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://prayerbookguide.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/jesusentersjerusalem.jpg
On Sunday, ( Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032413.cfm ) we read from the Gospel of Luke about the trial, passion, death and burial of Jesus. We enter into that place where Jesus confronts his enemies, but only shows love and mercy. We hear in the second reading that powerful hymn recorded in Philippians, that Jesus, not grasping at His divinity, ‘Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness.” We have now seen God face to face in the Person of Jesus (the Second Person of the Trinity), made flesh, and sacrificing His life, out of incredible and “wondrous love” (as the song goes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP0tEceh8Bg), to give us abundant life. As we enter into this Holy Week, reflect on how this love calls us to give love as we have received it by the Lord, in this most wonderful act. How do we share such love?
Catholic Charities (http://www.ccdoy.org)
is called upon to “organize love.” Through our efforts, we bring
persons, families and communities who bring their own assets and
giftedness but need some extra help, with those who are willing and able
to share their assets of time, treasure and talent to provide
assistance to those in need. We in Catholic Charities have known this
great and wondrous love of God, and help organize the Church to respond
in kind. As newly elected Pope Francis stated in his press conference
on Saturday, March 16, “How I would like a Church which is poor and for
the poor!” (see http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-francis-address-to-journalists)
Through Catholic Charities -- Caritas around the world -- the Pope
continues to organize love globally and locally through each of his
bishops. This is a great honor and privilege to be at the service of
the poor. We continue to share that wondrous love of Christ to our
brothers and sisters in the name of the Church. Thanks for your
constant support to the Annual Bishop’s Appeal for Catholic Charities
and Church (http://www.doy.org) as we continue to give persons, families and communities hope that they too will find love.
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
Vatican City, March 17, 2013 (Zenit.org)
Here is the translation of Pope Francis' Angelus address given at St. Peter's Square
Jesus
attitude is striking: we do not hear words of scorn, we do not hear
words of condemnation, but only words of love, of mercy, that invite us
to conversion. Neither do I condemn you: go and sin no more! (8:11).
Well, brothers and sisters, the face of God is that of a merciful
father, who always has patience. Have you thought about God's patience,
the patience that he has for each of us? That is his mercy. He always
has patience, patience with us, he understands us, he waits for us, he
does not weary of forgiving us if we know how to return to him with a
contrite heart. Great is the mercy of the Lord, the Psalm says.
Continue reading http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/on-forgiveness
Some important date(s) this week:
See website http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.
MONDAY, March 25 Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
The
feast of the Annunciation, now recognized as a solemnity, was first
celebrated in the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the
Incarnation: God has become one of us. From all eternity God had decided
that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now,
as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man
embraces all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one
great act of love. Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will
accept a life of suffering and an agonizing death: “No one has greater
love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Mary
has an important role to play in God’s plan. From all eternity God
destined her to be the mother of Jesus and closely related to him in the
creation and redemption of the world. We could say that God’s decrees
of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of Incarnation.
Because Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to
play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It
is God’s grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure
she is only by God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act.
Everything she is she owes to the Trinity.
She
is the virgin-mother who fulfills Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah
could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out the
will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38).
Together
with Jesus, the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven
and earth. She is the human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the
possibilities of human existence. She received into her lowliness the
infinite love of God. She shows how an ordinary human being can reflect
God in the ordinary circumstances of life. She exemplifies what the
Church and every member of the Church is meant to become. She is the
ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of God. She
manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of us.
For Daily Readings http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month
CHARITIES NEWSBYTES
CRS Rice Bowl brings Lent to life.
http://www.crsricebowl.org/
CRS
Rice Bowl is a Lenten faith formation program that helps us to live in
solidarity with the poor and vulnerable around the world.
We pray to reflect on what type of person we are called to be.
We fast to remove the things that get between us and God, and to remember those without enough to eat.
We give to honor Jesus’ call to serve those in need.
Twenty
five percent of the Rice Bowl collection remain in the Diocese to fund
Catholic Charities and various parish efforts to feed the hungry.
Seventy five percent goes to CRS for their work in global food
security.
PAPAL INTENTIONS:
MARCH 2013
Respect for Nature. That respect for nature may grow with the awareness that all creation is God's work entrusted to human responsibility.Clergy. That bishops, priests, and deacons may be tireless messengers of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
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 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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