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 (First Sunday of Lent, B http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022612.cfm ) we read in the Gospel of Mark about Jesus’ experience in the desert, as he was tempted by Evil. Jesus returns refreshed from his experience, and proclaims the Good News to everyone he meets: The Kingdom of God is at hand. We then read in the first reading about the story of Noah’s ark. We hear that God has renewed his covenant with us, and will always love us. Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom is the fulfillment of that covenant and shows the depths of God’s love for us as God continually offers us forgiveness and healing. This is a reminder to us during Lent that God loves us so much, and first, that God is always welcoming us back with great affection.
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we are signs to persons and families in need that God is alive and loves them. When persons visit our offices, many times they are scared and intimidated. Other times they are at their wits end. Our Catholic Charities’ staff and volunteers welcome them with love and healing giving hope in times of distress. Like the sign of the rainbow God gave Noah, we give the sign of the Cross reminding them of God’s abundant love.
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
Specific attention should be paid to the reform of the international monetary system and, in particular, the commitment to create some form of global monetary management, something that is already implicit in the Statutes of the International Monetary Fund. It is obvious that to some extent this is equivalent to putting the existing exchange systems up for discussion in order to find effective means of coordination and supervision. This process must also involve the emerging and developing countries in defining the stages of a gradual adaptation of the existing instruments.
In fact, one can see an emerging requirement for a body that will carry out the functions of a kind of “central world bank” that regulates the flow and system of monetary exchanges similar to the national central banks. The underlying logic of peace, coordination and common vision which led to the Bretton Woods Agreements needs to be dusted off in order to provide adequate answers to the current questions. On the regional level, this process could begin by strengthening the existing institutions, such as the European Central Bank. However, this would require not only a reflection on the economic and financial level, but also and first of all on the political level, so as to create the set of public institutions that will guarantee the unity and consistency of the common decisions.
These measures ought to be conceived of as some of the first steps in view of a public Authority with universal jurisdiction; as a first stage in a longer effort by the global community to steer its institutions towards achieving the common good. Other stages will have to follow in which the dynamics familiar to us may become more marked, but they may also be accompanied by changes which would be useless to try to predict today.
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.
Consider participating in Operation Rice Bowl, http://orb.crs.org/ a Lenten program of Catholic Relief Services incorporating prayers, education, charity, and justice.
SATURDAY March 3
St. Katharine Drexel (1858-1955)
If your father is an international banker and you ride in a private railroad car, you are not likely to be drawn into a life of voluntary poverty. But if your mother opens your home to the poor three days each week and your father spends half an hour each evening in prayer, it is not impossible that you will devote your life to the poor and give away millions of dollars. Katharine Drexel did that.
She was born in Philadelphia in 1858. She had an excellent education and traveled widely. As a rich girl, she had a grand debut into society. But when she nursed her stepmother through a three-year terminal illness, she saw that all the Drexel money could not buy safety from pain or death, and her life took a profound turn.She had always been interested in the plight of the Indians, having been appalled by what she read in Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor. While on a European tour, she met Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James O’Connor. The pope replied, “Why don’t you become a missionary?” His answer shocked her into considering new possibilities.
Back home, Katharine visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux leader Red Cloud and began her systematic aid to Indian missions.
She could easily have married. But after much discussion with Bishop O’Connor, she wrote in 1889, “The feast of St. Joseph brought me the grace to give the remainder of my life to the Indians and the Colored.” Newspaper headlines screamed “Gives Up Seven Million!”
After three and a half years of training, she and her first band of nuns (Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored) opened a boarding school in Santa Fe. A string of foundations followed. By 1942 she had a system of black Catholic schools in 13 states, plus 40 mission centers and 23 rural schools. Segregationists harassed her work, even burning a school in Pennsylvania. In all, she established 50 missions for Indians in 16 states.
Two saints met when Katharine was advised by Mother Cabrini about the “politics” of getting her Order’s Rule approved in Rome. Her crowning achievement was the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic university in the United States for African Americans.
At 77, she suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire. Apparently her life was over. But now came almost 20 years of quiet, intense prayer from a small room overlooking the sanctuary. Small notebooks and slips of paper record her various prayers, ceaseless aspirations and meditation. She died at 96 and was canonized in 2000.
SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.
Read Bishop Murry’s Pastoral Letter on Poverty. http://doy.org/files/Scroller/PastoralPoverty.pdf
Ask yourself as you prepare for Lent: Who Is My Neighbor? How can I help? Lent offers a great time to reflect, pray, share one’s gifts and share your sacrifice. See information above about Operation Rice Bowl for ideas. http://orb.crs.org/
http://www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org/ccdoy-251.html
Catholic Charities' 2nd Annual Irish Comalya
Saturday, March 3, 2012 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Hippodrome Banquet Center 150 High St. NW Warren, OH 44481
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
February 2012
General Intention: Access to Water.
That all peoples may have access to water and other resources needed for daily life.
Missionary Intention: Health Workers.
That the Lord may sustain the efforts of health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world's poorest regions.
March 2012
General Intention: Contribution of Women. That the whole world may recognize the contribution of women to the development of society.
Missionary Intention: Persecuted Christians. That the Holy Spirit may grant perseverance to those who suffer discrimination, persecution, or death for the name of Christ, particularly in Asia.
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
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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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