I HAVE never attended a Jewish service in my entire life until two weeks ago, when my friend Armando invited me to a Shabbat while spending a week of vacation in San Francisco and in the Bay Area. “Sure, I’ll go,” I responded quickly to Armando’s invitation. “I’ve always wanted to experience a Jewish service and to see a Jewish perspective,” I added.
And so on that sunny Friday in the late afternoon, Armando and I hopped into a bus on California Street toward Sherith Israel, home of a Reform congregation of people from different parts of the globe: Israel, Brazil, Iran, France, Mexico, South Africa and Russia—and around the country.
“We celebrate the diversity of Judaism,” the welcoming note in the congregation’s website says.
As we walked into the synagogue, Shabbat was about to begin. A rabbi woman and a cantor, also a woman, warmly welcomed everyone and invited us to pick up a hymnal to join in singing the opening song. What followed were more engaging hymns and prayers and reading of Old Testament verses and petitions.
As I put myself completely into a spirit of prayer, I felt the depth and the intimacy of the service. There was never a sense of egoism in prayer; it was all about worshipping the One God, of lifting one’s heart and mind to Him. It was also all about praying for the needs of the world, for peace, particularly in Israel and the rest of the Middle East. For sure, there was a feeling of ownership and pride in the Jewish faith, but there were no sentiments of condemnation or hatred against another race or religion.
Another rabbi woman gave a relevant sermon that spoke of the need for peace in Israel and the safety of Jews around the world. She clamored for more intense prayers for the violent situation in the Middle East.
As the one-hour Shabbat ended, I felt profound peace and joy. I appreciated the intimacy and the depth of prayer and acknowledged some significant connections to the Mass and my Catholic faith. I will bring this spirit of presiding and prayer when I celebrate Mass on Sundays, I told myself.
The Gospel this Sunday reminds us of the universalism of God’s redemption. In all religions, there must never be an attitude of animosity, arrogance and hatred towards other people. We are all God’s people and he commands us to love and to help one another in time of need and to live in harmony and peace.
The Gospel relates the story of a Canaanite woman, a pagan, who presented herself to Jesus, crying, “Lord, Son of God, have pity on me! My daughter is terribly troubled by a demon. Jesus gave her no word of response. His disciples came up and began to entreat him, “Get rid of her. She keeps shouting at us.” “My mission is only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Jesus replied. She came forward then and did him homage with the plea, “Help me, Lord!” But he answered, “It is not right to take the food of sons and daughters and throw it to the dogs. “Please, Lord,” she insisted, “even the dogs eat the leavings that fall from their master’s tables.” Jesus said in reply, “Woman, you have great faith! Your wish will come to pass.” That vey moment her daughter got better.
In light of the militant and barbaric acts committed around the globe, particularly of genocide and of killings of innocent children in Iraq and Gaza, we have the dire need to promote universalism than exclusivism among all religions, races, and countries,; to end violence and terrorism; and to pray for world peace.
In this present age, we cannot imagine seeing people, especially children, being massacred or driven out of their countries because of religious affiliation. We thought that we have advanced as citizens of this world in our pursuit for justice and peace. But no, every time we see another child or a race being persecuted and killed, we wonder what has happened to our world in this present time. We seem to be regressing to barbaric acts of the past ages.
May God have mercy on us! May God protect us from all evil! May God come to our rescue to bring to justice those who are responsible for the persecutions and massacres of thousands of people in the Middle East and other parts of the world. May the international communities and organizations work together to bring an end to all these barbaric acts!
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. Johns Seminary in Camarillo, Calif. and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For 20 years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. From 2002 to 2014, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. He will begin teaching at St. John’s Seminary this July. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].