Catholic Charities USA keeps a close eye on legislation passing through Congress, and regularly asks Catholic voters to write to their Congresspersons on time urgent bills.
What can you do? Sign up to receive an email alert, or twice a month visit the CCUSA website to see the latest Action Alerts.
With the click of the mouse and the entry of a few fields of data about yourself, you can send an effective email to your Congressperson. You do need to include your full name and address: your Congressperson needs to know that you are one of their constituents.
At the Catholic Charities USA website, click on “Advocacy” and then “Take Action”: www.catholiccharitiesusa.org
As of this writing, the action alert is: "Urge Congress to Extend Jobless Benefits and Promote Long-Term Job Growth"
Remember: there are tens of millions of Catholic voters in the USA. Working in concert with our Bishops, we can be heard.
Check out these videos from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops! http://www.usccb.org/video/
Daily Reflections: Reflections on the daily Mass readings,
The Sacraments: tutorials on the Sacraments (believe me, there is a ton to learn -- you'd be amazed at how much you don't know),
One-on-One: interviews with people living their faith -- you are not alone!,
Faith Works: people taking action in the world, e.g. Pro-Life marches, Catholic Charities USA, etc.
Wow!
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has produced some terrific Catholic podcasts. Kudos to the Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC). Below I am giving the titles as they appear on iTunes and the URL for the homepage.
American Catholic Radio, http://www.usccb.org/ccc/catholicradio.shtml -- a light-hearted show produced in conjunction with the Franciscans, providing facts of faith, answers from listeners, stories of Catholics living their faith, and some reflection time. A terrific and easy way to know your faith so you can grow in your faith.
Catholic Radio Weekly, http://www.usccb.org/ccc/catholicradio.shtml
-- Catholic news from around the world, Vatican news, what Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services are doing, how regular Catholics are living their faith. Very professionally done.
Lenten Radio Retreat, http://usccb.org/lent/audio_video.shtml
-- A relaxing 30 minutes for you to reflect on the Gospel of the week.
Lino at Large, http://www.usccb.org/ccc/catholicradio.shtml
-- For young adults and anyone who wants some energy and fun! Tackles challenging topics like how to live our faith in the 21st century. Upbeat and light.
Personally Speaking with Msgr Jim Lisante, http://www.usccb.org/ccc/catholicradio.shtml
-- Monsignor Lisante interviews famous Christians from sports, film, the arts, politics -- people who are great role models and are living their discipleship. I loved the show with Tony Orlando (the 1970's pop star) -- did you know the Orlando family had a disabled child that brought love and light to the whole family?
Daily Readings from the New American Bible, http://www.usccb.org/nab/nabpodcast.shtml
-- Don't have time to read the Bible? Think again! A variety of voices read the daily Mass readings; the Sunday readings have really great choirs and soloists doing the Psalm of the day. They post an entire month at a time. March should be up by the end of today.
A "podcast" is just like a radio show, but distributed online, you can listen whenever you choose, and you can easily hear previous episodes. You can listen from the web page, download to your portable mp3 device, subscribe via iTunes, or write to an audio CD.
800,000 people are caught in this modern day form of slavery every year – and up to 50,000 are moved annually into the United States. Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world and is closely tied to the international arms trade. Women and children are the most common victims.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services Department helps survivors, trains volunteers, provides awareness, education and advocacy. For information on how to assist victims and combat this horrendous crime, phone (202) 541-3357, or visit: http://www.usccb.org/mrs/trafficking/usccbresponse.shtml
What does Catholic Social Teaching say?
"Slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children and disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain . . . poison human society . . . and debase their perpetrators." (Gaudium et Spes, The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Paragraph #27)
What can you do? It looks like our prayers and financial support to Catholic Charities USA are the best immediate action to take for the average parishioner. For direct involvement, contact your local Catholic Charities office, found through the main website of Catholic Charities USA.
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” -- Matthew 25:40
The goals of the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty:
1. Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Learn more about the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty, sponsored by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops & Catholic Relief Services, at: http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/globalpoverty/
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have a website on ProLife activities: http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/cappunish/index.shtml You'll see that ProLife includes respecting life from conception to natural death. Cruise around in the website to learn about the issues and what you can do.
The Catholic position is essentially based on two basic principles:
(1) human life is sacred because we are each made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis Chapter 1), and
(2) God bestows the human soul at conception.
Given these two principles, it is straightforward to logically deduce the Catholic position on a myriad of respect life issues.
Catholic Charities USA keeps a close eye on legislation passing through Congress, and regularly asks Catholic voters to write to their Congresspersons on time urgent bills. 
