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.stgilesaintree.org.uk/images/module1/Epiphany.jpg
On Sunday, (Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, http://usccb.org/bible/readings/010613.cfm) we read from the Gospel of Matthew about the journey of the magi seeking the star /light that that they are looking for. Today we celebrate God’s manifestation to the entire world. The magi are “overjoyed” when they find that place which the star points its light; this joy is shared with each of us today. We too are called to share that joy with others.
Catholic Charities (http://www.ccdoy.org) shares this joy each day when a person or family visits one of our ministry/service sites. We recognize that when someone comes to us for assistance, they are seeking hope and support. Even though we are “Catholic Charities” we serve all persons of various faiths or no religious affiliation at all. This feast of the Epiphany -- the manifestation of God to all persons -- calls us to welcome everyone to our doors. We truly want to share that joy with anyone we encounter. Your gifts and talents provide that love and welcome to all persons, each day.
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
ZE12123001 - 2012-12-30
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-36255?l=english
"FAITH IS A PRECIOUS GIFT TO NOURISH"
"A special prayer to the Lord for all the families of the world"VATICAN CITY, December 30, 2012 (Zenit.org).
Here is the translation of the Holy Father's Angelus address to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today (Sunday December 30) is the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth. In the liturgy the passage from the Gospel of Luke presents us with the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph who, faithful to the tradition, go up to Jerusalem for the Passover together with the 12 year old Jesus. The first time that Jesus entered the Temple of the Lord was 40 days after his birth, when his parents offered “a pair of turtle doves or young pigeons” for him (Luke 2:24), that is, the sacrifice poor people offered. “Luke, whose entire Gospel is pervaded by a theology of the poor and of poverty, makes us understand ... that Jesus’ family was numbered among the poor of Israel; he makes us understand that is precisely in them that the fulfillment of the promise comes to fruition” (“Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives,” 96 [Italian edition]). Today Jesus is again in the Temple, but this time he has a different role, which involves him personally. With Mary and Joseph he undertakes the pilgrimage to Jerusalem according to the prescription of the Law (cf. Exodus 23:17; 34:23 ff.), even though he was not yet 13: a sign of the deep religiosity of the Holy Family. However, when his parents set out to return to Nazareth, something unexpected happens: without saying anything about it, he remains in the city. Mary and Joseph search for him for 3 days and find him in the Temple speaking with the teachers of the Law (cf. Luke 2:46-47); and when they ask him for an explanation, Jesus answers that they must not be surprised because he was where he was supposed to be, that was his house, with the Father, who is God (cf. “Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives,” 143 [Italian edition]). “He professes to be in the temple of his Father,” writes Origen, “that Father whom he has revealed and of whom he says that he is the Son” (Homilies on the Gospel of Luke, 18:15).
Mary and Joseph’s worry over Jesus is the same as all parents who raise a child, introduce him to life and to the understanding of reality. Thus, today we must say a special prayer to the Lord for all the families of the world. Imitating the Holy Family of Nazareth, parents seriously concern themselves with the development and education of their children so that they grow up to become responsible men and women and honest citizens, never forgetting that faith is a precious gift to nourish in their children and to do this by personal example as well. We also pray that every child be welcomed as a gift of God and be sustained by the love of father and mother so that he grow like the Lord Jesus “in wisdom, age and grace before God and men” (Luke 2:52). May the love, fidelity and dedication of Mary and Joseph always be an example for all Christian spouses, who are not their children’s friends or the owners of their children’s lives but the stewards of this incomparable gift of God.
May the silence of Joseph, the just man (cf. Matthew 1:19), and the example of Mary, who treasured everything in her heart (cf. Luke 2:51), make us enter into the mystery of the Holy Family with complete faith and with whole of our humanity. I wish for all Christian families to live in the presence of God with the same love and the same joy as the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
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://flic.kr/p/u1J2b
SATURDAY January 12 St. Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700)
“God closes a door and then opens a window,” people sometimes say when dealing with their own disappointment or someone else’s. That was certainly true in Marguerite’s case. Children from European as well as Native American backgrounds in seventeenth-century Canada benefited from her great zeal and unshakable trust in God’s providence.
Born the sixth of 12 children in Troyes, France, Marguerite at the age of 20 believed that she was called to religious life. Her applications to the Carmelites and Poor Clares were unsuccessful. A priest friend suggested that perhaps God had other plans for her.
In 1654, the governor of the French settlement in Canada visited his sister, an Augustinian canoness in Troyes. Marguerite belonged to a sodality connected to that convent. The governor invited her to come to Canada and start a school in Ville-Marie (eventually the city of Montreal). When she arrived, the colony numbered 200 people with a hospital and a Jesuit mission chapel.
Soon after starting a school, she realized her need for coworkers. Returning to Troyes, she recruited a friend, Catherine Crolo, and two other young women. In 1667 they added classes at their school for Indian children. A second trip to France three years later resulted in six more young women and a letter from King Louis XIV, authorizing the school. The Congregation of Notre Dame was established in 1676 but its members did not make formal religious profession until 1698 when their Rule and constitutions were approved.
Marguerite established a school for Indian girls in Montreal. At the age of 69, she walked from Montreal to Quebec in response to the bishop’s request to establish a community of her sisters in that city. By the time she died, she was referred to as the “Mother of the Colony.” Marguerite was canonized in 1982.
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. Visit 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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