for Coronavirus: information on the situation at Berlin Airport By www.berlin-airport.de Published On :: Fri, 8 May 2020 10:00:00 +0200 (Last updated: 08.05.2020) Find out here about the current situation at Schönefeld and Tegel Airports. Full Article
for 8 Tips for a Killer Social CRM Strategy By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Customer relationship management spent the last couple of years going social. Make sure your CRM strategy incorporates this important new capability in 2020. Full Article
for Advocates for Science-Based Reading Instruction Worry California Plan Sends the Wrong Message By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 30 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000 California, which has a mixed history when it comes to evidence-based reading instruction, has a plan to use federal funds for literacy programs that some say are out of sync with the science. Full Article Politics+and+policy
for Former player Martinčić proud to referee WU19 final By www.uefa.com Published On :: Mon, 30 Jul 2018 10:57:00 GMT Ivana Martinčić, once a player in the Croatian women's top division, speaks about her pride at being selected to referee the 2018 Women's U19 EURO final. Full Article Refereeing
for The Best Wireless Headphones for 2020 By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Tired of tangled cords? Cut yourself some slack and switch to Bluetooth headphones. Whether you're looking for earbuds, on-ears, or to go completely wire-free, start with the best wireless headphones we've tested. Full Article
for The Best Headphones for 2020 By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Whether you're looking for sleek AirPods or big over-ear models, these are the best headphones and earbuds we've tested, with advice for finding just the right pair for you. Full Article
for The Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones for 2020 By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Noise cancellation removes unwanted sounds. The best noise-cancelling headphones let you block out the world around you to enjoy your music...or the sweet sound of silence. Full Article
for The Best True Wireless Earbuds for Running By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Wire-free earphones are the best thing to happen to running since rubber soles. Hit the track free of cables with the best true wireless earbuds for exercise. Full Article
for AirPod Alternatives: The Best True Wireless Earbuds for 2020 By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Apple started the trend with AirPods, and now completely wire-free earphones are everywhere. But how do they sound? And are they worth the premium? Here's what you need to know, including the best true wireless earbuds we've tested. Full Article
for The Best Bluetooth Headphones for Running By www.pcmag.com Published On :: It's no secret that music is a great motivator for working out. Before you lace up your kicks and head out to the track, trail, or treadmill, check out the best wireless headphones we've tested for powering your run. Full Article
for The Best Earbuds (In-Ear Headphones) for 2020 By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Not a fan of the bulk that comes with over-the-ear headphones? Whether you call them earbuds, earphones, or in-ear headphones, check out the best in-ear models we've tested. Full Article
for The Best Gaming Headphones for 2020 By www.pcmag.com Published On :: A good gaming headset delivers rich sound to really get you into the game and an integrated microphone so you can trash talk your opponents. These are the best gaming headphones we've tested. Full Article
for UEFA Women's Champions League: Q&A with Nadine Kessler on new format By www.uefa.com Published On :: Thu, 05 Dec 2019 10:00:00 GMT UEFA's head of women's football Nadine Kessler explains why the 2021/22 switch to a group format is a win-win – for clubs, players and fans. Full Article general
for Ten for the future: UEFA.com's women players to watch for 2020 By www.uefa.com Published On :: Sat, 04 Jan 2020 08:01:00 GMT We pick out ten young players to watch in the coming year – and decade. Full Article general
for African cardinal tests positive for coronavirus as pandemic spreads across the continent By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:28:00 -0600 Vatican City, Mar 31, 2020 / 10:28 am (CNA).- Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso has tested positive for the coronavirus, his archdiocese announced Tuesday. He is the second cardinal known to have tested positive for the virus, which is now a global pandemic. Ouédraogo, 75, has been admitted to a medical clinic in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. He is “in good condition and his close collaborators are reported to be self-isolating,” a spokesman for Burkina Faso’s bishops’ conference, Fr. Paul Dah, told ACI Africa on March 31. The cardinal is president of the African continental bishops’ conference, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). He was elected to the post in July 2019. He has been Archbishop of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso for ten years, and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014. Ouédraogo is the second bishop from Burkina Faso known to have contracted COVID-19, as countries across Africa implement lockdowns and restrictions to slow the spread of the virus across the continent. Another Burkina Faso bishop, Archbishop Emeritus Séraphin François Rouamba of Koupela, tested positive for COVID-19 after being admitted to Our Lady of Peace clinic for urgent treatment on March 19. The 78-year-old archbishop has since been transferred to another hospital and is reportedly in stable condition, according to a March 25 statement from Bishop Laurent Birfuore Dabire of Dori, Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso has the largest documented coronavirus outbreak in West Africa, with 249 documented cases as of March 31, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. The coronavirus has spread throughout the African continent to 47 countries, according to the Africa Center for Disease Control. In North Africa, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco each have more than 500 documented cases, and the South African government has reported more than 1,300. Three Nigerian states began two-week mandatory lockdown this week to combat the spread of the virus, including Lagos, Africa’s most populous city with more than 20 million people. Zimbabwe and Mauritius have also implemented national shut-downs, and the bishops in South Sudan and Zimbabwe have suspended public Masses. Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, tested positive for coronavirus on March 30. Other bishops in Italy, France, China, and the United States have also tested positive for COVID-19, and Bishop Angelo Moreschi, 67, died in the Italian city of Brescia on March 25 after contracting the coronavirus. Full Article Middle East - Africa
for Priest arrested in Kenya for spreading coronavirus By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 17 Apr 2020 13:00:00 -0600 CNA Staff, Apr 17, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- A Catholic priest is one of two people in Kenya to be charged with “negligently spreading an infectious disease” after authorities allege he did not comply with quarantine regulations after he traveled to the country from Italy. Fr. Richard Onyango Oduor denied the allegations on Thursday, April 16, and is currently free after he posted bail. He will appear in court on May 2, after he spends another 14 days in quarantine. According to Kenyan media, Fr. Oduor is based in Rome and flew to the country to preside at a relative’s burial service. At that burial service, he distributed the Eucharist, interacting with several people. According to local media reports, as many as 60 people who came into contact with Fr. Oduor reported to the hospital, but it is unclear how many of them were eventually diagnosed with COVID-19. Fr. Oduor eventually tested positive for the virus, was hospitalized for a period of two weeks, and has since recovered. He was arrested on April 9, immediately after he was released from the hospital. Oduor reportedly traveled throughout Kenya from March 11 through 20, and was unaware that he had been infected with the coronavirus. During this period. Oduor took busses and a plane, and celebrated several Masses. Kenyan officials were able to locate and quarantine more than 130 people who had come into contact with Oduor before he was diagnosed with the coronavirus. This number includes priests at a parish in Nairobi where Oduor stayed before traveling to his hometown for the burial. Archbishop Anthony Muheria, who leads the Archdiocese of Nyeri and is the apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Kitui, declined to comment about the case to Reuters, and said it was up to civil authorities to handle Oduor’s case. Kenya has banned public gatherings, reduced the number of people who are permitted to attend a funeral, instituted a curfew, and increased restrictions on who can travel to areas that have the highest number of cases. In Kenya, 234 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 11 have died. Oduor was arrested on the same day Gideon Saburi, the deputy governor of Kilifi, a county in Kenya, was charged with spreading coronavirus. Saburi is alleged to have appeared in public while suffering from the virus between March 6 and March 22. He has also pleaded not guilty and was released on April 16 after posting bail. Full Article Middle East - Africa
for Murdered Nigerian seminarian was killed for announcing gospel, killer says By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 02 May 2020 16:30:00 -0600 CNA Staff, May 2, 2020 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- A man claiming to have killed the murdered Nigerian seminarian Michael Nnadi has given an interview in which he says he executed the aspiring priest because he would not stop announcing the Christian faith in captivity. Mustapha Mohammed, who is currently in jail, gave a telephone interview to the Nigerian newspaper Daily Sun on Friday. He took responsibility for the murder, according to the Daily Sun, because Nnadi, 18 years old, “continued preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ” to his captors. According to the newspaper, Mustapha praised Nnadi’s “outstanding bravery,” and that the seminarian “told him to his face to change his evil ways or perish.” Nnadi was kidnapped by gunmen from Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna on January 8, along with three other students. The seminary, home to some 270 seminarians, is located just off the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Express Way. According to AFP, the area is “notorious for criminal gangs kidnapping travelers for ransom.” Mustapha, 26, identified himself as the leader of a 45-member gang that preyed along the highway. He gave the interview from a jail in Abuja, Nigeria, where he is in police custody. On the evening of the abduction, gunmen, disguised in military camouflage, broke through the fence surrounding the seminarians' living quarters and opened fire. They stole laptops and phones before kidnapping the four young men. Ten days after the abduction, one of the four seminarians was found on the side of a road, alive but seriously injured. On Jan. 31, an official at Good Shepherd Seminary announced that another two seminarians had been released, but that Nnadi remained missing and was presumed still in captivity. On Feb. 1, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Diocese of Sokoto, Nigeria, announced that Nnadi had been killed. “With a very heavy heart, I wish to inform you that our dear son, Michael was murdered by the bandits on a date we cannot confirm,” the bishop said, confirming that the rector of the seminary had identified Nnadi’s body. The newspaper reported that from “the first day Nnadi was kidnapped alongside three of his other colleagues, he did not allow [Mustapha] to have peace,” because he insisted on announcing the gospel to him. According to the newspaper, Mustapha “did not like the confidence displayed by the young man and decided to send him to an early grave.” According to the Daily Sun, Mustapha targeted the seminary knowing it was a center for training priests, and that a gang member who lived nearby had helped conduct surveillance ahead of the attack. Mohammed believed that it would be a profitable target for theft and ransom. Mohammed also said that the gang used Nnadi’s mobile telephone to issue their ransom demands, asking for more than $250,000, later reduced to $25,000, to secure the release of the three surviving students, Pius Kanwai, 19; Peter Umenukor, 23; and Stephen Amos, 23. Nnadi’s murder is one of an series of attacks and killings on Christians in the country in recent months. Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to address the violence and kidnappings in a homily March 1 at a Mass with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria. “We need to have access to our leaders; president, vice president. We need to work together to eradicate poverty, killings, bad governance and all sorts of challenges facing us as a nation,” Kaigama said. In an Ash Wednesday letter to Nigerian Catholics, Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze of Benin City called for Catholics to wear black in solidarity with victims and pray, in response to “repeated” executions of Christians by Boko Haram and “incessant” kidnappings “linked to the same groups.” Other Christian villages have been attacked, farms set ablaze, vehicles carrying Christians attacked, men and women have been killed and kidnapped, and women have been taken as sex slaves and tortured—a “pattern,” he said, of targeting Christians. On Feb. 27, U.S Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told CNA that the situation in Nigeria was deteriorating. “There's a lot of people getting killed in Nigeria, and we're afraid it is going to spread a great deal in that region,” he told CNA. “It is one that's really popped up on my radar screens -- in the last couple of years, but particularly this past year.” “I think we’ve got to prod the [Nigerian President Muhammadu] Buhari government more. They can do more,” he said. “They’re not bringing these people to justice that are killing religious adherents. They don’t seem to have the sense of urgency to act.” Full Article Middle East - Africa
for This Kenyan nun runs a program for girls with disabilities By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sun, 03 May 2020 06:01:00 -0600 Nairobi, Kenya, May 3, 2020 / 06:01 am (CNA).- At a one-room house outside Nairobi, a 23-year-old girl with disabilities claps her hands and throws herself at Sr. Rose Catherine Wakibiru, who has been visiting girls with disability at their homes since the Kenyan government closed schools last month over coronavirus. The girl, referred to as Faith, “is deaf and dumb,” Sr. Rose Catherine of the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi, told ACI Africa April 27. “She is autistic and has cerebral palsy and so she doesn’t know anything about social distancing. She has pure love in her heart and she can’t stop embracing people to show how happy she is.” Faith lived at Limuru Cheshire Home along with 60 other girls who have physical or intellectual disabilities, before the pandemic. Sr. Rose Catherine, administrator of the home, called the girls’ parents and guardians to retrieve their children when schools were closed. “Most parents we called were not ready to pick their girls,” Sr. Rose Catherine said, adding that many girls at Cheshire home are drawn from poor backgrounds and that most come from informal settlements around Nairobi. The nun explained that Faith initially lived with her mother and three siblings in a Nairobi slum, but they moved to another settlement “three weeks ago when their house was washed away in floods.” When their house was washed away, Faith’s mother gave out her children to different well-wishers and looked for a place to stay herself. Later, friends helped her to get a single-roomed house where she stays with her three children and goes out to look for menial jobs to sustain her family. Such jobs are hard to come by amid the restrictions due to coronavirus, and the family may be thrown out of their home as the mother is unable to pay for it. Sr. Rose Catherine said five residents of the Cheshire home were taken in by other families, as they had nowhere to go. “I know all [the] families that have their daughters here and I have an idea of those that can accommodate a girl [who] isn’t their own. So when I made those calls, I would ask a parent if they were willing to take care of an extra girl. That’s how I got all the five girls a place to stay,” said Sr. Rose Catherine. To ease the burden of the foster parents, Limuru Cheshire Home supplies the girls with basic necessities such as food, soap, and sanitary materials in their new homes. Some families were reluctant to have their daughters back home, and Sr. Rose Catherine said the biggest challenge for girls with disabilities and their families during coronavirus is poverty. Most of the families “live on daily wages, and with their girls around they can’t go out and work as they used to. All the girls at the facility are special needs cases and they need someone to look after them” at all times, the nun said. The girls also come last in families that grapple with lack of basic needs, such as food. When there is little food to share, children with disabilities do not get any of it, Sr. Rose Catherine reported. “I have been to a home where I found my girl watching her siblings eat. When I asked her brother why her sister wasn’t eating anything, he said there was very little food in the house,” Sr. Rose Catherine recounted. “Children with disabilities are treated as second-rate individuals. People only think about them when everybody else has had their fill.” Many of the girls’ families have asked the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi for help since having the girls returned to their care, and Sr. Rose Catherine has made at least eight home visits in recent weeks. On each home visit, families are supplied with food, masks, and sanitizer. “What we have at the moment is only enough to keep the families going for one more week, yet we have outreach plans for next week. We can only plan and hope that well-wishers will come on board to touch the lives of these vulnerable girls and their families,” Sr. Rose Catherine said. A version of this story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's African news partner. It has been adapted by CNA. Full Article Middle East - Africa
for Essential Commands to Learn for Your Raspberry Pi Projects By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Most Pi projects run on Linux, so having some command-line chops makes the Pi much easier to work with. These commands can teach you a lot as you tinker. Full Article
for Seagate Unveils 2 Portable SSD Drives for Gamers, Power Users By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Seagate's FireCuda Gaming SSD and BarraCuda Fast SSD will appeal to those looking for a convenient way to give their laptop a boost, starting at less than $100. Full Article
for MediaTek Announces Chips for Cheaper 5G Sprint Phones By www.pcmag.com Published On :: MediaTek announces a competitor to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765 for sub-$500 5G phones, but its success in the US will depend on whether carriers are okay with dropping millimeter-wave support. Full Article
for Cooler Master Blames Parents for Thermal Paste Tube Redesign By www.pcmag.com Published On :: It no longer looks like a syringe, so parents can stop being suspicious their kid is doing drugs. Full Article
for Teach for America Turns Focus to Native Achievement By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000 Teach for America has tapped a longtime teacher and administrator and a member of the new National Advisory Council on Indian Education to lead its fledgling Native Achievement Initiative. Full Article Ruraleducation
for Wisconsin Lawmakers Create Task Force to Help Rural Schools By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Wisconsin lawmakers have established a new rural school task force to figure out how to address challenges such as declining enrollment and increasing transportation costs. Full Article Ruraleducation
for Trial Set for 2020 in Long-Running Pennsylvania School Funding Lawsuit By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 06 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000 The lawsuit, filed in 2014, alleges that the state was severely underfunding schools, forcing school districts to lean heavily on property taxes, which especially disadvantages students in property-poor areas. Full Article Ruraleducation
for A transformed heart By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 19:43:07 +0000 An Albanian man's heart is forever changed after suffering a heart attack and meeting Jesus in his recuperation. Full Article
for God called you, and God has a plan for you By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 02 Aug 2019 14:27:10 +0000 An OM worker in Cambodia shares about how a new training she is attending is transforming the way she does ministry. Full Article
for Fin24.com | LISTEN: Rating agencies may wait for ANC elective conference By www.fin24.com Published On :: Fri, 27 Oct 2017 19:25:22 +0200 While there's a chance for SA to be downgraded to non-investment grade in November, rating firms may wait for the outcome of the ANC elective conference, says economist Kim Silberman. Full Article
for Fin24.com | WATCH: We hope #BlackFriday won't be a bad Friday for SA - debt expert By www.fin24.com Published On :: Thu, 30 Nov 2017 16:54:52 +0200 Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping events of the year, can be likened to "pushing kids into a candy store wondering what’s going to happen" says a debt expert. Full Article
for God or Satan: making no room for evil in our world By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:00:00 -0700 By Bishop Arthur SerratelliAristotle, the famous Greek philosopher who lived four centuries before Christ, proposed the scientific theory of horror vacui. Based on his observations, he concluded that nature fills every empty space with something, even if it is only air. In his works Gargantua and Pantagruel, the Renaissance priest, doctor and scientist Rabelais popularized this idea with the phrase Natura abhorret vacuum (“nature abhors a vacuum”). Where there is a void, either mass or energy rushes in to occupy the empty space. In truth, this theory applies not merely to physics, but to life. For the last thirty years, the secularization of culture and the banishing of God from the public forum have created a great religious void. More and more Americans have been abandoning the practice of religion. Since 1990, the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has tripled from eight percent to twenty-two percent. Today there are about five million fewer mainline Protestants and three million fewer Catholics than there were ten years ago. For every new convert to Catholicism, six others leave the Church. Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 are much less interested in religion than their parents. As Alan Cooperman, the director of religion research for the Pew Research Center, has observed, “the country is becoming less religious as a whole, and it’s happening across the board.” Nonetheless, the human person is innately religious. More than just being a material creature on the same level as irrational animals, the human person has reason and is always in search of meaning. “Nature abhors a vacuum.” And, so into the void created by abandoning religion as a source of meaning, other forms of discovering meaning have rushed in. In an attempt to respond to the spiritual dimension of human life, some people are turning to New Age beliefs. New Age adherents, now nearly one-fourth of the population, have replaced the personal God of revelation with a spiritual energy that animates the cosmos. They are making use of crystals, tarot cards, astrology, psychics, and even yoga as a spiritual exercise to tap into this impersonal energy in order to manage their lives and find self-fulfillment. For New Age adherents, there is no absolute truth. All beliefs are of equal value. And, since they deny the existence of sin, they do not accept the need for a Redeemer. At best, New Age adherents trade the transcendental for the immanent, the spiritual for the physical. At worse, they reject God and unwittingly fall into the hands of the Adversary. And, then there are others who reject God and consciously choose to turn to one form or another of the occult. It is astounding to realize that there are almost 1.5 million people who are involved in Wicca, a pagan form of witchcraft. Ever since the Garden of Eden and our first parents’ sin of attempting to be like God, people have been looking for ways to have the same knowledge and power as God himself. Today there are more witches than Presbyterians, more people involved in the occult than there are Muslims in the United States. The more individuals extol themselves as self-sufficient and exalt reason over faith, they turn from God and enthrone Satan. Attempting to control their lives through the use of the occult, they hand themselves over to Satan who uses them to destroy the peace and harmony God plans for us. Satan is the great deceiver. He makes people believe that they have absolute control of their lives. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “[Satan’s] logic is simple: if there is no heaven there is no hell; if there is no hell, then there is no sin; if there is no sin, then there is no judge, and if there is no judgment, then evil is good and good is evil.” It would be foolish to close our eyes to the unmistakable increase of the devil’s activity in our society. Lack of civility. Hate speech. The tearing down of people’s good name. The blood shed on our streets. The breakdown of family life. The widespread extolling of vices contrary to the gospel. The delight in exposing the sins of others. Abuse in all its forms. Abortion. The persecution of the Church. All these are born of anger, hatred, envy, pride, greed and lust. They cause division and are the fingerprints of the Evil One. On the day after his election to the papacy, Pope Francis shocked the cardinals who had placed him on the Chair of Peter. He said, “Whoever does not pray to God, prays to the devil. When one does not profess Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil.” The Pope courageously acknowledged the reality of Satan that day and many other times thereafter. And the Pope provided the only way to banish the devil from our midst: professing faith in Jesus. Professing our faith means quite simply staying close to Jesus within the Church, attending Mass at least each Sunday and Holy Day, receiving the sacraments and practicing charity. In other words, the only permanent antidote to evil in the world is the presence of God who leaves in us no room for evil. Full Article CNA Columns: From the Bishops
for Sacramental confession and the certainty of forgiveness By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 11 May 2019 00:00:00 -0600 By Bishop Arthur SerratelliA few years ago, Paul Croituru and his young son went out treasure hunting near their native village in Romania. To their surprise, they discovered ancient Greek currency dating back 2,350 years to the time of King Philip II. The 300 silver coins turned out to be counterfeit. The father and son now hold the distinction of having discovered the oldest counterfeit money known thus far. Counterfeit money has been around as long as money has been around. In fact, some have named the production of counterfeit money “the world's second oldest profession.” During war time, nations often resort to counterfeit money to inflict harm on their enemies. During the Revolutionary War, Great Britain attempted to devalue the continental dollar by flooding the market with shovers (fake dollars). During World War II, the Nazis made prisoners in their camps forge British pounds and American dollars to destabilize their enemies’ economies and destroy them. Satan constantly attempts to entice individuals into counterfeit religion where the forged currency is believing in God while denying sin. The devil would have everyone forget that sin is a reality. In this way, he can render ineffective in us the work of Christ who came to take away our sins. Failure. Weakness. Mistakes. Psychological pressures. Social customs. All these labels the devil uses to disguise sin. But, sin itself remains a fact. Science always prides itself on beginning every research project with a fact. True religion, likewise, begins with the fact of sin in the world, original sin and personal sin. “The ancient masters of religion…began with the fact of sin. Whether or not man could be washed in miraculous waters, there was no doubt at any rate that he wanted washing. But certain religious leaders…have begun…to deny the indisputable dirt. Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved” (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy). And so can the personal sins of hatred, envy, lust, pride, gluttony and greed likewise be proven. Even a casual glance at Sacred Scriptures shows that sin taints even God’s greatest heroes and heroines. Adam and Eve lead the procession of sinners. Drunken Noah, untruthful Abraham, adulterous David and Bathsheba, disloyal Peter, and murderous Paul follow. Sin really is not that original. It is the monotonous repetition of the tragedy of Eden: choosing self over God. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8). In the Sacrament of Penance, the Church offers us the gift of a personal encounter with our merciful Lord who forgives our sins. However, many people, and sometimes even faithful Catholics, say that they do not need to go to a priest for confession to have their sins forgiven. Why confess to a priest who is a sinner himself? God will forgive sins without the ministry of priests. Certainly, God can forgive sins when we turn to him and repent. But, he has chosen to offer us his forgiveness through the ministry of the Church. And, for a reason. Sin is not just between the individual and God. Every sin that we commit offends God and affects others. Every sin harms Christ’s Body, the Church. The act of confession before a priest recognizes the true nature of sin as an offense against God and others. And so, it is through the Church’s priests that God chooses not simply to forgive our sins but to reconcile us to the Church. (cf. Pope Francis, General Audience, November 20, 2013). So important is confession that some of the holiest priests of the Church have spent hours in the confessional as missionaries of God’s mercy. St. Philip Neri, a busy parish priest in Rome, spent every morning hearing confessions before continuing his work with youth in the afternoon. So famous was St. Jean Vianney in hearing confessions that a new train station had to be built in his town of Ars so that people from all of France could go there to confess to this holy priest. Most recently, St. Padre Pio heard confessions for not less than 18 hours a day. There were always long lines awaiting him. During his public ministry, Jesus forgave sins (cf. Mk 2:5; Lk 7:48; Jn 8:1-11). And, then after the Resurrection, he entrusted this ministry of forgiveness to his priests. On Easter Sunday night, “Jesus said to them ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (Jn 20:21-23). In confession, the priest, weak and sinful himself, acts in the name of Jesus and with his authority. In going to confession, we approach the priest, one by one, not as group, not as family. We humbly place before him all our own sins. To receive absolution and be forgiven, it is necessary not simply to confess all mortal sins, but also to have a firm purpose of amendment of sinning no more. As difficult as this might be at times, how great the grace! For, when the priest absolves us, we have, as Jesus promised, the certainty that our sins are forgiven. Full Article CNA Columns: From the Bishops
for Sex Abuse Investigation in Chicago a 'Wake-Up Call' for All Schools, Feds Say By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000 A searing report and federal oversight over Title IX enforcement in Chicago raises the question: Is it an outlier, or just the first to get caught? Full Article Sexualmisconduct
for Hope for daughter number five By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 02 May 2014 09:52:33 +0000 The fifth daughter of a poor family, one girl thought she would never get an education. But thanks to OM’s new school, she has hope. Full Article
for Tailoring for transformation By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 15:27:18 +0000 Two young Bangladeshi women experienced great joy and release from the OM tailoring courses, bringing dignity, honour and financial gain to their communities and families. Full Article
for Equipped for the 21st century By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 11:23:49 +0000 Despite having a degree, a young woman in Bangladesh finds it impossible to get a job until she completes an OM computer course. Full Article
for Transforming lives through literacy By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 09:36:58 +0000 Two adults were significantly impacted by learning to read and write in recent adult literacy classes run by OM in Bangladesh. Full Article
for God cares for His children By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 20:52:27 +0000 A team leader in Bangladesh has experienced God’s love and plan for salvation, changing him and enriching his marriage and ministry. Full Article
for Not just for Christmas By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:50:02 +0000 New believers in the village of Sunkapur have started meeting together regularly to study God's Word. Full Article
for Grateful for employment By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 01:55:49 +0000 OM's training centre in Bangladesh allowed Gopal to learn new skills to rise above other job seekers and apply for good employment options. Full Article
for New opportunities for the workforce By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 01 Sep 2016 01:45:55 +0000 Young entrepreneur Nayef is taking the skills he learned at OM's computer training centre and starting his own business to provide for himself and his family. Full Article
for Hungry for fellowship By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 03 Dec 2016 12:04:45 +0000 Sylvia discovers how eager believers in rural Bangladeshi villages are for fellowship. Full Article
for Relief for eternal life By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 21 Apr 2017 14:01:17 +0000 Before OM's emergency aid reached a single family, one life was changed forever. Full Article
for What Trump's Order on Responding to Anti-Semitism Means for K-12 Schools By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 12 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000 An executive order signed this week is meant to address concerns of anti-Semitism on college and university campuses. But the legal underpinnings of that order apply to elementary and secondary schools, too. Full Article Religion
for In Arguments, U.S. Supreme Court Leans Toward Support for Religious School Aid By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000 In a case from Montana, conservative justices suggested they were inclined to rule for parents who seek to reinstate a state tax credit funding scholarships for use at religious schools. Full Article Religion
for European forces to collide in quarter-finals By www.uefa.com Published On :: Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:47:00 GMT There will be two all-European quarter-finals at the FIFA Futsal World Cup with Spain meeting Russia, and Portugal up against Italy following the conclusion of the round of 16 in Thailand. Full Article general
for Spain and Italy to meet for final berth By www.uefa.com Published On :: Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:30:00 GMT Spain and Italy will meet in Friday's FIFA Futsal World Cup semi-finals after winning their last-eight encounters, though Ukraine missed out following a defeat by Colombia. Full Article general
for 2016 Futsal World Cup for Colombia By www.uefa.com Published On :: Tue, 28 May 2013 22:16:00 GMT Colombia has been selected to stage the eighth FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2016 with Bogota, Villavicencio, Bucaramanga, Cucuta, Ibaque and Neiva proposed as the host cities. Full Article general
for A transformed heart By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 19:43:07 +0000 An Albanian man's heart is forever changed after suffering a heart attack and meeting Jesus in his recuperation. Full Article
for God called you, and God has a plan for you By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 02 Aug 2019 14:27:10 +0000 An OM worker in Cambodia shares about how a new training she is attending is transforming the way she does ministry. Full Article
for Fin24.com | NEPI Rockcastle in agreement to sell Romanian office portfolio for R4.6bn By www.fin24.com Published On :: Tue, 17 Dec 2019 11:48:49 +0200 The portfolio comprises three properties in the capital Bucharest, and one in Timisoara, a city in the west of the country. Full Article