Prayers for peace, thanksgiving offered at interfaith service

Photo caption: Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein chats with K. P. Singh, a member of the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis, after the seventh annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service held on Nov. 21 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis.

By Sean Gallagher

(Listen to the reporter read this story)

“Peace on earth, peace on earth, shanti, salaam, shalom.”

These words reverberated again and again in SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis during the seventh annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service held there on Nov. 21, just two days before Thanksgiving.

It was the text of a sung refrain that the hundreds who gathered at the service were invited to sing after the prayers offered by representatives of seven religious communities in Indianapolis.

At the beginning of the service, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein addressed those present.

“At this time of year, we say ‘thank you’ for the many blessings which we have received,” he said. “As people of faith, we commit ourselves to share our gifts with others, including foreigners and those who live on the margins and are uncared for in our culture.

“We share our lives out of gratitude to God, who knows us by name and who loves us.”

The prayers offered during the service included a chanted passage from the Quran, one set in a Sephardic Jewish folk song, a prayer of thanksgiving chanted by a Greek Orthodox priest and a Sikh hymn accompanied by traditional Indian instruments.

Imam Michael Saahir, the resident imam of the Nur-Allah Islamic Center in Indianapolis, gave a reflection on the religious meaning of thanksgiving during the service.

“Thanksgiving has its expression in many faith traditions: Islamic, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu and others,” he said. “Every belief system must give thanks to the one Creator who created us all.”

Saahir noted, however, that the “spiritual purity” of giving thanks is often lost in the midst of the secular and materialistic aspects of the days surrounding Thanksgiving.

“Having an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service is a blessing because it offers an opportunity for each faith tradition to witness how the other faithful remember to give thanks to God,” he said. “Therefore, it reminds each of us of the spiritual purity that we need to remember God with sincere gratitude.”

Father Anastasios Gounaris, presbyter of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Parish in Indianapolis, has been a frequent participant in the annual interfaith service.

Present this year as well, he echoed Saahir’s appreciation of different prayer traditions in comments prior to the service, saying that it is important to “recognize the gifts that are contained within our brothers and sisters, and in their respective traditions.

“We all have something to learn from each other,” Father Gounaris said.

K. P. Singh, a member of the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis, seemed to have learned something from Indiana’s first saint.

In his prayer, Singh singled out St. Theodora Guérin as one of the many “enlightened teachers [and] illumined spiritual guides” for whom he gave thanks.

“We proudly add the name of Indiana St. Theodore Guérin for her living testimony,” Singh said, “and inspiration to countless millions across faith and cultural associations [and] boundaries.” †