Breaking News

Religion

Religion briefs

Editor’s note: To submit a nonprofit announcement to The Sentinel’s Religion section, contact Erin Thompson at (717) 248-6741 or by email at ethompson@lewistownsentinel.com. Items also may be faxed to (717) 248-3481 or sent to The Sentinel, 352 Sixth Street, Lewistown, PA 17044. Items should arrive to The Sentinel by Wednesday afternoon for publication in the Saturday edition. Submissions will be published as space allows. The editor reserves the right to edit all submissions. ¯¯¯ Stony Run to host special services: McALISTERVILLE — Stony Run Mission Church, 2825 Evendale ...

Former Presbyterian church continues doing God’s work

LEWISTOWN — For the first time, Habitat for Humanity of Mifflin County has a home base. When the Highland Park Presbyterian discontinued services at the Electric Avenue church in Lewistown last October, its leaders wanted the building to continue doing God’s work, said Wanda McCullough, of Habitat. In May, the Highland Park Presbyterian Church and the manse building was donated to Habitat, a Christian nonprofit organization that provides affordable, decent housing to low-income families in need who have the ability to repay mortgage and are willing to partner with Habitat for ...

The red dragon’s war

We all know the stories of Knights and Dragons — the Knight rescues the beautiful maiden from the fire-breathing dragon, and all is well! The Greeks and Egyptians had a myth of beautiful woman, a mother in childbirth, who confronts a hostile dragon. In Egyptian mythology Isis, portrayed with the sun on her head, gave birth to Horus, and the red dragon Typhon tried to slay her, but she escaped to an island and her son Horus overthrew the dragon. In the Greek version, the great dragon Python, warned that he would be killed by Leto’s son, pursued the pregnant Leto, who was hidden by ...

God has given us all much to be thankful for

Thanksgiving — a time of giving thanks. How we love our turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked corn, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, fruit salad, and never forget the pumpkin pie! On this day each year, we gorge ourselves until we are just miserable, don’t we? After enjoying the meal, but eating entirely too much, we usually end up napping before round two — the infamous turkey sandwich slathered with mayo, the macaroni salad, and the pumpkin pie we were too full to eat at noon. We kind of pride ourselves on our indulgences, don’t ...

Jeremiah: Refrain from weeping, for your work shall be rewarded

What comes to mind when you think of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah? Many of us remember the text in Jeremiah 1:5 where God says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” When we read a statement like this about someone, we immediately think of a person who did a marvelous work for God. Someone who was filled with passion and zeal to serve God and glorify Him Around the middle of the book of Jeremiah, we find an interesting verse. In 31:16 it says, “Refrain your voice from weeping, and ...

Prayer apps are flooding the market, but how well do they work?

Prayer apps are not new. Silicon Valley startups popularized mindfulness and meditation apps as early as 2010, although many have criticized thom for being spiritually shallow. Hallow’s young founders — devout lay Catholic millennials — are among those who felt that mindfulness apps did not meet their religious needs and set out to create their own. Hallow’s accessible language introduces different methods of prayer, along with inspiring talks, guides to spiritual practices and notifications to encourage users to set goals and stay on track. As a priest, I know that helping ...