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://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Jesus-heals-the-bleeding-woman.jpg
On Sunday, (Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070112.cfm ) we read from the Gospel of Mark about two powerful healings accomplished by Jesus. One involved the daughter of an official of the synagogue; another an older woman suffering from years of bleeding. Jesus heals both rich and poor alike. Jesus travels to care for/heal the Jewish leader’s daughter and on the way is “touched” by a poor woman who has little resources. Jesus knows that this woman “touched” him and was healed; Jesus uplifts her spirits and body and makes her whole. Jesus also cures the little girl presumed dead. Rather, Jesus’ touch brings her to life and Jesus demands that she be feed immediately.
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we are provide that healing “touch” in Jesus’ name to all who come to us for help. Poor, middle class, wealthy -- we provide assistance to anyone who comes to the best of our ability. We are part of the ministry of care and hope of the Church to those in need regardless of their economic or social status. Oftentimes persons and families, though appearing to have no obstacles or troubles, confront problems that may require our assistance. Catholic Charities is there helping each person along their journey seeking a life of dignity and respect. As Jesus healed the poor woman and the young richer girl, He was concerned that they knew of God’s love and made them whole with God’s abundance.
Reflection from Church Documents and Official Statements
Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship - Part I - The U.S. Bishops’ Reflection On Catholic Teaching And Political Life
How Does the Church Help the Catholic Faithful to Speak About Political and Social Questions?
Doing Good and Avoiding Evil
21. Aided by the virtue of prudence in the exercise of well-formed consciences, Catholics are called to make practical judgments regarding good and evil choices in the political arena.22. There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. These are called "intrinsically evil" actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. In our nation, "abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others" (Living the Gospel of Life, no. 5). It is a mistake with grave moral consequences to treat the destruction of innocent human life merely as a matter of individual choice. A legal system that violates the basic right to life on the grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed.
23. Similarly, direct threats to the sanctity and dignity of human life, such as human cloning and destructive research on human embryos, are also intrinsically evil. These must always be opposed. Other direct assaults on innocent human life and violations of human dignity, such as genocide, torture, racism, and the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war, can never be justified.
24. Opposition to intrinsically evil acts that undercut the dignity of the human person should also open our eyes to the good we must do, that is, to our positive duty to contribute to the common good and to act in solidarity with those in need. As Pope John Paul II said, "The fact that only the negative commandments oblige always and under all circumstances does not mean that in the moral life prohibitions are more important than the obligation to do good indicated by the positive commandment" (Veritatis Splendor, no. 52). Both opposing evil and doing good are essential obligations.
25. The right to life implies and is linked to other human rights—to the basic goods that every human person needs to live and thrive. All the life issues are connected, for erosion of respect for the life of any individual or group in society necessarily diminishes respect for all life. The moral imperative to respond to the needs of our neighbors—basic needs such as food, shelter, health care, education, and meaningful work—is universally binding on our consciences and may be legitimately fulfilled by a variety of means. Catholics must seek the best ways to respond to these needs. As Blessed Pope John XXIII taught, "[Each of us] has the right to life, to bodily integrity, and to the means which are suitable for the proper development of life; these are primarily food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, and, finally, the necessary social services" (Pacem in Terris, no. 11).
26. Pope John Paul II explained the importance of being true to fundamental Church teachings:
Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights—for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture—is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination. (Christifideles Laici, no. 38)
27. Two temptations in public life can distort the Church's defense of human life and dignity:
28. The first is a moral equivalence that makes no ethical distinctions between different kinds of issues involving human life and dignity. The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed.3
29. The second is the misuse of these necessary moral distinctions as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity. Racism and other unjust discrimination, the use of the death penalty, resorting to unjust war, the use of torture,4 war crimes, the failure to respond to those who are suffering from hunger or a lack of health care, or an unjust immigration policy are all serious moral issues that challenge our consciences and require us to act. These are not optional concerns which can be dismissed. Catholics are urged to seriously consider Church teaching on these issues. Although choices about how best to respond to these and other compelling threats to human life and dignity are matters for principled debate and decision, this does not make them optional concerns or permit Catholics to dismiss or ignore Church teaching on these important issues. Clearly not every Catholic can be actively involved on each of these concerns, but we need to support one another as our community of faith defends human life and dignity wherever it is threatened. We are not factions, but one family of faith fulfilling the mission of Jesus Christ.
30. The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made a similar point:
It must be noted also that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals. The Christian faith is an integral unity, and thus it is incoherent to isolate some particular element to the detriment of the whole of Catholic doctrine. A political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church's social doctrine does not exhaust one's responsibility towards the common good. (Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life, no. 4)
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
http://www.hanscomfamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/St.-Elizabeth-of-Portugal-.jpg
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4. St Elizabeth of Portugal (1271-1336)
Elizabeth
is usually depicted in royal garb with a dove or an olive branch. At
her birth in 1271, her father, Pedro III, future king of Aragon, was
reconciled with his father, James, the reigning monarch. This proved to
be a portent of things to come. Under the healthful influences
surrounding her early years, she quickly learned self-discipline and
acquired a taste for spirituality. Thus fortunately prepared, she was
able to meet the challenge when, at the age of 12, she was given in
marriage to Denis, king of Portugal. She was able to establish for
herself a pattern of life conducive to growth in God’s love, not merely
through her exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also through
her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help
pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need
came to her notice. At the same time she remained devoted to her
husband, whose infidelity to her was a scandal to the kingdom.
He,
too, was the object of many of her peace endeavors. She long sought
peace for him with God, and was finally rewarded when he gave up his
life of sin. She repeatedly sought and effected peace between the king
and their rebellious son, Alfonso, who thought that he was passed over
to favor the king’s illegitimate children. She acted as peacemaker in
the struggle between Ferdinand, king of Aragon, and his cousin James,
who claimed the crown. And finally from Coimbra, where she had retired
as a Franciscan tertiary to the monastery of the Poor Clares after the
death of her husband, she set out and was able to bring about a lasting
peace between her son Alfonso, now king of Portugal, and his son-in-law,
the king of Castile.
CHARITIES NEWSBYTES
August 26. Help support HMHP Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Care Center through participating in the Panerathon. http://doy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=184%3Apanerathon&catid=45%3Astandalone&Itemid=95
PAPAL INTENTIONS: July 2012
General Intention: Work Security. That everyone may have work in safe and secure conditions.
Missionary Intention: Christian Volunteers. That Christian volunteers in mission territories may witness to the love of Christ.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
|
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/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment