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, (Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, http://usccb.org/bible/readings/091612.cfm)
we read from the Gospel of Mark how Jesus asks his followers who
they think he is. Some recall that he is a prophet; Peter proclaims
that He is “the Christ.” But soon after this declaration, Peter asks
Jesus to forget his path to the Cross. Jesus challenges Peter to think
differently: differently about what ministry is; differently about what
life/death/resurrection are all about; differently about the nature of
power and authority. Jesus calls us to serve and to love -- even to the
point of dying out of love.Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org continues to witness to the Gospel mandate to love God and love our neighbors. We are deeply rooted and connected to the Church and Jesus’ mandate to care for our brothers and sisters. We are called to be clear on our own identity as Catholic Charities: we are not an ordinary community based organization (as good as they are). Catholic Charities is a sign of God’s promise of love and hope lived out daily by our caring for our neighbors in need. As the Letter to St. James states: “I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works,” we remain that visible witness of the Church responding to the short and long term needs and aspirations of persons, families and communities.
Reflection from Church Documents and Official Statements
Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship - Forming
Consciences For Faithful Citizenship - Part II - Applying Catholic
Teaching To Major Issues: A Summary Of Policy Positions Of The United
States Conference Of Catholic Bishops
63.
Politics is about values and issues as well as candidates and
officeholders. In this brief summary, we bishops call attention to
issues with significant moral dimensions that should be carefully
considered in each campaign and as policy decisions are made in the
years to come. As the descriptions below indicate, some issues involve
principles that can never be violated, such as the fundamental right to
life. Others reflect our judgment about the best way to apply Catholic
principles to policy issues. No summary could fully reflect the depth
and details of the positions taken through the work of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). While people of good will may
sometimes choose different ways to apply and act on some of our
principles, Catholics cannot ignore their inescapable moral challenges
or simply dismiss the Church's guidance or policy directions that flow
from these principles. For a more complete review of these policy
directions and their moral foundations, see the statements listed at the
end of this document.Human Life
64. Our 1998 statement Living the Gospel of Life declares, "Abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human life and dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental good and the condition for all others" (no. 5). Abortion, the deliberate killing of a human being before birth, is never morally acceptable and must always be opposed. Cloning and destruction of human embryos for research or even for potential cures are always wrong. The purposeful taking of human life by assisted suicide and euthanasia is not an act of mercy, but an unjustifiable assault on human life. Genocide, torture, and the direct and intentional targeting of noncombatants in war or terrorist attacks are always wrong.65. Laws that legitimize any of these practices are profoundly unjust and immoral. Our Conference supports laws and policies to protect human life to the maximum degree possible, including constitutional protection for the unborn and legislative efforts to end abortion and euthanasia. We also promote a culture of life by supporting laws and programs that encourage childbirth and adoption over abortion and by addressing poverty, providing health care, and offering other assistance to pregnant women, children, and families.
66. The USCCB calls for greater assistance for those who are sick and dying, through health care for all and effective and compassionate palliative care. We recognize that addressing this complex issue effectively will require collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors and across party lines. Policies and decisions regarding biotechnology and human experimentation should respect the inherent dignity of human life from its very beginning, regardless of the circumstances of its origin. Respect for human life and dignity is also the foundation for essential efforts to address and overcome the hunger, disease, poverty, and violence that take the lives of so many innocent people.
67. Catholics must also work to avoid war and to promote peace. Nations should protect the dignity of the human person and the right to life by finding more effective ways to prevent conflicts, to resolve them by peaceful means, and to promote reconstruction and reconciliation in the wake of conflicts. Nations have a right and obligation to defend human life and the common good against terrorism, aggression, and similar threats. This duty demands effective responses to terror, moral assessment of and restraint in the means used, respect for ethical limits on the use of force, a focus on the roots of terror, and fair distribution of the burdens of responding to terror. The Church has raised fundamental moral concerns about preventive use of military force.8 Our Church honors the commitment and sacrifice of those who serve in our nation's armed forces, and also recognizes the moral right to conscientious objection to war in general, a particular war, or a military procedure.
68. Even when military force can be justified as a last resort, it should not be indiscriminate or disproportionate. Direct and intentional attacks on noncombatants in war and terrorist acts are never morally acceptable. The use of weapons of mass destruction or other means of warfare that do not distinguish between civilians and soldiers is fundamentally immoral. The United States has a responsibility to work to reverse the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and to reduce its own reliance on weapons of mass destruction by pursuing progressive nuclear disarmament. It also must end its use of anti-personnel landmines and reduce its predominant role in the global arms trade. The war in Iraq confronts us with urgent moral choices. We support a "responsible transition" that ends the war in a way that recognizes the continuing threat of fanatical extremism and global terror, minimizes the loss of life, and addresses the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, the refugee crisis in the region, and the need to protect human rights, especially religious freedom. This transition should reallocate resources from war to the urgent needs of the poor.
69. Society has a duty to defend life against violence and to reach out to victims of crime. Yet our nation's continued reliance on the death penalty cannot be justified. Because we have other ways to protect society that are more respectful of human life, the USCCB supports efforts to end the use of the death penalty and, in the meantime, to restrain its use through broader use of DNA evidence, access to effective counsel, and efforts to address unfairness and injustice related to application of the death penalty.
Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspxSee website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.
For Daily Readings http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month
http://www1.villanova.edu/content/villanova/mission/heritage/stthomas/_jcr_content/widgetiparsys/image.img.gif/1315853221320.gif
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22. St. Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555).
St. Thomas was from Castile in Spain and received his surname from the town where he was raised. He received a superior education at the University of Alcala and became a popular professor of philosophy there.
After joining the Augustinian friars at Salamanca he was ordained and resumed his teaching–despite a continuing absentmindedness and poor memory. He became prior and then provincial of the friars, sending the first Augustinians to the New World. He was nominated by the emperor to the archbishopric of Granada, but refused. When the see again became vacant he was pressured to accept. The money his cathedral chapter gave him to furnish his house was given to a hospital instead. His explanation to them was that "our Lord will be better served by your money being spent on the poor in the hospital. What does a poor friar like myself want with furniture?"
He wore the same habit that he had received in the novitiate, mending it himself. The canons and domestics were ashamed of him, but they could not convince him to change. Several hundred poor came to Thomas's door each morning and received a meal, wine and money. When criticized because he was at times being taken advantage of, he replied, "If there are people who refuse to work, that is for the governor and the police to deal with. My duty is to assist and relieve those who come to my door." He took in orphans and paid his servants for every deserted child they brought to him. He encouraged the wealthy to imitate his example and be richer in mercy and charity than they were in earthly possessions.
Criticized because he refused to be harsh or swift in correcting sinners, he said, "Let him (the complainer) inquire whether St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom used anathemas and excommunication to stop the drunkenness and blasphemy which were so common among the people under their care."
As he lay dying, Thomas commanded that all the money he possessed be distributed to the poor. His material goods were to be given to the rector of his college. Mass was being said in his presence when after Communion he breathed his last, reciting the words: "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."
Thomas of Villanova was already called in his lifetime "the almsgiver" and "the father of the poor." He was canonized in 1658.
CHARITIES NEWSBYTES
Read Brian R Corbin’s Reflection on the Year of Faith https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/document.doc?id=3200&erid=5364625 published on-line by Catholic Charities USA
FIRST STEP FOR CHANGE
Catholic Charities will launch its 9th annual First Step for Change campaign the weekend of September 8-9, 2012. Participating families are asked to return their bottles to church the weekend of October 13-14, 2012. (dates are flexible) All Catholic Charities Service sites are approved drop-off locations. Please store bottles and/or money and checks in a safe location and contact Nikole Baringer, 330-744-8451 ext. 323 to make arrangements for pick-up by the Diocesan Office. Parishes are encouraged but not required to count and roll the change. We have coin counters at our office to do so as needed.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
September 2012
General Intention: That politicians may always act with honesty, integrity, and love for the truth.
Missionary Intention: Help for the Poorest Churches. That Christian communities may have a growing willingness to send missionaries, priests, and lay people, along with concrete resources, to the poorest Churches.
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.
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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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