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://theinspirational.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/jesus-appears-to-his-disciples-they-still-disbelieved-he-said-to-themhave-you-anything-here-to-eatthey-gave-him-a-piece-of-broiled-fishand-he-took-it-and-ate-before-them-he-opened.jpg?w=1024&h=780
On Sunday, (Third Sunday of Easter (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042212.cfm)
we read from the Gospel of Luke about Jesus’ appearance to his
fear-filled disciples. He opens their minds to the full meaning of the
Scriptures -- God cared so much for the world that He gave His only Son
to share with us abundant life. Jesus reminds his apostles that He has
been transformed through resurrection but that he is not a ghost, but
really alive. He asks for something to eat: they gave him some fish.
He ate it.
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we continue to witness to the power of the Resurrection by giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome to strangers, hope to prisoners, comfort to the sick, and shelter to the naked/homeless. The Good News of Jesus Christ is proclaimed each and every time we are able to provide such help. Truly we give hope in Jesus’ name.
Reflection from Church Documents and Official Statements
A Statement on Religious Liberty: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, April 2012
We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other. Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory, and should instead be complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to contribute to our common life together.
Freedom is not only for Americans, but we think of it as something of our special inheritance, fought for at a great price, and a heritage to be guarded now. We are stewards of this gift, not only for ourselves but for all nations and peoples who yearn to be free. Catholics in America have discharged this duty of guarding freedom admirably for many generations.
In 1887, when the archbishop of Baltimore, James Gibbons, was made the second American cardinal, he defended the American heritage of religious liberty during his visit to Rome to receive the red hat. Speaking of the great progress the Catholic Church had made in the United States, he attributed it to the "civil liberty we enjoy in our enlightened republic." Indeed, he made a bolder claim, namely that "in the genial atmosphere of liberty [the Church] blossoms like a rose."
From well before Cardinal Gibbons, Catholics in America have been advocates for religious liberty, and the landmark teaching of the Second Vatican Council on religious liberty was influenced by the American experience. It is among the proudest boasts of the Church on these shores. We have been staunch defenders of religious liberty in the past. We have a solemn duty to discharge that duty today.
We need, therefore, to speak frankly with each other when our freedoms are threatened. Now is such a time. As Catholic bishops and American citizens, we address an urgent summons to our fellow Catholics and fellow Americans to be on guard, for religious liberty is under attack, both at home and abroad.
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.usccb.org/images/USCCB.gif
For Daily Readings http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month
TUESDAY April 24 St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622)
If
a poor man needed some clothing, Fidelis would often give the man the
clothes right off his back. Complete generosity to others characterized
this saint's life.
Born
in 1577, Mark Rey (Fidelis was his religious name) became a lawyer who
constantly upheld the causes of the poor and oppressed people. Nicknamed
"the poor man's lawyer," Fidelis soon grew disgusted with the
corruption and injustice he saw among his colleagues. He left his law
career to become a priest, joining his brother George as a member of the
Capuchin Order. His wealth was divided between needy seminarians and
the poor.
As
a follower of Francis, Fidelis continued his devotion to the weak and
needy. During a severe epidemic in a city where he was guardian of a
friary, Fidelis cared for and cured many sick soldiers.
He
was appointed head of a group of Capuchins sent to preach against the
Calvinists and Zwinglians in Switzerland. Almost certain violence
threatened. Those who observed the mission felt that success was more
attributable to the prayer of Fidelis during the night than to his
sermons and instructions.
He
was accused of opposing the peasants' national aspirations for
independence from Austria. While he was preaching at Seewis, to which he
had gone against the advice of his friends, a gun was fired at him, but
he escaped unharmed. A Protestant offered to shelter Fidelis, but he
declined, saying his life was in God's hands. On the road back, he was
set upon by a group of armed men and killed.
He
was canonized in 1746. Fifteen years later, the Congregation for the
Propagation of the Faith, which was established in 1622, recognized him
as its first martyr.
WEDNESDAY April 25. St. Pedro de San José Betancur (1626-1667)
Central
America claimed its first saint with the canonization of Pedro de San
José Betancur by Pope John Paul II in Guatemala City on July 30, 2002.
Known as the "St. Francis of the Americas," Pedro de Betancur is the
first saint to have worked and died in Guatemala.
Calling
the new saint an “outstanding example” of Christian mercy, the Holy
Father noted that St. Pedro practiced mercy “heroically with the
lowliest and the most deprived.” Speaking to the estimated 500,000
Guatemalans in attendance, the Holy Father spoke of the social ills that
plague the country today and of the need for change.
“Let
us think of the children and young people who are homeless or deprived
of an education; of abandoned women with their many needs; of the hordes
of social outcasts who live in the cities; of the victims of organized
crime, of prostitution or of drugs; of the sick who are neglected and
the elderly who live in loneliness,” he said in his homily during the
three-hour liturgy.
Pedro
very much wanted to become a priest, but God had other plans for the
young man born into a poor family on Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Pedro was a shepherd until age 24, when he began to make his way to
Guatemala, hoping to connect with a relative engaged in government
service there. By the time he reached Havana, he was out of money. After
working there to earn more, he got to Guatemala City the following
year. When he arrived he was so destitute that he joined the bread line
that the Franciscans had established.
Soon,
Pedro enrolled in the local Jesuit college in hopes of studying for the
priesthood. No matter how hard he tried, however, he could not master
the material; he withdrew from school. In 1655 he joined the Secular
Franciscan Order. Three years later he opened a hospital for the
convalescent poor; a shelter for the homeless and a school for the poor
soon followed. Not wanting to neglect the rich of Guatemala City, Pedro
began walking through their part of town ringing a bell and inviting
them to repent.
Other
men came to share in Pedro's work. Out of this group came the
Bethlehemite Congregation, which won papal approval after Pedro's death.
A Bethlehemite sisters' community, similarly founded after Pedro's
death, was inspired by his life of prayer and compassion.
He is sometimes credited with originating the Christmas Eve posadas
procession in which people representing Mary and Joseph seek a night's
lodging from their neighbors. The custom soon spread to Mexico and other
Central American countries.
Pedro was canonized in 2002.
CHARITIES NEWSBYTES
Read Bishop Murry’s Pastoral Letter on Poverty. http://doy.org/files/Scroller/PastoralPoverty.pdf
Ask yourself as you deepen your faith during these 50 days of Easter : Who Is My Neighbor? How can I help?
Vote for Youngstown-Warren on FACEBOOK for Walmart Fight Hunger program.
PAPAL INTENTIONS: April 2012
General Intention: Vocations. That many young people may hear the call of Christ and follow him in the priesthood and religious life.
Missionary Intention: Christ, Hope for Africans. That the risen Christ may be a sign of certain hope for the men and women of the African continent.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
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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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