Thoughts from Your Rector,

Pentecost Draws Near

 

May 3rd, 2007

Dear Parish Family:

I wish you all continued peace, and joy during this time of Easter hope.  In just a few weeks Pentecost Sunday will be upon us and we will be celebrating the birth of the Church.  This birth as we all know took place in the holy city of Jerusalem, and was marked by pluralism.  There were many people gathered there who spoke many languages; and this was to be a sign that God’s Spirit belonged to all people, regardless of who they were, or what part of the world they came from.  Jerusalem the holy city becomes the place where the work of the church would begin, where new hope and life would emerge, and a new direction for all of humanity would spring forth.  

By the time you read this letter I will be visiting the Holy Land on an interfaith pilgrimage composed of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.  We will be visiting holy sights as well as meeting with various interfaith organizations engaged in peace work while building bridges of understanding across religious boundaries.  In a sense this is a Pentecost journey for we will be celebrating and embracing the diversity and pluralism of our Abrahamic faiths.  We have all read about, and seen on the news, the horrors of terrorism, and persecution in Israel/Palestine, and many of us have sensed the feelings of hopelessness that permeate that part of the world, nevertheless hope is something that we can never lose.  This pilgrimage, however small, is to me a sign of hope.  I ask your prayers for our pilgrimage, and I look forward to sharing stories of hope upon my return.  Pray for peace in Jerusalem, the birth place of the Church, that Jews, Christians, and Muslims may come to live in peace, and celebrate God the source of all peace; and pray for all those who have turned their backs to the violence, refuse to support or engage in the violence, and want to bring about a holy peace, shalom, salaam in the Holy Land, even when this in turn may result in them being ostracized by members of their own respective religious communities.

Thankfully, religious diversity and pluralism is a reality here at home, and this is a gift we need to continue to celebrate, and expand on.  With the formation of interfaith councils across our nation, barriers of separation are tumbling down; people are reaching out to each other, and learning how to live in a pluralistic society.  We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.  This coming Saturday the Interfaith Council of Garden Grove, Westminster, and Stanton will be celebrating its 11th Annual Interfaith Unity Banquet.  I am proud to serve that organization as its president.  Our council stands as a wonderful example of pluralism, and is a historical model for the rest of the nation.  It was on of the first of its kind in the entire country.  In that spirit of Pluralism which is actually being celebrated this Sunday, I’d like to share the prayer below by S.J. Halverson:

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God of all People, Spirit of Many Names, Life force, Chi, Tao,

The All Knowing, and the Unknown,

We humble ourselves before you, recognizing our inability to fully grasp who you are.

We see you differently, we call you different names.

But you, the Great I AM, you simply are.

So be with us.  Grant this nation, this world,

The peace that passes all understanding.

May that peace guide our lives, the nation, and the world. 
In Peace, Shalom, Salaam, Pax…

Wilfredo Benitez +
The Rev. Wilfredo Benitez,
Rector

 

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