Love is in the air

February is here, and so is the winter weather. (It's been so gray and gloomy.) Thankfully, there are a several great things to celebrate and warm our souls. Not only do we celebrate Valentine's Day (challenge yourself to not only show some extra love to those who matter most to you but also to those who might not have anyone else to show them love), but we also celebrate Black History Month, the Presentation of the Lord, and of course the start of Lent. 

Speaking of Lent, here's an article from the Catholic Telegraph reminding us of the rules of fasting and abstinence during the season. There will likely be other resources available from the CT, such as daily reflections, where to find Ash Wednesday services, and how to incorporate Lent into your daily life. 

Speaking of Black History Month, the Catholic Telegraph has recently shared two articles - one a national article about Black nuns in the U.S. and the other an article about the Black Catholic community in West Dayton. Check them out! 

We humbly ask that you continue to pray for us. This is going to be an exciting and challenging year, and while we're excited to get things going, your prayers - and engagement! - will make our success possible. God help us!

If there's anything that we can do to support the work happening in your community, please let us know. We're trying to be more present to families of parishes, especially during the Beacons of Light process, and we'd love to (re)connect with you and work to build up God's kingdom of peace, justice, and kinship in your corner of the kingdom.

We will continue to send out Regional Updates with time-sensitive reminders and Action Alerts encouraging everyone to bring their voice and power to bear on important issues. 

We wish you a wonderful start to your Lenten journey, and - as always - we look forward to seeing you soon as we continue to stand up for justice, solidarity, and equity. 

Peace and all good,

Tammie, Sr. Christine, Jill, Glen, & Andrew

Election 2024

As you are most certainly aware, 2024 is an election year - perhaps most notably a presidential election year. And as has been the case for many years, our country is deeply divided as to the how to move forward (and our Church is no different). Thus, as we have tried to do in each of the last several elections, our office will be offering guidance to Catholics: encouraging everyone to vote, imploring people to vote with their faith as their guide (not their political affiliation), and supporting Catholics as they seek to be voices for compassion and understanding (not voices for division and vitriol). Be on the lookout in the coming months for multiple communications, including videos, community presentations, and parish resources.

For now, feel free to (re)visit our Faithful Citizenship webpage which already contains lots of resources - and pray for peace!

BRING LENT TO LIFE WITH CRS RICE BOWL

Through CRS Rice Bowl, we journey with members of our human family around the world and commit our Lenten prayers, fasting, and almsgiving to deepening our faith and serving those in need. There is something to deepen everyone’s Lenten journey with CRS Rice Bowl. There are lessons and prayers for all ages, videos, reflections, Stations of the Cross, and even delicious yet simple recipes to share as a community or a family. Communicate easily using CRS’ premade materials such as these bulletin entries for each week. Rice bowl orders are recurring each year, but if your parish is new to it or needs to make changes, please do so ASAP. Visit www.crsricebowl.org or contact Jillian Foster jfoster@catholicaoc.org for more information.

Grant Application Season

The application to receive local CCHD grant money is available on our website - https://resources.catholicaoc.org/offices/catholic-social-action/task-forces-committees/cchd. The application is due Friday, March 15.  

For those that don't know, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), founded in 1969, is the U.S. bishops’ social justice, anti-poverty campaign. Locally, CCHD operates out of our office and is supported by the Archdiocesan CCHD Committee that consists of parishioners from across the archdiocese. Groups within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati can apply for grants up to $10,000.

Besides the application, you can also find information about our current grantees (national and local), the criteria for applying, and our annual collection (which occurs in November). 

If you have any questions about CCHD, please reach out to Glen in our office. 

Graduate Assistant Program Recruiting

Campus Ministry at University of Dayton is currently seeking faith filled individuals who have ministerial gifts and a desire to continue to be formed for service in the church. Our Campus Ministry Graduate Assistant Program is a unique opportunity to engage in direct ministry while studying for a Masters in theology or pastoral ministry.

The Campus Ministry GA program is designed to be a holistic formation experience, and we are seeking candidates who are looking to take the next step in their ministry formation and education. For more information about the program, including next steps if you feel called to apply, please see our website. You can also contact Kelly Adamson, the director of the program, at kadamson1@udayton.edu if you have any questions.

Annual Local Foods Conference

The Southeast-St Mary Deanery Catholic Rural Life announces its annual Local Foods Conference will be on Sunday, February 4, 2024 from 1:30 - 4:30 PM at
St. George Church in Georgetown, Ohio. The day will include a keynote presentation on the State of Agriculture in the region as well as a presentation on local Food trucks. Three workshops will follow opportunities to meet with several local producers who will have displays that day.  In addition to Catholic Rural Life a program of the Catholic Social Action Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati,  the event is co-sponsored by the Adams Brown Counties Diabetes Education Coalition, Adams Brown Community Action Partnership and Brown County OSU Extension Office. All are welcome.

Just Faith Co-facilitator Needed

Hopefully you're familiar with the gospel justice formation program, Just Faith. Over 20 years ago, Just Faith was started as a sort of mirror of RCIA but with a focus on Catholic Social Teaching. 

St. Columban Parish in Loveland will be running the program in 2024, and they are looking for an experienced co-facilitator to work with them. The first meeting will be on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.  

If you are interested, please contact Jay Porcaro - jayporcaro@aol.com. Thanks in advance for prayerfully considering this opportunity to form and educate our sisters and brothers. 

We have all been devastated by the war going on in the Holy Land. The loss of life, trauma, and violence have been horrific; and we pray ardently for an end to the fighting and the safety for all people.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued two statements since the conflict started in October, and we wanted to share a bit of their words.

From their Oct. 8^th statement:

The world is once again shocked and horrified by the outbreak of ferocious violence in the Holy Land… (We) join with Pope Francis in his call for peace and his condemnation of this widespread outbreak of violence… May all who love the Holy Land seek to bring about among all the parties engaged in the fighting a cessation of violence, respect for civilian populations and the release of hostages.

From their Oct. 27^th statement:

As Pope Francis reminds the world, ‘War is always a defeat; it is a destruction of human fraternity.’ We continue to pray for the victims caught in this cycle of violence as well as the regional and international actors who are being drawn into the conflict. We must not grow weary of offering our prayers and support for peace and justice for all concerned. A lasting solution respecting the rights, needs, and aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians remains essential to these ends.

Finally, we would like to share a few words from a local perspective. EquaSion, a strong, local partner in the Cincinnati interfaith world and the parent organization of the Festival of Faiths, has issued a statement:

Even though this is all happening thousands of miles away, it is as local as it can be and is impacting us directly… We are neighbors. We work together. We break bread together. Our children go to school together. We must recognize the humanity in one another and will continue to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia right here in our own community. Despite our differences, we keep the lines of communication open, and we listen. 

The war is so far away. We feel helpless, not sure what we can do that’s constructive… As individuals, we can reach out to our neighbors who are feeling the pain of this conflict to let them know we’re thinking of them with words of love and support. 

Please keep all of those affected by this awful situation in your prayers, and please do all you can do to bring peace into the world and into the lives of our neighbors.

Advocacy Opportunities

Afghan Adjustment Act

Stand in Solidarity with Our Afghan Neighbors

Help answer Pope Francis’ call for us to “welcome, protect, promote, and integrate” these newcomers by completing this action alert in support of the Afghan Adjustment Act. 

Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act

Urge Congress to Safeguard Children in Need and Ensure Communities Have Access to Religious Workers

Help ensure vulnerable youth receive the protections they deserve and American communities can benefit from the contributions of religious workers by completing this action alert in support of the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act.

Help Communities Affected by Climate Change

Urge Congress to support the Green Climate Fund and Development Assistance.

Urge Congress to address the impact of climate change by providing robust funding for poverty-reducing international assistance programs in the fiscal year 2024 budget, especially for the Green Climate Fund and Development Assistance. 

Pass Funding Measures to Support People in Ukraine and Gaza

Fund vital humanitarian assistance for people caught in these brutal conflicts.

The lives and safety of millions of our sisters and brothers in Gaza and Ukraine are at stake. Our faith calls us to act quickly and decisively in the face of these humanitarian emergencies to avoid further suffering.

Support Women and Families in Need

Tell Congress to Fund WIC for All Families in Need.

Tell Congress to continue its long history of bipartisan support for WIC by providing the program with adequate resources to serve all eligible participants with food that meets their nutrition needs, including the current benefit for fruits and vegetables. Supporting WIC is one way we can help build a society that welcomes new life and is oriented toward helping children and their parents, especially those who are most vulnerable.

Advocate for Women and Children

Last year, our state mobilized like never before to protect the sanctity of life and support families, women, and children. It was an amazing and beautiful effort, and our work is of course far from done. We must continue to Stand With Moms in Need.

We now have before us an additional opportunity to carry on this work of protecting life, this time at the federal level. This bill, now before Congress and endorsed by the USCCB, moves us toward this goal.

The bill is an effort to Fund WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) for All Families in Need. WIC provides financial support for healthy food and nutrition. If Congress doesn’t act, there is the very real possibility that – for the first time in decades – people could be waitlisted to receive support, and we all know that you can’t wait to get food to support yourself and your children. You can click here to contact your elected officials about this legislation.

Food for EVERYONE

Support the RESTORE Act! End the SNAP benefit ban for people with drug-related felony convictions.

This ban does nothing to advance public safety and is counterproductive,  preventing returning citizens from fully reintegrating into society. Instead of continuing to punish persons who have paid their debt to society and their families, we should offer the necessary tools – including food – to help them lead a more productive life. Ask Congress to end this inhumane ban.

From the Respect Life Office

February Events

Bob Wurzelbacher, Director of Respect Life Ministries

A New Chaplain for Deaf Ministry  

We are incredibly excited to welcome Fr. Charles Munachiso Onumaegbu to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Fr. Charles knows American Sign Language (ASL), and will serve as Chaplain for Deaf Ministry across the Archdiocese.

Fr. Charles was born in 1983 in Nigeria as the youngest of 11 children.  His nickname is Shosho, which is simply the way he mispronounced his middle name (Munachiso) as a young child. His parents both served as elementary school teachers. Life was difficult for his family. They were poor, and his walk to school and Church every day took 30 minutes. He entered a seminary high school primarily because it was a better education, since he already had an older brother in major seminary at the time. Upon graduating from High School, his older brother was already a Deacon, so he chose to study Environmental Engineering at Federal University of Technology Owerri in Nigeria.  While studying for his degree, he was captivated by a weekly television show teaching sign language. After graduating, he went to visit his brother, now a priest,  who connected him with some Italian nuns (Srs. Maurav and Claudia) of the Daughters of Providence for the Deaf. They told him he looked like a seminarian, but he objected that a family cannot have more than one priest. They told him of a family they knew with 3 priests and 3 nuns, and because of his interest in deaf ministry, encouraged him to consider applying to the Congregation of the Little Mission for the Deaf in Rome. He did so, and was accepted enthusiastically.

He was sent to study philosophy for 4 years in the Philipines, where he learned ASL and Tagalog. He then was sent to Rome for further theological studies, where he learned both Italian and Italian Sign Language (LIS), before being ordained a priest in 2016.

Fr. Charles was soon elected Bursar General of his congregation.  He served at St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine parishes in Rome with a special apostolate to the deaf, celebrating Mass, Reconciliation, and offering spiritual direction and seminars. He also traveled to the Congo to supervise the construction of a formation house and deaf school there.

In 2021, a letter from the Vatican informed him that his congregation was too small and would be fused with the Rogationists. Their charism did not serve the deaf, so he ventured to find another home better suited to his calling. Looking for a good place to utilize his knowledge of ASL and English, he discovered St. Rita’s School for the Deaf and our ministry for the deaf right here in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He sent a letter to Archbishop Schnurr, who welcomed him to come visit, and shortly thereafter was incardinated as a priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He is looking forward to serving our deaf communities, offering them hope, supporting them in their faith, and providing the sacraments to them, especially Reconciliation. All blessings to God for sending us this wonderul priest! 

From the Office for Persons with Disabilities

Retreat for Adults with Special Needs

Lisa Averion, Associate Director of Office for Persons with Disabilities

Last spring the Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD) hosted the first retreat for adults with special needs. The NET (National Evangelization Team, WWW.NETUSA.ORG) shared the gospel through words, music, and skits. Fr. Kyle Schnipple listened to confessions and celebrated Mass with those who attended. It was a beautiful day for our friends and family who attended. Due to the wonderful response and needs of our adult friends with special needs throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, we will be hosting two NET retreats in 2024. Save the date for our northern NET Retreat on March 23rd (location and time TBA) and southern NET Retreat on April 27th (location and time TBA). Fr. Kyle Schnipple will be the celebrant again this year. If you would like to learn more about the upcoming retreats, please email Lisa Averion LAVERION@CATHOLICAOC.ORG to receive updates on time, location, and registration. Registration is now open.

Who We Are

Andrew Musgrave
Cincinnati | Director

csa@catholicaoc.org | 513-263-6690
https://resources.catholicaoc.org/offices/catholic-social-action

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