Story - January 10, 2019 - In the summer of 2014, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (CCRGV), under the leadership of Sister Norma Pimentel, established a Humanitarian Respite Center as a response to the substantial increase in families seeking asylum at the U.S./Mexico border. Since then, more than 150,000 individuals, including separated and reunified families, have been welcomed at…

Prayer & Reflection - March 16, 2025 - Me: How are you? Coworker: I’m good. Me: It’s ok to say if you aren’t good. Coworker: Yeah, I’m empty…. Emptiness has been the theme lately. I used to walk in the break room in the morning and hear at least four different languages being spoken. Now, there is never a wait for coffee. While…

Prayer & Reflection - March 15, 2025 - Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. As I read today’s readings all I kept thinking was, “It is so hard to follow the rules sometimes!” I pictured myself as a young girl trying my best to do what was right. But there was that one occasion when…

Prayer & Reflection - March 14, 2025 - Our Gospel passage today is part of Jesus’ three chapter-long teaching during the “Sermon on the Mount.” It includes the first in a series of expressions in which Jesus states, with respect to one of the Ten Commandments: “You have heard it say…but I say to you.” In these expressions Jesus teaches us about what…

Story - January 9, 2019 - Sunset Point Camp, a program of Catholic Charities Greater Boston, has been providing a summer camp experience to children from low-income families for 99 years. Campers range in age from six to 14 years old. They spend a week at the overnight camp in Hull, Massachusetts, participating in activities that otherwise they would have no…

Story - January 3, 2019 - Families in Waterbury, Connecticut, who struggle putting food on the table may have a solution right outside their front door. Meet the GROW truck – Groceries on Wheels – a mobile food pantry program that goes where the need is greatest. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Hartford partners with the Connecticut Food Bank, operator…

Story - December 11, 2018 - Aisha*, a young Tanzanian woman, was the victim of a severe form of labor trafficking. After the father of Aisha’s child died of malaria in Tanzania, Aisha and her son struggled to survive. In 2011, Aisha saw an opportunity to work when she was promised a job in the city of Dar es Salaam. Instead,…

Publication - February 3, 2025 - The work of Catholic Charities to reduce poverty and serve those in need is the story of individuals and communities coming together to serve more than 16 million people this past year. These efforts made a life-changing difference in the lives of clients across the U.S. and in the territories. Summary In 2024, the 168…

Prayer & Reflection - December 28, 2024 - As I write this reflection, it is 8 degrees outside in Maine. I can’t help but remember the people I was with Saturday morning — the homeless in Augusta. Last night many of them slept in tents or doorways as the temperatures plummeted and the wind picked up. I know many of them by name.…

Prayer & Reflection - December 27, 2024 - In today’s Gospel, while Mary Magdalene is the first to the tomb, it then turns into a bit of a footrace between Peter and “the other disciple whom Jesus loved.” The latter arrives at the tomb first, but Peter enters before he does. We all want to be first, don’t we? And we definitely want…

Prayer & Reflection - December 24, 2024 - On this eve of Christmas, we are presented in the Church’s prayer, within the Office of Readings, these words from a sermon of St. Augustine: “Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man…I tell you again: for your sake, God became man…Let us then joyfully (and thankfully) celebrate the coming of our salvation and…

Prayer & Reflection - December 23, 2024 - In today’s gospel we hear the familiar story of the birth of John: the cousin of Jesus, precursor of the Messiah, the preacher, and the Baptist. “He will be called John” in the written words of Zechariah. For Elizabeth and Zechariah this was an act of obedience — an act that broke tradition and took…