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.arlingtonrenewal.org/files/Christ_the_True_Vine_icon_Athens_16th_century.jpg
On Sunday, (Fifth Sunday of Easter (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050612.cfm)
we read from the Gospel of John of Jesus’ imagery of the vine and the
vine grower. These agricultural images -- especially pertinent for our
own Ashtabula county wine industry -- reminds us that grapes require
strong vines connected solidly to its roots. Jesus claims that he is
the true wine and His Father is the vine grower. He and His Father
invite us to be deeply rooted in their love -- the Holy Spirit -- so
that much fruit can be born. We also read in the First Letter of St.
John that we know that we are connected with God when we live his
commandments, especially the commandment to love one another.In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we are solidly rooted in the mission of the Church to bring Good News and help organize love in the world. As a ministry of the Church, Catholic Charities empowers others to help live out the commandment to love one another. Gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal for Catholic Charities and Church https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=450afc are one way which volunteers, staff and others of good will can continue to support the mission and ministry of the Church to bring abundant life to those around us, especially those in need.
Reflection from Church Documents and Official Statements
Vatican
City, 4 May 2012 (VIS) - Benedict XVI received five new non resident
ambassadors to the Holy See: Teshome Toga Chanaka of Ethiopia, David
Cooney of Ireland, Naivakarurubalavu Solo Mara of the Republic of Fiji,
Viguen Tchitetchian of Armenia and Dato' Ho May Young, the first
ambassador of Malaysia to the Holy See.
Excerpts from the Holy Father's French-language address to the diplomats is given below:
"The development of the communications media has, in some way, made our
planet smaller. ... Awareness of the great suffering caused throughout
the world by both material and spiritual poverty calls people to
mobilise in order to face, in justice and solidarity, all threats to
human beings, society and the environment".
"Exodus
to the great cities, armed conflict, hunger and pandemics, which affect
so many people, give rise to new forms of poverty in our time. The
global economic crisis has caused an increasing number of families to
live in precarious conditions. When the manufacture and increase of
needs leads us to believe in the possibility of unlimited enjoyment and
consumption, the lack of the means necessary to achieve these ends leads
to frustration. ... When poverty coexists with enormous wealth, a sense
of injustice arises which can become a source of rebellion. Therefore
it is necessary for States to ensure that legislation does not increase
social inequality and that people can live dignified lives".
"The
development to which all nations aspire must involve human beings in
their entirety, not just economic factors. ... Experiences such as
micro-credit, and initiatives to create cooperative associations show
that it is possible to harmonise economic objectives with social
necessities, democratic government and respect for nature. It is also
advisable to encourage manual work and to promote an agriculture which
works in favour of local people, viewing these activities with the
respect they deserve".
"In
order to strengthen the human factor of social and political life,
attention must given to another kind of poverty: the loss of reference
to spiritual values and to God. This defect make it more difficult to
distinguish good from evil, and to overcome personal interests in favour
of the common good. States have a duty to promote their cultural and
religious heritage, which contributes to the development of a nation,
and to facilitate people's access thereto, because by familiarising
ourselves with our history each of us is able to discover the roots of
our own existence".
"Religion
helps us to recognise others as brothers and sisters in humanity.
Giving everyone the opportunity to know God, in complete freedom, is to
help them forge a strong personality which will enable them to bear
witness to good, and put it into effect even at great cost. In this way
we will build a society in which sobriety and fraternity triumph over
misery, indifference and selfishness, over exploitation and waste and,
above all, over exclusion"....
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
THURSDAY, MAY 10. St. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Moloka'i
(1840-1889) When
Joseph de Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium, in 1840, few people in
Europe had any firsthand knowledge of leprosy (Hansen's disease). By the
time he died at the age of 49, people all over the world knew about
this disease because of him. They knew that human compassion could
soften the ravages of this disease.
Forced
to quit school at age 13 to work on the family farm, Joseph entered the
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary six years later,
taking the name of a fourth-century physician and martyr. When his
brother Pamphile, a priest in the same congregation, fell ill and was
unable to go to the Hawaiian Islands as assigned, Damien quickly
volunteered in his place. In May 1864, two months after arriving in his
new mission, Damien was ordained a priest in Honolulu and assigned to
the island of Hawaii.In 1873, he went to the Hawaiian government's leper colony on the island of Molokai, set up seven years earlier. Part of a team of four chaplains taking that assignment for three months each year, Damien soon volunteered to remain permanently, caring for the people's physical, medical and spiritual needs. In time, he became their most effective advocate to obtain promised government support.
Soon the settlement had new houses and a new church, school and orphanage. Morale improved considerably. A few years later he succeeded in getting the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, led by Mother Marianne Cope (January 23), to help staff this colony in Kalaupapa.
Damien contracted Hansen's disease and died of its complications. As requested, he was buried in Kalaupapa, but in 1936 the Belgian government succeeded in having his body moved to Belgium. Part of Damien's body was returned to his beloved Hawaiian brothers and sisters after his beatification in 1995.
Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009.
When Hawaii became a state in 1959, it selected Damien as one of its two representatives in the Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol.
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?
Catholic
Charities Social Action office is sponsoring a class in Christian Moral
Living for the Office of Religious Education Formation program. The
class is on Crime, Justice and the Death Penalty. This class meets
every Tuesday from April 24 til June 12 from 7 to 9m at the Ursuline
Educational Center in Canfield. Contact Joe Miles jmiles@youngstowndiocese.org for more information.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
May 2012
General Intention: The Family. That initiatives which defend and uphold the role of the family may be promoted within society. .
Missionary Intention:
Mary, Guide of Missionaries. That Mary, Queen of the World and Star of
Evangelization, may accompany all missionaries in proclaiming her Son
Jesus.
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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