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)
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On Sunday, (Feast of the Holy Family, http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/123012.cfm) we read from the Gospel of Luke about Jesus’ time in the Temple as his parents searched for Him, fearing he was lost in the crowd. Rather, Jesus calms His parents by reminding them that He was in His House. Like all parents, Mary and Joseph worried about their child. This Feast of the Holy Family reminds all of us about the model of community we are to share. St Paul’s letter to the Colossians articulates that model: “Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.”
Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org welcomes persons and families each day providing hope and help as we are able. Like the Holy Family who were forced to leave their homeland due to violence and fear, we provide assistance to many families who are newcomers to our land, welcoming them and assisting them with their immediate and long term needs. We in Catholic Charities aim to provide compassionate care to all families seeking help and hope. We do the best we can with the limited resources available. On many occasions, we provide advocacy for such families to obtain the material and legal help they need. Every day, we also hear from families who we helped who are so thankful for the assistance they obtained from Catholic Charities. It is because of our many generous benefactors, volunteers and staff that such help is possible. On behalf of all of us in Catholic Charities, thank you! Your gifts help each of us to find and experience “God among us” as we serve in Jesus’ name.
Reflection from Church Documents and Official Statements
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/images/year-of-faith-logo-montage.jpg
ZE12122402 - 2012-12-24
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-36239?l=english
IS THERE STILL NO ROOM IN THE INN, POPE ASKS
Encourages Imitating the Shepherds' Curiosity to See What God Has Said to Us
VATICAN CITY, December 24, 2012 (Zenit.org). by Kathleen Naab
Benedict XVI is asking if Mary, Joseph and the Infant Jesus can find room in the inn even today, or if we too are guilty of turning away God himself.
The Pope made this question during tonight's Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
The Holy Father suggested that our attitude toward the homeless, towards refugees and migrants "takes on a deeper dimension: do we really have room for God when he seeks to enter under our roof? Do we have time and space for him? Do we not actually turn away God himself?"
The Pontiff lamented that the "faster we can move" with all of modernity's "time-saving appliances," the less time we have. "And God? The question of God never seems urgent," he said. "Our time is already completely full."
The Bishop of Rome asked if God has any place even in our thinking.
"If thinking is to be taken seriously, it must be structured in such a way that the 'God hypothesis' becomes superfluous," he said. "There is no room for him. Not even in our feelings and desires is there any room for him. We want ourselves. We want what we can seize hold of, we want happiness that is within our reach, we want our plans and purposes to succeed. We are so 'full' of ourselves that there is no room left for God. And that means there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger."
Sounds of heaven
In contrast, the Pope noted the song of the angels, who begin their hymn with the words "Glory to God in the highest."
"God is glorious," Benedict declared. "God is pure light, the radiance of truth and love. He is good. He is true goodness, goodness par excellence. The angels surrounding him begin by simply proclaiming the joy of seeing God’s glory. Their song radiates the joy that fills them. In their words, it is as if we were hearing the sounds of heaven. There is no question of attempting to understand the meaning of it all, but simply the overflowing happiness of seeing the pure splendour of God’s truth and love. We want to let this joy reach out and touch us: truth exists, pure goodness exists, pure light exists. God is good, and he is the supreme power above all powers. All this should simply make us joyful tonight, together with the angels and the shepherds."
The Holy Father went on to speak of the second part of the angels' message -- "peace on earth among men" -- considering the role of religion in history's wars, and in peace.
"It is true that religion can become corrupted and hence opposed to its deepest essence, when people think they have to take God’s cause into their own hands, making God into their private property," he said. "[...] [Y]et it is not true that denial of God would lead to peace. If God’s light is extinguished, man’s divine dignity is also extinguished. Then the human creature would cease to be God’s image, to which we must pay honour in every person, in the weak, in the stranger, in the poor. Then we would no longer all be brothers and sisters, children of the one Father, who belong to one another on account of that one Father. The kind of arrogant violence that then arises, the way man then despises and tramples upon man: we saw this in all its cruelty in the last century. Only if God’s light shines over man and within him, only if every single person is desired, known and loved by God is his dignity inviolable, however wretched his situation may be."
God's peace
The Holy Father invited prayer for the places where Christ lived and for the town of Bethlehem. "Let us pray that Israelis and Palestinians may be able to live their lives in the peace of the one God and in freedom," he said. "Let us also pray for the countries of the region, for Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and their neighbours: that there may be peace there, that Christians in those lands where our faith was born may be able to continue living there, that Christians and Muslims may build up their countries side by side in God’s peace."
The Pontiff concluded the homily by again encouraging the faithful to give space to God.
"The shepherds made haste," he said. "Holy curiosity and holy joy impelled them. In our case, it is probably not very often that we make haste for the things of God. God does not feature among the things that require haste. The things of God can wait, we think and we say.
"And yet he is the most important thing, ultimately the one truly important thing. Why should we not also be moved by curiosity to see more closely and to know what God has said to us? At this hour, let us ask him to touch our hearts with the holy curiosity and the holy joy of the shepherds, and thus let us go over joyfully to Bethlehem, to the Lord who today once more comes to meet us."
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On ZENIT's Web page:
Full text: www.zenit.org/article-36238?l=english
Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspxSee website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4675991886563696&pid=1.7
TUESDAY, JANUARY 1. The Octave Day of Christmas Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010113.cfm
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World Day of Peace
For the full text of the Holy Father's message for the World Day of Peace, "Jesus Beatitude Tells Us That Peace is both a Messianic Gift and the Fruit of Human Effort" go to:http://www.zenit.org/article-36183?l=english
For Daily Readings http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month
CHARITIES NEWSBYTES
KEEP THE KIDS WARM Campaign. Please consider a small gift to help families struggling with winter related utilities. http://ccdoy.org/slider/are-you-ready-to-keep-the-kids-warm-we-are/
PAPAL INTENTIONS: JANUARY 2013
The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
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 http://www.ccdoy.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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