Common Ground

With increasingly imperative prayers for peace nationwide
& abroad, our Sisters celebrate diversity of faith by sharing some of their most meaningful interfaith experiences

That which we do not know, we often fear. Such is too often the case with religions that are different from our own, whether within Christianity or among our world’s varied faiths. Special observances like January’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity serve to break down such barriers of understanding and, rather than accentuate our differences, shine light on all that we have in common.

Over our 107-year history in the United States, our American Sisters have served throughout the country and in varied ministries worldwide. While they usually have been immersed in and charged with sharing the teachings of the Catholic Church, some also have had meaningful interfaith experiences as teachers.

Among them is Sister Frances Marie Duncan, who taught at school in Jersey City, N.J., that had a predominantly Catholic student body, but also a good number of Protestant, Jewish and Muslim students.

“I had the opportunity to share deeply with a few of the Muslim students who used my office for their Friday prayer at noon,” Sister recalls. “When we spoke about the tenets of their faith, I was amazed that despite differences in beliefs, many of our core values were so similar.”

At Thanksgiving, the school had an ecumenical service in which students from various faith groups shared their prayer forms and customs. “The diversity of faiths served to strengthen the faith of all and led to a deep respect of the others,” Sister says.

Many of us are blessed to have relationships in our everyday lives that offer insight into other faiths. Barbara Martin-Fielder, one of our lay Associates from Bethlehem, Pa., considers her life to be enriched by her friendship with a walking buddy who is a Jehovah’s Witness.

“We got to know each other many years ago when she helped me with house cleaning when my four children were all quite young,” Barbara explains. “Years later, we still walk together and share our love for ‘one true God.’”

A teacher at Notre Dame High School in Easton, Pa., Barbara strives to inspire her students’ faith, just as hers was ignited by Sister Marie Bernadette Kelleher in grade school and by Sister Anita Kuchera in a ninth-grade theology class at the former St. Francis Academy in Bethlehem. “They truly planted an everlasting seed,” she says.

Barbara now teaches her own theology class geared toward students — many from Asian countries — who have little to no background in Christianity or Catholicism. Some begin the school year as self-proclaimed atheists, but make a journey toward faith over the course of a single school term.

“I try to create a stirring in them,” Barbara says. “’I believe in God!’ they announce 10 months later when the school year is over. What could be a greater gift in life!”

Just as international students have found faith here in the U.S., some of our Sisters have experienced ecumenical moments abroad. Serving for many years at our international headquarters in Rome, Sister Nancy Celaschi recalls traveling with Sister Francesca Parana to Assisi from Rome for the first World Day of Prayer for Peace in October 1986. The event drew representatives of 32 Christian organizations and 11 non-Christian world religions.

“It was a powerful expression, not just of Christian prayer, but by leaders of all the world’s religions,” Sister Nancy says.

It was virtually impossible for the pair to get into the Italian village of San Rufino where the Christian leaders were praying, so Sisters Nancy and Francesca joined the Native Americans in the Church of St Gregory instead. They were glad they did.

“The rituals they used were familiar to me from movies, but the intensity of the prayer was something Hollywood never captured,” Sister Nancy recounts. “It is a moment I will treasure always.”

Enlightening moments also have come to our Sisters wrapped in the simplest of gestures. Among her most memorable birthdays, Sister Barbara Ann Webster counts one she spent in the company of a Japanese student to whom she was teaching English.

“Now I have something for you to learn,” the student explained, placing a dainty crocheted doily, ornate candle and small package of Japanese cookies on the table in front of Sister. “Now you make prayer,” the student said.

“As I prayed, thanking God for the gift of life, she sang a beautiful song in Japanese,” Sister remembers. “She held my hands and said, ‘Now you have peace in your heart, no? We now thank your God by sharing Japanese cookies.”

Sister Barbara Ann was deeply moved. “I left with the rest of the cookies, the doily and the candle, but what I learned that day was more precious than any gift. It was the universal love of God’s children.”