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 (The Epiphany of the Lord http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010812.cfm) we read in the Gospel of Mathew about the story of the three Magi who search for the Messiah and “offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Today, we celebrate the Good News that Jesus is made known to all the world, to all peoples. A new reality is born in this Child: God is truly with us all.
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we help persons and families that struggle daily with basic needs of survival, with addictions, with fears, with hopelessness. As a ministry of the Church, we try to help those who come to us for aid, to feel and see the Presence of God in their midst. Catholic Charities aims to bring abundant life to each person we encounter regardless of their situation. We also believe that each person, no matter how hopeless or poor, have gifts to bring to the community. We work to make each person see their own gifts and how they can share it. It may not be “gold, frankincense, and myrrh,” but each person is endowed by God with talents to help build a better life and community. These gifts, though simple to some, continues to be a shining light in the world. We thank God for our gifts and the talents/gifts of each person we have the privilege to serve.
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
The purpose of the public authority, as John XXIII recalled in Pacem in Terris, is first and foremost to serve the common good. Therefore, it should be endowed with structures and adequate, effective mechanisms equal to its mission and the expectations placed in it. This is especially true in a globalized world which makes individuals and peoples increasingly interconnected and interdependent, but which also reveals the existence of monetary and financial markets of a predominantly speculative sort that are harmful for the real economy, especially of the weaker countries.
This is a complex and delicate process. A supranational Authority of this kind should have a realistic structure and be set up gradually. It should be favourable to the existence of efficient and effective monetary and financial systems; that is, free and stable markets overseen by a suitable legal framework, well-functioning in support of sustainable development and social progress of all, and inspired by the values of charity and truth. It is a matter of an Authority with a global reach that cannot be imposed by force, coercion or violence, but should be the outcome of a free and shared agreement and a reflection of the permanent and historic needs of the world common good. It ought to arise from a process of progressive maturation of consciences and freedoms as well as the awareness of growing responsibilities. Consequently, reciprocal trust, autonomy and participation cannot be overlooked as if they were superfluous elements. The consent should involve an ever greater number of countries that adhere with conviction, through a sincere dialogue that values the minority opinions rather than marginalizing them. So the world Authority should consistently involve all peoples in a collaboration in which they are called to contribute, bringing to it the heritage of their virtues and their civilizations.
The establishment of a world political Authority should be preceded by a preliminary phase of consultation from which a legitimated institution will emerge that is in a position to be an effective guide and, at the same time, can allow each country to express and pursue its own particular good. The exercise of this Authority at the service of the good of each and every one will necessarily be super partes (impartial): that is, above any partial vision or particular good, in view of achieving the common good. Its decisions should not be the result of the more developed countries' excessive power over the weaker countries. Instead, they should be made in the interest of all, not only to the advantage of some groups, whether they are formed by private lobbies or national governments.
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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.
JANUARY is Campaign to Reduce Poverty Month
With 15 percent of all Americans, including nearly 1 in 4 children, living in poverty, the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development (JPHD) of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is renewing its poverty awareness campaign, Poverty USA, in January.
“Our culture of life begins with a love that binds us to the hopes and joys, the struggles and the sorrows of people, especially those who are poor or any way afflicted,” said Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, chairman of the bishops’ domestic anti-poverty effort, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). “We march with immigrant families toward a society made stronger and safer by their inclusion. We embrace the mother and her unborn child, giving to both of them hope and opportunity. We measure our own health by the quality of care we give to those most vulnerable. We labor with those whose work is burdensome.”
The campaign will promote awareness about domestic poverty with updated statistics on the Poverty USA landing page on the USCCB website (www.usccb.org/about/catholic-campaign-for-human-development/povertyusa/), as well as resources including an interactive poverty tour and a newly-launched presence on Facebook (www.facebook.com/povertyusa).
TUESDAY January 10
Servant of God Vico Necchi (1876-1930)
On January 9, 1930, Ludovico (Vico) Necchi, professor of biology at the University of Milan, died. According to his will, his headstone was to be inscribed with the simple words: Vico Necchi, Franciscan Tertiary. An extraordinary man, he is buried in the chapel of the University of the Sacred Heart in Milan in the expectation that one day he will be raised to the altars.
As a young man Vico was deeply in love with Christ, St. Francis and the Church. Invested in the habit of the Third Order, he displayed the enthusiasm of Paul and the gentleness of Francis. He used his position as a physician to counter the secular, anti-Christian attitudes of his age and to bring others to Christ. One of his converts was the radical, Augustine Gemelli, who with Vico was the cofounder of the University of the Sacred Heart.
Vico himself was a prayerful, humble, charming and cheerful man who stood at the forefront of the new Italian Catholic Action. http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius11/P11FAC.HTM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Action Despite opposition and trials, he used his medical profession as a holy apostolate for the conversion of his patients while his charity was being lavished on retarded children.
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: JANUARY 2012
General Intention: Victims of Natural Disasters.That the victims of natural disasters may receive the spiritual and material comfort they need to rebuild their lives.
Missionary Intention: Dedication to Peace.
That the dedication of Christians to peace may bear witness to the name of Christ before all men and women of good will.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
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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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