with grave difficulties in some sectors – first of all, construction – and wide distribution of unfavourable forecasts, have generated a negative trend in production and international trade with very serious repercussions for employment as well as other effects that have probably not yet had their full impact. The costs are extremely onerous for millions in the developed countries, but also and above all for billions in the developing ones.

In countries and areas where the most elementary goods like health, food and shelter are still lacking, more than a billion people are forced to survive on an average income of less than a dollar a day.

Global economic well-being, traditionally measured by national income and also by levels of capacities, grew during the second half of the twentieth century, to an extent and with a speed never experienced in the history of humankind.

But the inequalities within and between various countries have also grown significantly. While some of the more industrialized and developed countries and economic zones – the ones that are most industrialized and developed – have seen their income grow considerably, other countries have in fact been excluded from the overall improvement of the economy and their situation has even worsened.





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.

http://yarsawich.com/ccd/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/give-thanks-to-the-lord.jpg

THURSDAY, November 24.  Thanksgiving Day.  Thank you for all your talents of time, talents and treasure.  May God bless you and your family during this time of thanksgiving.




SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.

During the month of November, as we prepare for our national holiday, Thanksgiving, we want to give thanks to persons, parishes, groups, and schools who have supported the work of Catholic Charities throughout the year.  This week, I would like to give special thanks to Humility of Mary Health Partners  http://www.hmpartners.org/  -- its hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, hospice, and all of its system -- for their on going commitment to serve those in need.  This year St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Youngstown celebrates its 100th anniversary.  Last week we celebrated the feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, their patron saint.

 PAPAL INTENTIONS:   November 2011

General Intention: That the Eastern Catholic Churches and their venerable traditions may be known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure for the whole Church.

Missionary Intention: Justice and Reconciliation in Africa.
That the African continent may find strength in Christ to pursue justice and reconciliation as set forth by the second Synod of African Bishops.

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/
 

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) 

http://www.churchhousecollection.com/resources/clipart%20talents.JPG?timestamp=1278824436183


On Sunday (Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year  A   http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111311.cfm ) we read in the Gospel of Mathew about the parable of the ten talents.  Here the master gives various stewards different levels of items to ‘steward” in his absence.  The one given ten talents doubles his gift; another doubles the two talents he obtained; a third is afraid and buries his sole talent to find he has not obtained anything new when the master returns.  This story’s many meanings point to the reality that God has invested in us gifts that we are to “steward” during our lives and will have to make a reckoning at the Last Judgment (a story we are building toward during these last days of Ordinary Time).

In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org ,  we are called to “invest” wisely the many gifts given to us to care for the poor and vulnerable among us.  In the first reading from Proverbs, we hear about the good wife who “reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy.”  Catholic Charities is that organized arm of the Church that must constantly steward resources for the care of the widow, the orphan and the stranger.  Catholic Charities continues to leverage gifts and donations with other resources to ensure that persons and families in need are cared for and shown compassionate hope.  Thank you for your gifts of time, talent and/or treasure.  We will continue to be good and faithful stewards of the mission of Jesus to bring good news and to show/see the face of God.


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

In monetary and financial markets, however, the dynamics are quite different. In recent decades, it was the banks that extended credit, which generated money, which in turn sought a further expansion of credit. In this way, the economic system was driven towards an inflationary spiral that inevitably encountered a limit in the risk that credit institutions could accept. They faced the ultimate danger of bankruptcy, with negative consequences for the entire economic and financial system

After World War II, national economies made progress, albeit with enormous sacrifices for millions, indeed billions of people who, as producers and entrepreneurs on the one hand and as savers and consumers on the other, had put their confidence in a regular and progressive expansion of money supply and investment in line with opportunities for real growth of the economy.

Since the 1990s, we have seen that money and credit instruments worldwide have grown more rapidly than revenue, even adjusting for current prices. From this came the formation of pockets of excessive liquidity and speculative bubbles which later turned into a series of solvency and confidence crises that have spread and followed one another over the years.

A first crisis took place in the 1970s until the early 1980s and was related to the sudden sharp rises in oil prices. Subsequently, there was a series of crises in the developing world, for example, the first crisis in Mexico in the 1980s and those in Brazil, Russia and Korea, and then again in Mexico in the 1990s as well as in Thailand and Argentina.

The speculative bubble in real estate and the recent financial crisis have the very same origin in the excessive amount of money and the plethora of financial instruments globally.

Whereas the crises in the developing countries that risked involving the global monetary and financial system were contained through interventions by the more developed countries, the outbreak of the crisis in 2008 was characterized by a different factor compared with the previous ones, something decisive and explosive. Generated in the context of the United States, it took place in one of the most important zones for the global economy and finances. It directly affected what is still the currency of reference for the great majority of international trade transactions.






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.

http://www.bobandpennylord.com/Images%20Book%20Page/yg191.1.jpg

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17.  St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231)   In her short life Elizabeth manifested such great love for the poor and suffering that she has become the patroness of Catholic charities and of the Secular Franciscan Order. The daughter of the King of Hungary, Elizabeth chose a life of penance and asceticism when a life of leisure and luxury could easily have been hers. This choice endeared her in the hearts of the common people throughout Europe.

At the age of 14 Elizabeth was married to Louis of Thuringia (a German principality), whom she deeply loved; she bore three children. Under the spiritual direction of a Franciscan friar, she led a life of prayer, sacrifice and service to the poor and sick. Seeking to become one with the poor, she wore simple clothing. Daily she would take bread to hundreds of the poorest in the land, who came to her gate.
After six years of marriage, her husband died in the Crusades, and she was grief-stricken. Her husband’s family looked upon her as squandering the royal purse, and mistreated her, finally throwing her out of the palace. The return of her husband’s allies from the Crusades resulted in her being reinstated, since her son was legal heir to the throne.
In 1228 Elizabeth joined the Secular Franciscan Order, spending the remaining few years of her life caring for the poor in a hospital which she founded in honor of St. Francis. Elizabeth’s health declined, and she died before her 24th birthday in 1231. Her great popularity resulted in her canonization four years later.


SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.

During the month of November, as we prepare for our national holiday, Thanksgiving, we want to give thanks to persons, parishes, groups, and schools who have supported the work of Catholic Charities throughout the year.  This week, I would like to give special thanks to Beatitude House,  http://www.beatitudehouse.com/   a housing and support ministry of the Youngstown Ursuline Sisters, for their commitment to help women and children get out of poverty.

 PAPAL INTENTIONS:   November 2011

General Intention: That the Eastern Catholic Churches and their venerable traditions may be known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure for the whole Church.

Missionary Intention: Justice and Reconciliation in Africa.
That the African continent may find strength in Christ to pursue justice and reconciliation as set forth by the second Synod of African Bishops.

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/