1+ day, 7+ hour ago (1558+ words) Morning worship and praise service is at 10:45 a.m. First Sunday Sunday School is at 9:30 a.m. Beth Samuel Jewish Center Beth Samuel Jewish Center offers weekly Shabbat services, monthly family and Zoom Kabbalat Shabbat services, and a Sunday Religious School, as well as holiday services, social events and adult education seminars. Regular events are as follows: Shabbat Services are every Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a kiddush in the social hall. First Friday Family Kabbalat Shabbat Services are usually the first Friday of the month at 7 p.m., followed by an oneg in the social hall. (Check website calendar to confirm.) Zoom Kabbalat Shabbat Services are usually on the third Friday of the month, at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Contact the office for the link. This get-together frequently includes a visiting musician, cantor, rabbi or other noteworthy guest. From preschool through bar-bat mitzvah, Religious School is every Sunday…...

1+ day, 8+ hour ago (270+ words) To all people of the world, regardless of color or national origin or positions we might hold: We are in turmoil in the whole world. We are looking for answers to problems in the wrong places. We all have a part of the answer within us: our hearts and minds. Letter to the editor: Give peace a chance To all people of the world, regardless of color or national origin or positions we might hold: We are in turmoil in the whole world. We are looking for answers to problems in the wrong places. We all have a part of the answer within us: our hearts and minds. We were all born with it, plus the in-dwelling spirit to make a choice. Think of babies who know how to get attention and action. If we just take a good look…...

4+ day, 3+ hour ago (1176+ words) Email news briefs and event listings to [email protected]. " Monroeville Citizens" Night: 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at the municipal building, 2700 Monroeville Blvd. Citizens are invited to address council, and council will set its agenda for the regular monthly voting meeting. " Pitcairn Council: 6 p.m. Dec. 8 in council chambers, 609 Broadway Blvd. For details, visit pitcairnborough.us. " Monroeville Council: 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at the municipal building, 2700 Monroeville Blvd. An agenda is available following the Citizens" Night meeting at monroeville.pa.us. Hillcrest United Presbyterian Church has a variety of community events, programs and gatherings in November and December. All are invited to attend the following activities at the church, 1622 James St., Monroeville. " Craft group: The craft group meets from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. All ages and abilities are welcome for crafts and conversation." " Bible study: Bible study is held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday evenings in the parlor....

4+ day, 23+ hour ago (273+ words) Two stories anchor our oldest holiday. Both took place in times of division and deprivation. And both offer a hopeful note about who we can be when we try. One can practically hear today's political media racing each other to call such a message "out of touch." But what Lincoln understood was that the practice of giving thanks could bridge chasms that politics and war had torn open. He offered hope that acknowledging our common blessings might preserve the union when little else could. The peaks and valleys of American history are commonly defined by our wealth and our power. But as these stories remind us, the true character of America is found in our capacity as a pilgrim people to find reasons for hope and gratitude and share those blessings with others. So, what might those moments suggest for…...

6+ day, 8+ hour ago (276+ words) BANGKOK " A woman in Thailand shocked temple staff when she started moving in her coffin after being brought in for cremation. Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple in the province of Nonthaburi on the outskirts of Bangkok, posted a video on its Facebook page, showing a woman lying in a white coffin in the back of a pick-up truck, slightly moving her arms and head, leaving temple staff bewildered. He said they heard a faint knock coming from the coffin. "I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled," he said. "I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time." According to Pairat, the brother said his sister had been bedridden for about two years, when…...

1+ week, 5+ hour ago (385+ words) America's early pilgrims set aside certain days to offer thanks, prayer and fasting to our heavenly father for the blessings and opportunities afforded them. In 1789, at the request of Congress, President George Washington declared Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God," calling on Americans to "unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions," and to "be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be." Letter to the editor: We're not living up to ideals of Thanksgiving America's early…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (1610+ words) Morning worship and praise service is at 10:45 a.m. First Sunday Sunday School is at 9:30 a.m. Beth Samuel Jewish Center Beth Samuel Jewish Center offers weekly Shabbat services, monthly family and Zoom Kabbalat Shabbat services, and a Sunday Religious School, as well as holiday services, social events and adult education seminars. Regular events are as follows: Shabbat Services are every Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a kiddush in the social hall. First Friday Family Kabbalat Shabbat Services are usually the first Friday of the month at 7 p.m., followed by an oneg in the social hall. (Check website calendar to confirm.) Zoom Kabbalat Shabbat Services are usually on the third Friday of the month, at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Contact the office for the link. This get-together frequently includes a visiting musician, cantor, rabbi or other noteworthy guest. From preschool through bar-bat mitzvah, Religious School is every Sunday…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (186+ words) Pope Leo XIV opened a virtual meeting with American Catholic young people Friday by revealing a closely held pontifical secret: He uses a different Wordle start word each day. Leo divulged his strategy playing the popular New York Times online game before fielding questions via videoconference about artificial intelligence, social media and the future of the Catholic Church. Leo was hooked up from the Vatican to speak remotely to the National Catholic Youth Conference, an annual Catholic rally held this year in Indianapolis, via a feed from U.S. Catholic broadcaster EWTN. After Leo's election in May, his brother John Prevost revealed that Leo plays Wordle every day and that the brothers compare notes, as many friends and family do. Leo was asked about his strategy at the start of Friday's Q&A, which was otherwise somewhat scripted. Playing along, Leo revealed…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (384+ words) ROME " Pope Leo XIV fixed a technical glitch on Friday in a Vatican law that became problematic after Pope Francis named the first-ever woman to head the Vatican City State administration. Leo amended the 2023 law to remove a reference that had said the president of the Vatican City State administration must be a cardinal. Francis in February appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini, a 56-year-old Italian nun, as president of the city state. The appointment was one of many Francis made during his 12-year papacy to elevate women to top decision-making jobs in the Vatican, and it marked the first time a woman had been named governor of the 110-acre territory in the heart of Rome. But the appointment immediately created technical and legal problems that hadn't existed before because Petrini's predecessors had all been priestly cardinals. For example, Petrini wasn't invited…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (807+ words) David Zubik may have retired as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, but he hasn't stepped away from serving others. On Thursday morning, he slipped into a volunteer's seat at a charity dental clinic in Pittsburgh, greeting each patient, guiding them through paperwork and pausing long enough to hear the stories they carried with them. "The last man who was in here just told a very tragic story," Zubik said. The true work wasn't in the forms at all, but the moments spent listening. When Zubik prepared to end his ecclesiastical career this summer as leader of the Pittsburgh Catholic diocese, he began looking for what to do next with his life. He still wanted to help others. "I determined I wasn't going to be a couch potato," Zubik said. He reached out to Catholic Charities, the social services…...