Isreal Kills Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza

 Israeli forces  in  Gaza killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of  last year's attack on Israel on Oct. 7  that sparked the war, the AP website reports today (Oct.17,2024).

Israeli leaders celebrated his killing as a settling of scores just over a year after Hamas --led militants killed some 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others in an attack that stunned the country. They also presented it as a turning point in the campaign to destroy Hamas, urging the group to surrender and release some 100 hostages still in Gaza. 

"Hamas will no longer rule Gaza. This is the start of the day after Hamas," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. 

U.S. officials expressed hopes for a cease--fire with Sinwar out of the picture. But eliminating him may not end the devastating war, during which Israel has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and killed more than 42,000 Palestinians. More than half of those killed were women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. 

Over 6,000 Univ. of Mississippi Students Praise Jesus at Unite U.S. Event

 Thousands of students  from the University of Mississippi lifted their voices in worship and praise to Jesus and made public declarations of faith during a massive campus event, the CBN website reports today (Oct. 16, 2024). 

The Unite U.S. tour hit "Ole Miss" during its latest campus stop on its mission to share the Gospel with students across the country. 

The Pavilion was packed with 6,600 college students hungry for something more. God is on the move in this generation!

The ministry reports some 6,600 students packed out the Sandy and John Black Pavilion Oct. 10 to worship, pray, and to hear the Gospel. "Students from one of the top party schools showed up last night to represent Christ and get freed," wrote Christian music artist Forrest Frank, who shared footage of the baptisms. "Can't wait to see what God does next!"

The night ended with hundreds of students making a public declaration to Jesus Christ, and some took part in water baptisms in the back of a pickup truck.

Many Children Lost in Huricane Helene aftermath

 Despite floodwaters risaing 27 feet above the Asheville, North Carolina road, a plant preserved, its leaves now soaking up the bright sun, the USA Today website eports today (Oct. 15, 2024). 

A smattering of plants and at least one tree also remained standing when the waters receded after Tropical Storm Helene. But it was the trio of roses that Megan Drye took solace in on a Sunday afternoon in mid--October. 

She believes they are a sign  from her parents and young son who perished when the family's home collapsed into the Swannanoa River on Sept. 27. Megan, 39, was the sole survivor of the flood , which killed 7--year--old Micah Drye and Nora and Michael Drye, both 73. 

Micah was just one of the children lost in the storm. Nine--year--old Felix Wisely and his 7--year--old brother , Lucas, also died. At least one other student from Buncombe County Schools is confirmed dead, and about 20 remained unaccounted for today. In Buncombe County, home to Asheville, North Carolina, at least 72 have died, the largest share of western North Carolina's 124 confirmed deaths so far. 

Pope Calls for UN Forces in Lebanon to Be "Respected"

As Israel faces mounting international pressure over its assaults on a UN peacekeeping unit in Lebanon, Pope Francis has joined the chorus, using his noontime Sunday Angelus address to issue a direct appeal that "the forces of peace of the United Natiions  be respected," the Crux website reports today (Oct. 14, 2024). 

"I continue to follow with concern what's happening in the Middle East, and I ask once again for an immediate ceasefire on all fronts.," the pope said. "Let's follow the paths of diplomacy and dialogue to obtain peace."   

I'm close to all the populations involved, in Palestine, in Israel, and in Lebanon," the pope said, "where I ask that the forces of peace of the United Nations be respected. I pray for all the victims , the displaced persons, the hostages whom I hope will soon be released, and I hope that this great and useless suffering, generated by hate and vendetta, wiill soon end." 

Franklin Graham: Americans Must Help Each Other Amid Storm Devastation, Trust in God's Goodness

 Samaritan's Purse CEO Franklin Graham told the Christian Post that God is faithful amid suffering and that Americans must rely on each other after the recent hurricane devastation in the southeastern United States that afflicted his hometown, the Christian Post website reports today(Oct. 13, 2024). 

He also advised Americans against waiting for the government to save them in the wake of the damage from Hurricane Helene, which tore through a corridor extending from the Florida panhandle into Appalachia last week .

The storm left wide swaths of death and destruction, especially in Graham's native western North Carolina, where his nonprofit Samaritan's Purse is based in Boone. The relief organization has been using helicopters to carry food, water,and medical kits to some of the state's remote western counties, Graham said. 

Graham noted the fact that Samaritan's Purse, which ministers to devastated populations around the world, is now helping people in its own neighborhood. He said his own house in Boone continues to be without electricity. 

"A  lot of people, when there's a crisis like this, ask why,," he said. "Why did God allow it? He's a God of love: Why did God allow this? We know from the Bible that God loves us, and He cares for us. 

Graham added, "We are going to have storms in life, and the Bible tells us that if we put our faith and trust in Christ, that not only will He get us through this life, He will take us all the way to Heaven to be with Him one day. 

Ethel Kennedy, Wife of Sen. Robert Kennedy, Dies at 96

 Ethel Kennedy, the wife of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and a mainstay in American politics for decades, died yesterday (Oct. 10) at the age of 96, the National Catholic Register website reports today (Oct. 11, 2024). Kennedy passed away in her sleep yesterday morning due to "complications related to a stroke she suffered last week," according to a statement on behalf of the Kennedy family posted on X by her grandson Joe Kennedy III

"She was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant," the statement reads, adding : "We are comforted in  knowing she is reunited with her love of her life, our father, Robert  F. Kennedy;  her children,David and Michael; her daughter--in--law, Mary; her grandchildren, Maeve and Saoirse; and her great--grandchildren Gideon and Josie."

Kennedy's husband, Robert, campaigned for and won a seat in the U.S. Senate representing New York state in 1964. He was assassinated on June 6, 1968, less than 24 hours after announcing that he had won the presidential primaries in California and South Dakota. 

Ethel Kennedy, who was by Robert's side as he died, gave birth to their 11th and last child six months later. 

After her husband's death in 1968, she founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center , dedicated to continuing his work  in the human rights and journalistic spheres. She was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Synod View: All Catholics Must Play Bigger Role in Spreading the Gospel

 The pope, bishops, and prests cannot fully awaken the missionary spirit of the Catholic Church alone, so all Catholics must play a more central role in spreading the Gospel, according to participants in the Synod on Synodality, the Catholic News website reports today (Oct. 10, 2024). 

In today's Church, where "theological competence is not only a privilege of priests and bishops" and where the lay faithful "demand participation and transparency," synodality must empower all Catholics to actively participate in the Church's mission, said Thomas Soding , a theology professor at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany and a theological expert at the Synod. 

Speaking at a theological and pastoral forum in Rome, organized by the General Secretariat of the Synod, Prof. Soding said that the model of the people of God as active participants in the Church's mission  is  rooted in the New Testament.

In the apostolic era, "we see the slow emergence of a canon of writings that interpret Jesus, that interpret the Gospel in diverse ways, but in ways that all the churches sense are in fidelity to the truth of Jesus Chrst," said Fr. Ormond Rush, a professor at Australian Cathoic University and another theological expert at the Synod. 

Fr. Rush noted that the faithful must be careful to avoid conceiving of the Church as an "ethereal subject floating through time," unaffected by worldly circumstance, but must also recognize it as something beyond a purely human institution. 

Synod participants look at how all Catholics can serve the Church's mission.