Simple Acts of Love

“In the poor and outcast, we see Christ's face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ.”

— Pope Francis

“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”

— Steve Maraboli (author)

Sealed With Love

Postage stamps have long created connections between people separated by many miles and even oceans. They’ve carried love letters between soldiers stationed abroad and their wives and families waiting back home. They’ve connected pen pals on different continents and grandparents and their grandchildren in different states. And through a special ministry of the School Sisters of St. Francis, they’ve underwritten food and resources for the impoverished.

Read Full Story

Details & Registration

Special Day for Teachers

We are each called to spread the gospel message where we are. For some, how this unfolds may not be traditional or even familiar. How are we “living gospels” openly and effectively when society sets constraints on how and where this way of life can be shared? Consider St. Teresa of Calcutta and the example she set forth as a model for all to embrace.

Join Alexandra Cirko, a 35-year Catholic educator and administrator, for a special online Day of Reflection: Finding Your Own Calcutta hosted by our St. Francis Center for Renewal (SFCR). Designed especially for parochial and public school teachers, the program is set for 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 13.

In gratitude for their tireless efforts as essential workers throughout the pandemic, SFCR is honoring teachers by offering this program on a freewill offering basis.

This photo from the archives of the Heinz History Center shows a streetcar making its way through the streets of Pittsburgh during The Big Snow of November 1950.

Shoveling Our Way to Church

Sister Cecilia Jacko recalls with awe The Big Snow, a blizzard that dumped 27 inches of snow on the Pittsburgh area over Thanksgiving weekend in 1950. At the time, Sister was stationed at St. Gabriel School on the city’s North Side. “To get to church we had to walk in the street,” she says. “Father Stephen, the assistant priest, shoveled the snow to get us to the church.” Do you remember The Big Snow? Refresh your memory with this retrospective from Pittsburgh’s Tribune-Review newspaper.