Despite being aware of the need for discretion when talking about Jesus, Argentinian Cecilia felt no fear while she was in Central Asia.

A new report from Student Achievement Partners claims that the popular reading program from literacy giant Lucy Calkins doesn't align to evidence-based practice. The review is the first in a new series that will evaluate reading programs against the scientific research base.

During special Easter outreaches to women in red light areas, outreach workers go in the knowledge that Jesus is with them and His resurrection power gives hope, strength and life.

For years, Gustavo, an architect from Central America, felt drawn to working in the Arabian Peninsula. Then, on a short-term trip, he saw what it could be like to use his profession overseas.

Despite being aware of the need for discretion when talking about Jesus, Argentinian Cecilia felt no fear while she was in Central Asia.

During special Easter outreaches to women in red light areas, outreach workers go in the knowledge that Jesus is with them and His resurrection power gives hope, strength and life.

For years, Gustavo, an architect from Central America, felt drawn to working in the Arabian Peninsula. Then, on a short-term trip, he saw what it could be like to use his profession overseas.

Despite being aware of the need for discretion when talking about Jesus, Argentinian Cecilia felt no fear while she was in Central Asia.

Participants experience a special outreach, Retro-Extreme, in France where they rely on God alone for daily food, housing and ministry opportunities.

While reaching out to Turks in France, one long-term worker feels like Apostle Paul: preaching in house churches and getting kicked out of a mosque.

"He's the complete package technically," Spain Under-17 coach Santi Denia said of Ferrán Torres, who is starting to make first-team headway at Valencia aged 17.

Source: www.youtube.com - Thursday, April 30, 2020

A new supercapacitor based on manganese oxide could combine the storage capacity of batteries with the high power and fast charging of other supercapacitors, according to researchers at Penn State and two universities in China.

CNA Staff, Mar 30, 2020 / 02:30 pm (CNA).- The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was closed last week and has no definite timeline for reopening. This is the first time in nearly 700 years the holy site has closed for an extended period due to disease. 

The church building, which houses the tomb of Christ and the site of the crucifixion, was first closed to pilgrims and other visitors on Wednesday, March 25. Initially, the closure was only expected to last for one week, but religious and Israeli government officials agreed that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the global pilgrimage destination should not reopen. 

"The initial understanding is that this order is valid for one week, although nobody knows how long this crisis will take," Wadie Abu Nassar, a spokesperson for the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, told Reuters. 

Nassar said that if the church is still closed to the public at Easter, some sort of celebration will be arranged in line with the governmental guidelines and restrictions. Easter is celebrated on April 12 for Latin Rite Catholics and April 19 for Eastern Churches using the Julian calendar-- both dates are observed within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 

If this were to happen, said Nassar, pilgrims would still not be allowed inside, and the denominations that share custody of the church would coordinate to ensure that there are no more than 10 clerics and other leaders gathered inside at any time.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is unique among religious sites as it is partially controlled by several different Christian Churches. The Roman Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, and Armenian Apostolic Church each share control of the building, and other Orthodox Churches also celebrate divine liturgy at the site. 

The last time the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was closed for an extended period was 1349, during an outbreak of the Black Death in Jerusalem. 

The church, which was first consecrated in the year 335, has been closed for short periods of time in the subsequent millennia due to war or other disputes. In 2018, to protest a proposed tax increase on churches, the site was closed to the public for about three days before reopening. 

Other religious sites, including the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, have also closed due to the Israeli government’s new restrictions aimed at preventing people from catching COVID-19. 

Authorities in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, closed the Church of the Nativity in early March after four cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the town. The Church of the Nativity was built over the birthplace of Jesus Christ. All tourists were subsequently banned from entering Bethlehem.

Israel has taken a proactive approach in its attempts to contain the spread of COVID-19. On March 9, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that anyone entering the country would be forced to quarantine for a 14-day period. That announcement resulted in the cancelation or abrupt end to many pilgrimages, as travelers scrambled to secure flights back to the United States. 

Israel has recorded more than 4,000 cases of COVID-19, with 15 deaths.

CNA Staff, Apr 6, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Unable to lead the traditional Palm Sunday procession through Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, blessed the city with a relic of the True Cross on April 5.

The annual procession, which recalls Christ’s entry into the city and the beginning of Holy Week, was cancelled in line with international efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, with public gatherings and events suspended in Israel. 

“We decided since we cannot have the palm procession, to have anyway a moment of prayer this afternoon,” said Pizzaballa on Sunday. The archbishop led a short, multi-lingual “moment of prayer” at Dominus Flevit, a church located on the Mount of Olives.

The church, which is shaped like a teardrop, overlooks the city, and was built to mark the Gospel account of Jesus weeping as he envisioned the destruction of Jerusalem.

The prayer service ended with Pizzaballa raising a relic of the True Cross over the city in benediction. 

Jerusalem, said Pizzaballa, “is a symbol of the church, the symbol also of humanity. It is the house of prayer for all the people, according to the scriptures.”

“So when we cry [over] Jerusalem, together with Jesus, we cry [over] all our human fraternity, for this difficult moment we are living, for this sad Palm Sunday, this Easter we have to celebrate.”

Pizzaballa said that sadness over being unable to celebrate the liturgical feasts of Holy Week is real, but “maybe, in a way also very true, very essential.” 

“Today we have not celebrated the solemn and beautiful entrance of Jesus to the city of Jerusalem like every year, with faithful from all the parishes of the diocese and with pilgrims from all over the world,” Pizzaballa said during the prayer service.

“We have not raised our palms and olive branches to cry out ‘Hosanna’ to our king, Jesus the Christ.” 

Instead, the archbishop asked Catholics in the Holy Land and around the world to consider what the Lord may be trying to say during these times.

He noted that, while the people of Jerusalem in the Gospel greeted him with cheers on Palm Sunday, Jesus knew that “He came to Jerusalem, not to be on the throne like David, but to be put to death.” 

“The meaning that Jesus attributes to his ‘triumphal entry’ is different from the meaning that the people of Jerusalem saw in it,” he said.

“Perhaps this is the lesson that Jesus wants to teach us today. We turn to God when there is something that harms us. When we are in trouble, suddenly we all want to ask big and difficult questions.”

While people may be praying for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic as we often do for solutions  to other problems, the archbishop said that  “Jesus responds in His own way” to these prayers. 

“Precisely because Jesus says ‘yes’ to our deepest desires, He will have to say ‘no’ to our immediate desires,” he said.

Drawing comparisons between this year's Palm Sunday and the biblical Palm Sunday during Christ's earthly life, Pizzaballa said the story of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem “is a lesson on the discrepancy between our expectations and God’s response.” 

The crowd who greeted Jesus was disappointed that their salvation was not immediate, said Pizzaballa, but “Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is truly the moment when salvation is born.” 

“The ‘Hosannas’ were justified, even if not for the reasons the Jerusalemites had supposed,” he said. 

This remains true today, he explained. Although it may seem as though God is not answering prayers and leaves people “disappointed,” this is in part because “our expectations remain without an apparent response.”

Christianity, he said, “is based on hope and love, not certainty,” and that while God will not answer all problems with certainty, “He won’t leave us alone.” 

“And here, today, despite everything, at the gates of His and our city, we declare that we really want to welcome Him as our King and Messiah, and to follow Him on His way to His throne, the cross,” he said.  

“But we also ask Him to give us the strength necessary to carry it with His own, fruitful love.”

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.

Rural schools struggle with high and lows more commonly associated with urban schools, including high rates of poverty, low literacy rates, and low college attendance rates, a new report finds.

During special Easter outreaches to women in red light areas, outreach workers go in the knowledge that Jesus is with them and His resurrection power gives hope, strength and life.

For years, Gustavo, an architect from Central America, felt drawn to working in the Arabian Peninsula. Then, on a short-term trip, he saw what it could be like to use his profession overseas.

Despite being aware of the need for discretion when talking about Jesus, Argentinian Cecilia felt no fear while she was in Central Asia.

Manchester City defeated Liverpool on penalties to set up a semi-final with Barcelona, victors at Atlético Madrid, while Porto beat Tottenham Hotspur and face Chelsea, who won at Real Madrid.

The "jewel of La Masia", Ansu Fati scored his first Barcelona goal aged just 16 on Saturday.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

This week’s episode of #EntrepreneurCorner features Antoinette Prophy, who talks about starting her own business at the age of 26, and the benefits of surrounding yourself with smart employees.

By Bishop Arthur Serratelli

On the Mediterranean coast, half way between modern Tel Aviv to the north and Haifa to the south, stand the ruins of Caesarea Maritima, the magnificent city that Herod the Great built between 22 and 10 B.C. Herod’s palace, built on a promontory jutting out into the sea, was an engineering marvel. The city’s 40-acre harbor could accommodate 300 ships. The city boasted a hippodrome as well as a theater with a seating capacity of 3,500.

Caesarea Maritima was one of the most important cities in the world. It was the Roman capital from which Pontius Pilate ruled the province of Judea at the time of Jesus. Paul was imprisoned here. Deacon Philip lived here. And, for the first 300 years of Christianity, Caesarea became a center of faith and study that rivaled Alexandria and Antioch. Among its most famous Christians is Origen.

Origen (184 – 253 A.D.) was a teacher, scholar, preacher, apologist, and theologian. He has rightly been called “the greatest genius of the early Church.” Like St. Paul himself whose writings influenced all subsequent theology, Origen has had an unmistakable effect on the Church’s great thinkers for centuries. Among others, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Meister Eckhart all studied his writing. Origen’s allegorical interpretation of Scripture became the preferred method of explaining the Scriptures during the Middle Ages.

As a first-class philosopher and student of Sacred Scripture, he has earned himself the distinction of being the Church’s first biblical scholar. But, he did not limit his study to Sacred Scripture. He wrote on many different topics, including textual criticism, hermeneutics, theology, asceticism and homiletics. Origen’s principal work, De Principiis, was the first systematic exposition of Christian theology ever written. With the help of seven full-time secretaries, he produced more than two thousand works. So extensive were his writings that St. Jerome remarked, “Has anyone read everything that Origen wrote?”

The catechetical school that Origen established at Caesarea Maritima boasted the largest theological library of the day. It attracted such renowned scholars as St. Gregory Nazianzus, St. Basil the Great and St. Jerome. One of Origen’s students, Eusebius of Caesarea, earned the distinction of being “The Father of Church History.” Eusebius himself provides us into a glimpse of Origen’s personal life.

According to Eusebius, Origen not only worked assiduously defending the faith, but also he lived the faith in great simplicity. He owned only one coat. He wore no shoes. He ate sparingly. He slept on the floor. He spent the night studying and praying the Scriptures. In the words of Eusebius, “he taught as he lived and he lived as he taught.”

In the days of Origen, the Church herself had to face persecution, hostility and attacks from pagan philosophers. Even within the Church, there were the interminable battles on such important doctrines as the Trinity, the Divinity of Jesus and Redemption. While, in some instances, Origen may have not understood or explained the faith correctly, he nevertheless said, “I want to be a man of the Church … to be called … of Christ.”

What a great inspiration Origen is for anyone who may find it difficult when the Church faces challenges, questions, hostility, persecution and human failure. In his commentary on the Gospel of John, he writes: 

“The Church is being built out of living stones; it is in process of becoming a spiritual dwelling for a holy priesthood, raised on the foundations of apostles and prophets, with Christ as its chief cornerstone. Hence, it bears the name ‘temple.’…It is written: You are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. Thus even if the harmonious alignment of the stones should seem to be destroyed and fragmented and, as described in the twenty-first psalm, all the bones which go to make up Christ’s body should seem to be scattered by insidious attacks in persecutions or times of trouble, or by those who in days of persecution undermine the unity of the temple, nevertheless the temple will be rebuilt and the body will rise again on the third day, after the day of evil which threatens it…” From a commentary on John by Origen, priest (Tomus 10, 20: PG 14, 370-371).

With these words, Origen offers hope to those who become discouraged when they see the Church suffering, besieged and wounded by sin. Origen presents the Church as a building being constructed, a work in progress. And, he enlarges our understanding of the Church so that we see ourselves as her members, imperfect in ourselves, yet being perfected by the grace of God. As we look forward to “the third day,” the day of the final resurrection, we pray for the Church and try to advance her holiness by striving after holiness in our own imperfect lives.
 

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.

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.

During special Easter outreaches to women in red light areas, outreach workers go in the knowledge that Jesus is with them and His resurrection power gives hope, strength and life.

For years, Gustavo, an architect from Central America, felt drawn to working in the Arabian Peninsula. Then, on a short-term trip, he saw what it could be like to use his profession overseas.

Despite being aware of the need for discretion when talking about Jesus, Argentinian Cecilia felt no fear while she was in Central Asia.

Microsoft hopes to improve its software through AI research while OpenAI can take full advantage of the Azure cloud.

Europe's FIFA World Cup hopefuls continued their preparations this month.

DOVER — Delaware homeowners who face foreclosure, have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, or have questions about their mortgage can meet with lenders and housing counselors at two upcoming workshops in Dover on May 15 and Wilmington on May 16. At each free workshop, homeowners can also get information from the Attorney General’s Office […]

DOVER — Delaware homeowners who face foreclosure, have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, or have questions about their mortgage can meet with lenders and housing counselors at two upcoming workshops in Dover on November 13 and Wilmington on November 14. At each free workshop, homeowners can also get information from the Attorney General’s Office […]

One cabin on the Riverboat was specially set aside as a prayer room to encourage intercessory prayer at all times.

For just $139 you can keep tabs on your dog and send them treats wherever you are.

The project, which includes companies such as Philips Hue manufacturer Signify, Ikea, and Samsung SmartThings, will help ensure that smart home products work across platforms with the three voice assistants, Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google's Assistant.

On Netflix's social-media-based reality show, contestants live in the same building but in separate apartments, communicating via an Alexa-like voice assistant and chat system.

The Wicked Lasers LaserCube is a portable, battery-powered laser projector that can deliver light shows, play games, and even etch wood.

Gunnar's Work-Play gaming glasses react to sunlight, shifting from a blue-ray-reducing amber tint indoors to full-on sunglasses outside.

Researchers in Penn State’s College of Engineering, College of Agricultural Sciences and College of Medicine say direct LTP treatment and plasma-activated media are effective treatments against bacteria found in liquid cultures and have devised a way to create plasma directly in liquids.

With the spread of COVID-19, Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute has launched a new website that provides resources for researchers, policy-makers and the general public to inform and to address impacts of the pandemic — with a focus on its broader implications for individuals, families, communities, and the commonwealth.

Using a matched cohort design, in this study, we define the adverse clinical and financial implications of UEs in the NICU.

South Africa should adopt an Australian-type retirement programme to safeguard long-term savings, say industry experts.

An exception is the gold industry. South African gold miners are struggling to maintain production levels.

OM Chile training programme participants see people come to faith during a weekend outreach.

Chileans and foreigners perform a flash mob in the largest plaza in Santiago.