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SiVIC Forum: Faith and Environment
Thanks to our panel at the SiVIC Forum on Sunday, January 14 at the Center for Spiritual Living. The panel was part of the ING Interfaith Speakers Bureau, and did a wonderful job of describing how each of their traditions encourage care for the world and ecological awareness. The panel included Henry Cornbleet (Jewish), Joy Aspenall (Christian), Azmat Tanauli (Muslim) and Madhu Kopalle (Hindu) along with moderator Kate Chance.
Coat and Soup Event a Great Success
Thanks to all those donors and volunteers who helped to make the Coat and Soup Ministry at Grace Baptist Church on December 10th this year such a great success. 70 volunteers on Friday and 124 on Saturday were able to make 870 warm coats available to the homeless, along with a meal. Among the volunteers were the members of the Teen Interfaith Council.
More than 290 people were served and $5,342 was received in donations. The event was sponsored by Grace Baptist and Emmanuel Baptist Church, along with The One Warm Coat Organization, Cityteam Ministries, SJ/SV NAACP, Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, Pacifica Institute, SiVIC, the Catholic Diocese of San Jose, Shoe Palace and more.
Special thanks to our coordinator, Rev. Celinda Miranda, for her efforts in bringing the project together once again.
Thanks to Steve Herrera for video.
Bishop of San Jose responds to attack in Egypt
In November, Islamist militants exploded a bomb at a Sufi mosque in Egypt, killing over 300 people, including women and children. In response to that attack, Bishop Patrick J. McGrath of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose wrote to the community:
Office of the Bishop
December 1,2017
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
With this letter, I wish to add my voice and the voice of the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of San Jose in an expression of deepest sorrow over the brutal act of violence directed at our Sufi brothers and sisters in Egypt.
We live in a time of brutality and undeniable disregard for human life, yet it is in times such as this that the measure of our faith is tried and tested. Although I am not unfamiliar with violence and its deep effect on the families of its victims, I cannot even imagine the anguish you are experiencing. At the same time, over the years my faith has helped me recognize the true power that comes to life when we are able to respond to hate with love and compassion.
The words of the poet, Rumi, came to mind, and have echoed in my heart for the past few days:
Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.
It is my prayer that we may stand in solidarity with the Sufi community to express our sorrow and acknowledge their – and our – pain. Be assured of my own renewed commitment to end intolerance. Be also assured that I will ask my priests to offer prayers for the Sufi community and for all religious minorities in Egypt so that through acts of solidarity and love, the Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Sufi communities might work together to end intolerance and violence, both here and abroad.
With every best wish and kind regard, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Patrick J. McGrath
Bishop of San Jose
See original letter: McGrath letter re: Sufis