Celebrating Catholic Charities Week May 5-11
CHARLOTTE — Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte will celebrate Catholic Charities Week May 5-11. This is the 70th anniversary of Catholic Charities’ service to the people of western North Carolina.
For seven decades now, the mission of Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte has been to strengthen families, build communities and reduce poverty.
TRANSITION OUT OF POVERTY
Starting in May, Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte will offer the Transition Out of Poverty program through their three offices: Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem. This new initiative is in response to families’ repeated need for assistance in hopes of getting to the root cause and helping them to become self-sufficient.
“In the last year, more than 3,600 households visited our food pantries multiple times,” says Sandy Buck, Charlotte regional director. “Many of the individuals we serve live from one financial emergency to the next and lack the means to take care of daily and household living expenses. They have to make use of ‘give and go’ community services without the benefit of addressing the roots of their situations.”
This new initiative will enhance the food pantry services with “wrap-around” case management, Buck says.
“Case management is a systematic approach to service provision that involves planning, securing, coordinating, monitoring and advocating for unified goals and services with organizations and personnel on behalf of individuals and families,” she explains.
Catholic Charities believes that this service model seeks to better meet the needs of their clients through individualization of services.
“We will provide our program participants with longer-term strategies and solutions towards sustainable outcomes,” Buck adds.
TOP families will be able to receive as much food as they need for the month, and they will be accompanied on their journey out of poverty by a well-trained volunteer case coordinator – someone who will be there to offer support, guidance and education. Both the family and the volunteer will have the guidance of Catholic Charities’ professional staff.
“The Catholic Charities TOP program is unique as no other local agency provides free case management to connect participants to local resources for education, employment, affordable housing, and health and wellness, and directly provides as much food as a participant desires,” she noted.
Catholic Charities’ case management services and food availability are offered by appointment, so participants do not have to wait in long lines and can be arranged at times convenient to them so they do not need to miss work.
“We work with other local service providers to ensure various participant needs are met and have compiled a comprehensive list of local resources for our case coordinators to use in providing appropriate referrals based on participants’ individual needs,” Buck explains.
She says the goal of case management services provided in all of Catholic Charities’ programs is “to help our participants attain self-sufficiency. And participants in all our programs can receive food if needed. That is the benefit of ‘wrap-around services.’ We are looking at the whole person and working with them to help them achieve their goals,” she says.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Want to help?
Catholic Charities needs many volunteers to run the Transition Out of Poverty program and donations to meet the increased need for food. Volunteer roles are volunteer case coordinators (intensive training provided), receptionists, intake and assessment volunteers, food packers and shoppers. Interested individuals can contact the volunteer coordinators in each office for more information.
Go online to www.ccdoc.org for details.
More online
Read more about the history of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Charlotte
70 years of strengthening families, building communities and reducing poverty
‘How do we trust in God?’
CHARLOTTE — Dr. Timothy Gray, founder of Formed.org and president of the Augustine Institute, gave the keynote address to members of the Charlotte chapter of Legatus at the Ballantyne Country Club April 4.
Legatus is an international organization of Catholic business leaders and their spouses who strive to be “ambassadors for Christ in the marketplace.” Legatus members meet monthly to grow in their faith, network and share their experiences and insights as business leaders in their communities.
The Legatus Charlotte chapter was formed in June 2016 with the approval of Bishop Peter Jugis. Out of 90 chapters worldwide, it is currently the only Legatus chapter in North Carolina.
Prior to the keynote address April 4, Legatus members gathered to pray the rosary and attend Mass which was celebrated by their chaplain, Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey.
After dinner, Gray delivered his address, entitled “Can I trust in God? How do we trust in God?”
“The theme of trusting in God is an important one, especially in light of the crisis in the Church, the crises in society in general,” Gray said. “And trusting in God is at the root of all crises, especially this one.”
Gray noted that we live in a post-modern culture where people can hop on a flight from Denver to Charlotte in a few hours like he did, and people wonder if they really need to believe in God. People also question whether religion has become outdated.
“What is really at the heart of that is supernatural faith,” he said. “Do we believe that God is present, as a Catholic that He is present in the Eucharist?
“Can I really believe that God personally loves me? That’s really the heart of the challenge.”
Gray said the key to trust is time and effort. “To trust God takes work and it takes a relationship.”
Throughout Scripture, God shows that He can be trusted, he noted, and the Bible encourages us not to become discouraged.
“What can happen in the Church today? People get so discouraged. We have a lot of people who are culturally Catholic and not faithfully Catholic, both amongst the laity and our leadership,” he observed. “Now what we are going to have is people who stay over the next decade, are going to be those who are faithful. So the voices of those who care about Christ and are faithful, both in the clergy and amongst the laity, are going to be voices that are going to be the loudest. They are going to be the ones driving the renewal of the Church,” he said.
More and more people want to know their Catholic faith more deeply, he added. “Those who are going to stay Catholic, they want to plug in and know their faith. They want to learn and be strengthened in their walk with God. They want to be part of the rebuilding. They want to be part of the renewal.”
Trust in God is the key to this rebuilding and renewal of the Church, he said.
“The key to the new evangelization, the key to the renewal of the Church in this moment in need for reform, is radical trust – a supernatural trust in who God the Father is, in who Jesus is. God wants to be present to His people in spite of our failures. No matter how much we have sinned as the people of God, God is still the God who gathers His people into His arms.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
Get more info
The Legatus Charlotte chapter welcomes new members. Find out more about Legatus at www.legatus.org/chapter/charlotte. Questions? Contact Carla Sztyber at 704-779-0581 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Bishop, clergy, people gather for annual Chrism Mass April 16
CHARLOTTE — “The call to holiness” – conforming ourselves more closely to Jesus Christ – is what will restore the Church in response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis, Bishop Peter Jugis told his fellow priests during the Chrism Mass April 16.
The annual liturgy, a tradition of Holy Week, drew more than 100 priests of the Diocese of Charlotte, members of several religious orders, and several hundred laypeople to St. Patrick Cathedral, where the bishop celebrated Mass and blessed the oils that will be used for the sacraments in every parish over the coming year.
“This day each year the Chrism Mass is about the renewal of our commitment to holiness, as we renew the promises of our priesthood ordination and bless the oils and consecrate the sacred chrism to be used in the sanctification, the holiness of the whole people of God,” Bishop Jugis said.
Priests certainly are called to be holy, the bishop noted in his homily, but Christ calls all people to holiness. Referring to a message Pope Francis gave the American bishops during their retreat last January, Bishop Jugis noted that the pope emphasized that an absolutely essential piece of our response to the clergy sex abuse scandal is holiness, the call to holiness.
“New protocols and procedures are necessary, yes, but they are not enough in themselves because the scandal is more than a management problem, it’s more than an organizational problem,” the bishop said of the pope’s message.
“There must be a commitment to holiness.”
Pope Francis, the bishop said, made “the point by using themes like ‘metanoia’; like acknowledging our need for constant conversion; like letting grace work more effectively within us; like being open to the efficacy and transformative power of God’s Kingdom; and, yes, the very words ‘the call to holiness.’”
“These words the Holy Father addressed to the bishops, but they should also be heeded by everyone – clergy and laity. Everyone in the whole Church, throughout the Church, must respond to the call to holiness because holiness is what restores the beauty of the Church,” Bishop Jugis said.
“So,” he continued, “we all must be resolved to be more united to the Lord Jesus and be more closely conformed to Him. We must all allow ourselves to be called out of spiritual mediocrity and to turn away from any compromise with sin, to greater holiness with Jesus – both in our personal lives and in the life of the Church.”
The priests of the diocese listened intently as the bishop directed his homily to them prior to the renewal of their priestly vows.
“What a wonderful and blessed day this is each year when we come together for the renewal of the promises of our priestly ordination,” Bishop Jugis told them.
The Chrism Mass is “a very powerful witness to the unity of the ordained priesthood,” when priests of various backgrounds and countries of origin come together at the cathedral, united as priests for the Charlotte diocese “and yet all of us, however, sharing in the one priesthood of the High Priest, Christ,” he said. “We are His brothers and all of us are sharing that common brotherhood, a sacred brotherhood in the Lord.”
“It is a beautiful witness, therefore, to the unity across the miles of our common priesthood.”
The Chrism Mass is also a celebration that people anticipate with joy, he said, because it is when the oils used to sanctify people in the sacraments are blessed, “for anointings of various kinds, which comes from the Anointed One Himself, Jesus Christ.”
The oils that the bishop blesses at the Chrism Mass – the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens and the sacred chrism – are used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and anointing of the sick, as well as for ordination of priests and consecration of churches.
“The sanctification of the faithful – that is our duty as priests,” Bishop Jugis emphasized. “Our duty is to sanctify the people of God and to help them to grow in holiness.”
That duty is undertaken, he continued, “through the teaching of the faith, through the proclamation and preaching of the Gospel and the Word of God, through the celebration of the sacraments, through shepherding the faithful in love.”
“That is what we commit ourselves to do in the renewal of our priestly promises,” he told the priests.
Above all, he said, they must take to heart their response to the question which focuses on the holiness of the priest: “Are you resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus, and more closely conformed to Him?”
“And a second question, serving the holiness of the people of God: ‘Are you resolved to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God in the Holy Eucharist and the other liturgical rites and to discharge faithfully the sacred office of teaching, serving the holiness of the people of God?’”
It’s “so beautiful the way those two elements come together in very brief questions that are asked of us in a few moments; to pay attention to the holiness of the priest and to pay attention to the holiness of the people of God,” Bishop Jugis said.
“That’s our mission, that’s our duty as priests: holiness for everyone, for ourselves included.”
“This day each year the Chrism Mass is about the renewal of our commitment to holiness, as we renew the promises of our priesthood ordination and bless the oils and consecrate the sacred chrism to be used in the sanctification, the holiness of the whole people of God,” he said. “What a wonderful and blessed day to be with Christ Jesus the Lord, the Holy One.”
— SueAnn Howell, Catholic News Herald. Photos by SueAnn Howell, Catholic News Herald and provided by James Sarkis.
Bishop Jugis' Homily Chrism Mass 2019
“What a wonderful and blessed day this is each year when we come together for the renewal of the promises of our priestly ordination.
This Mass is a very powerful witness to the unity of the ordained priesthood, when we all come together as one in the cathedral church from many different backgrounds, because we are priests incardinated in the Diocese of Charlotte. We are priest members of religious congregations serving in the diocese. We are priests from other dioceses serving in the Diocese of Charlotte. We are priests from many different continents, from many different countries.
And yet, all of us however sharing in the one priesthood of the High Priest, Christ. We are His brothers and all of us are sharing that common brotherhood, at sacred brotherhood in the Lord.
It is a beautiful witness, therefore, to the unity across the miles of our common priesthood.
This Chrism Mass is also such a wonderful, blessed day that everyone looks forward to for the blessing of the oils – the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens and the consecration of the Sacred Chrism – all of these oils which are used for the sanctification of the faithful. For anointings of various kinds which comes from the Anointed One Himself, Jesus Christ.
The sanctification of the faithful. That is our duty as priests, the sanctification of the faithful People of God. Through the many ways that we accomplish that. Through the teaching of the faith, through the proclamation and preaching of the Gospel and the Word of God, through the celebration of the sacraments. Through shepherding the faithful in love.
Our duty is to sanctify the People of God and to help them to grow in holiness.
That is what we commit ourselves to do in the renewal of our priestly promises.
If you look closely at those promises that are renewed at this Chrism Mass, they do address the duties of holiness, and it is a duty that we undertake.
First, the duty of the holiness of the priest.
When we respond to the question, ‘Are you resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus, and more closely conformed to Him?’ … The holiness of the priest.
And a second question, serving the holiness of the people of God; ‘Are you resolved to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God in the holy Eucharist and the other liturgical rites and to discharge faithfully the sacred office of teaching, serving the holiness of the people of God?’
So beautiful the way those two elements come together in very brief questions that are asked of us in a few moments; to pay attention to the holiness of the priest and to pay attention to the holiness of the people of God.
That’s our mission, that’s our duty as priests, holiness for everyone; for ourselves included.
The Holy Father Pope Francis wrote a letter to the U.S. bishops when we were together on retreat in January at Mundelein.
He wrote that, ‘An absolutely essential piece of our response to the clergy sex abuse scandal is holiness, the call to holiness.’
New protocols and procedures are necessary, yes, but they are not enough in themselves because the scandal is more than a management problem, it’s more than an organizational problem he said.
There must be a commitment to holiness.
He makes the point by using themes like ‘metanoia’, like acknowledging our need for constant conversion, like letting grace work more effectively within us, like being open to the efficacy and transformative power of God’s kingdom, and yes, the very words ‘the call to holiness.’
These words the Holy Father addressed to the bishops, but they should also be heeded by everyone – clergy and laity - everyone in the whole Church, throughout the Church must respond to the call to holiness because holiness is what restores the beauty of the Church.
So we all must be resolved to be more united to the Lord Jesus and be more closely conformed to Him. We must all allow ourselves to be called out of spiritual mediocrity and to turn away from any compromise with sin, to greater holiness with Jesus both in our personal lives and in the life of the Church.
This day each year the Chrism Mass is about the renewal of our commitment to holiness, as we renew the promises of our priesthood ordination and bless the oils and consecrate the sacred chrism to be used in the sanctification, the holiness of the whole people of God.
What a wonderful and blessed day to be with Christ Jesus the Lord, the Holy One."