NEWS BRIEFS

Capitol clergy pray for unity

WASHINGTON - Can prayer move an unmovable object, like the U.S. Congress?

As the federal government remains partially shut down and about to hit a debt ceiling next week, Senate Chaplain Barry Black continues to appeal to God in his daily invocations.

Before Tuesday’s Senate session, he prayed, “May the tirades of majorities or minorities be equally impotent to sway our lawmakers from doing what is best for America.” He also prayed that the senators will be ethical “as they strive to match their words with deeds.”

On the other side of the Capitol, House Chaplain the Rev.

Patrick Conroy prayed that lawmakers will use the power they have to help their constituents “who possess little or no power, and whose lives are made all the more difficult by a failure to work out serious differences.”For Nov. 28: Gobble tov!

NEW YORK - This year, for the first time in living memory, Hanukkah will start on Thanksgiving, creating a Jewish-American frenzy.

There’s the commerce: A 9-year-old New York boy invented the “Menurkey” and raised more than $48,000 on Kickstarter for his trademarked turkey-shaped menorah. Woodstock-inspired T-shirts have a turkey perched on the neck of a guitar and implore “8 Days of Light, Liberty & Latkes.” The creators nabbed the trademark to “Thanksgivukkah.”

Let’s not forget the food mash-ups commemorating the staying power of the Pilgrims and the fighting prowess of the Jews, along with the miracle of one night’s oil lasting eight days.

Pumpkin latkes, apple-cranberry sauce and deep-fried turkey, anyone?

The Jewish calendar makes Hanukkah appear to drift slightly from year to year, but it hasn’t coincided with Thanksgiving for 125 years, and isn’t expected to do so again for more than 79,000 years.

  • The Associated Press

Diocese refiles health-law suit

PITTSBURGH - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is suing the federal government again seeking to overturn a looming requirement that employers offer contraceptive coverage in employee health plans.

A judge in November dismissed a previous lawsuit, saying the diocese has not been harmed by the legislation and that the government had promised to take steps to address religious objections.

But the new federal lawsuit claims such promises have proved to be “empty words” - and said the final regulations that take effect Jan. 1 are worse than the proposed regulations that prompted last year’s lawsuit.

  • The Associated Press

The Dalai Lama speaks on ethics

ATLANTA - The Dalai Lama has told an audience in suburban Atlanta to focus on love and to be grateful for all that they have.

The Tibetan Buddhist leader spoke to thousands of people Tuesday at the Gwinnett Center arena.

The focus of this visit is “secular ethics,” which is described as a system of shared principles that go beyond religious differences while still respecting and valuing the significance of religion in people’s lives.

The Dalai Lama has held the title of presidential distinguished professor at Emory University since October 2007 and has visited Emory’s campus five times.

  • The Associated Press

Religion, Pages 12 on 10/12/2013

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