First a synagogue, now a mosque?

I grew up in a town that was 98.9% Caucasian and 96.9% Catholic. We had a synagogue in town and were told that we ought to stay clear of that neighborhood of infidels. There was no violence but there was definitely an undercurrent of suspicion and prejudice.

Today we live in a country where there are more Buddhists than either Presbyterians or Episcopalians. In the not too distant future there will be more Muslims in the USA than Jews.

We have long had interfaith marriages between Catholics and Protestants, Catholics and Jews. In recent years, our Pre-Cana ministry has prepared some Hindu-Catholic and Buddhist-Catholic couples. We’ve had Baptisms where the mother was Hindu or Catholic.

It’s a far different world than that of my childhood. I have had to unlearn some prejudices and attitudes that were very subtle in my religious upbringing. As I ponder Jesus in our Gospels, I always ask myself how He would have me respond to not only the synagogue but also to the mosque? The gospel is definitely countercultural and definitely makes me uncomfortable as I examine my stance on a whole host of real life issues. In this context as we celebrate another national holiday and soon make remembrance of 9/11, I recall the words to the hymn “This Is My Song.”

This is my song. O God of all nations

A song of peace for lands afar and mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is;

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;

But other hearts in other lands are beating

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

O hear my song, O God of all the nations,

A song of peace for their land and for mine.