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A positive footnote to 9/11: Interfaith cooperation rises

18 Sep 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from the Book of Isaiah encourages us to “seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near,” while the psalmist makes this worshipful pledge: “Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever” and asserts that “the Lord is near to all who call upon him.” If there is a silver lining to the destruction that occurred ten years ago on 9/11, it might be this: Interfaith worship has doubled in the U.S. in the past decade, according to a new study. Although more than seven in 10 U.S. congregations still do not associate with other faiths, the survey by an interfaith group of researchers found that about 14 percent of U.S. congregations in 2010 engaged in a joint religious celebration with another faith tradition, up from 6.8 percent in 2000. Interfaith community service grew nearly threefold, with 20.4 percent of congregations reporting participation in 2010, up from 7.7 percent in 2000, according to the Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership. After the 9/11 attacks, “Islam and Islamics’ presence in the United States [became] visible in a way that you couldn’t ignore,” said David A. Roozen, one of the report’s authors and the director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. National Muslim groups tried to build bridges to other faiths, who in turn “reached out in new ways to be neighborly,” Roozen said. Reform Jewish congregations led the way, with two-thirds participating in interfaith worship and three-quarters involved in interfaith community service. Sources: Articles by Piet Levy for Religion News Service and Ecumenical News International

Muslims david a roozen cooperative congregations studies partnership community service interfaith worship interfaith cooperation 911 congregations reformed jews hartford institute for religion research

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France reels anew from religiously motivated attack

08 Feb 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,” the psalmist affirms this Sunday. While the French nation continues to heal from the trauma of recent acts of terrorism, anxieties were heightened anew Tuesday when a man attacked and wounded three soldiers as they guarded a Jewish community center. The soldiers escaped serious injury and the knife-wielding attacker was arrested as he tried to flee. Homily hint: Religious intolerance is on the rise worldwide at a time when we need to come together to solve global problems. Teach tolerance and help foster it by encouraging your faith community to participate in interfaith gatherings. The children of God need to get along. For more on the attack, see: French Soldiers Guarding Jewish Site Are Attacked; Frenchman Was Detained Before Attack at Jewish Site

Tolerance terrorism anti-semitism interfaith cooperation

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China’s currency syndrome

16 Aug 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The one who feeds on me will have life because of me,” Jesus promises in this Sunday’s gospel. China’s rapid economic growth in recent decades has fed economic growth around the world. But the nation’s rapidly weakening currency is shattering the economic juggernaut’s carefully managed image of prosperity and threatening to set back the U.S. recovery just as it is gaining traction. Homily hint: A shift in economic power among nations reveals how interrelated we all are in the global economy. Though we depend on each other, competition and conflict are common responses to world economic crises. Jesus promises to feed us all if we unite in holiness and care for each other. For more on China’s currency crisis, see: China’s yuan move puts global image at stake

holiness cooperation interdependence

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Homily stories

14 Aug 2016 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Chicago fourth-grader Charlie Mahay likes meeting kids who are different from him simply because “they’re interesting,” he says. When he visited the mosque of his friend Isa (whose name is Arabic for Jesus), the main differences Charlie noted from how he worships at his Catholic parish were that you have to take off your shoes and sit on the floor. What did he and Isa have in common? They like to play basketball. And now they write poetry together, too—as part of an arts program called Poetry Pals that brings together Christian, Muslim, and Jewish students, ages 8 to 12, to teach one another about their traditions through creative expression, go to each other’s places of worship, and become friends in the process. Since the program’s founding in 2008, 2,500 participants have learned that what we have in common is stronger than our differences, and our differences certainly don’t have to be our undoing. People aren’t born with prejudices; they learn them—but adults can help make sure kids don’t. And it works the other way, too: Because acceptance and tolerance come naturally to kids, they’re models for adults. After all, Jesus said, “. . . unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Authors Jennifer Tomshack

interfaith cooperation prejudices differences

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Homily stories

10 Sep 2023 - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

I’ve heard the unforgettably beautiful Muslim call to prayer—the Adhan, which is recited from the tall minarets of mosques five times daily—while traveling in Delhi, India; Cape Town, South Africa; and Amman, Jordan. I never dreamed I’d hear it deep in the backcountry of Michigan. To my delighted surprise, it was a muezzin who opened our interfaith prayer service on a glorious afternoon last fall in the middle of a vineyard, bursting with wine grapes ready for picking. Our interfaith action group was gathering to give thanks for the harvest and another year of serving and advocating for migrant farm workers. A leader from each community took turns contributing. The Episcopal bishop declared, “I think this is what heaven looks like.” A representative for the Sikhs waved his hand over us and said, “We are the fingers of the hand of God, each different, all important.” The Catholic priest slowly panned the group of 200 with his eyes and said, “I’m looking at love.” A Jewish rabbi closed with a prayer in Hebrew, blessing us and sending us forth. The spirit of unity, over a common goal to do good, among these different groups—who in different times and places have been sharply divided—was so palpable it was overwhelming. Gather us together everywhere, Father, so we may produce a bountiful harvest.

Authors Jennifer Tomshack

interfaith cooperation interfaith worship

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Homily stories

09 Jun 2024 - Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there were four kingdoms. The Triangle, Square and Circle Kingdoms of the Valley. They were hard workers, but they were always scuffling with the other valley kingdoms for more territory, more resources, and more food. They were mistrusting of their differences and found nothing in common with the other valley peoples except that they were each terrorized by the Diamond Kingdom of the Mountain, whose people would descend upon the valley kingdoms, raid their villages, and steal their hard-earned food. No matter what measures the three valley kingdoms took, they were always defeated by the Diamond Kingdom. The defeats led to even more mistrust among the valley kingdoms. After a particularly difficult and dry summer, the Diamond Kingdom chose to attack the Triangle Kingdom at the same time the Circle Kingdom troops were advancing towards the Triangle people. The Triangle forces braced for the worst onslaught ever. But then to their astonishment, the Circle guard changed course and began attacking the Diamond army from the rear. Before they knew how to respond, fighters from the Square Kingdom rounded the plain. They too were joining in the battle and directing their weapons against the Diamond Kingdom. Emboldened, the Triangle Kingdom forces ran into battle, and the mighty Diamond warriors were now surrounded on three sides. They were soon defeated. That was the last year the Diamond Kingdom took advantage of the Circle, Square, and Triangle Kingdoms. And it was the last year the peoples of the valley competed with one another for resources. They had learned to trust one another and work together. They recognized that their different sizes and shapes made them stronger. Eventually the Diamond Kingdom followed suit and joined the other kingdoms. And so, to this very day, united they stand.

Authors Deacon Pedro Guevara-Mann

Trust cooperation Unity

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