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 (Fifth Sunday of Lent, B http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032512-fifth-sunday-of-lent.cfm) we read in the Gospel of John of Jesus’ discussion about doing the will of the Father and offering up himself for the life of the world. We hear Jesus say that “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat.....Whoever serves me must follow me.” Here Jesus calls each of us -- His disciples today -- to serve each other in love, even to the point of death.
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we continue Jesus’ ministry of service. As the organized means for the Church to serve others in need, Catholic Charities provides direct aid to families/persons in need while also advocating in the public realm, and convening others to do the same. On many occasions, we have witnessed large and small transformations of persons, families and communities as they see hope again by the generous assistance provided by staff, volunteers and donors. These persons may not know all the details, but many truly understand that the Church continues to care for each person, no matter who they are. Catholic Charities continues to model Jesus’ love and witness of service.
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
Modern States became structured wholes over time and reinforced sovereignty within their own territory. But social, cultural and political conditions have gradually changed. Their interdependence has grown – so it has become natural to think of an international community that is integrated and increasingly ruled by a shared system – but a worse form of nationalism has lingered on, according to which the State feels it can achieve the good of its own citizens in a self-sufficient way.
Today all of this seems anachronistic and surreal, and all the nations, great or small, together with their governments, are called to go beyond the “state of nature” which would keep States in a never-ending struggle with one another. Globalization, despite some of its negative aspects, is unifying peoples more and prompting them to move towards a new “rule of law” on the supranational level, supported by a more intense and fruitful collaboration. With dynamics similar to those that put an end in the past to the “anarchical” struggle between rival clans and kingdoms with regard to the creation of national states, today humanity needs to be committed to the transition from a situation of archaic struggles between national entities, to a new model of a more cohesive, polyarchic international society that respects every people's identity within the multifaceted riches of a single humanity.
Such a passage, which is already timidly under way, would ensure the citizens of all countries – regardless of their size or power – peace and security, development, and free, stable and transparent markets. As John Paul II warns us, “Just as the time has finally come when in individual States a system of private vendetta and reprisal has given way to the rule of law, so too a similar step forward is now urgently needed in the international community.”
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://ccdoy.org/social-action/operation-rice-bowl/ a Lenten program of Catholic Relief Services incorporating prayers, education, charity, and justice.
http://www.adoremus.org/NewABart/Annunc.jpg
MONDAY, MARCH 26. Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032612.cfm
The feast of the Annunciation, now recognized as a solemnity, goes back to the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the Incarnation: God has become one of us. From all eternity God had decided that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now, as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love. Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering and an agonizing death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Mary has an important role to play in God’s plan. From all eternity God destined her to be the mother of Jesus and closely related to him in the creation and redemption of the world. We could say that God’s decrees of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of Incarnation. Because Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she owes to the Trinity.
She is the virgin-mother who fulfills Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out the will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38).
Together with Jesus, the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth. She is the human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of human existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She shows how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances of life. She exemplifies what the Church and every member of the Church is meant to become. She is the ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of God. She manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of us.
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://ccdoy.org/social-action/operation-rice-bowl/
Catholic Charities Regional Agency will present two workshops on Mortgage Modification and Awareness of Mortgage Scams. These workshops will cover basic topics to help people learn to avoid foreclosure and learn of potential harmful scams.
These workshops are FREE, space is limited. Call 330-744-3320 to reserve your spot!
All workshops will be held at Catholic Charities Regional Agency Office:
2401 Belmont Ave., Youngstown.
Dates and times of the workshops are:
March 28, 2012 from 5pm to 7pm and
March 31, 2012 from 10am to 12pm
2401 Belmont Ave., Youngstown.
Dates and times of the workshops are:
March 28, 2012 from 5pm to 7pm and
March 31, 2012 from 10am to 12pm
PAPAL INTENTIONS: 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
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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