Walking God's Paths
Catholic and Jewish Religious Leaders Weigh in on Walking God's Paths

The Florida Catholic – Venice Edition by Heather Felton
(Venice, Fla.—September 16, 2004)

It’s all about promoting understanding between the people of two faiths.
This summer, Catholics and Jews came together in a spirit of openness to share and learn through a new program called “Walking God’s Paths.”

Designed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as a 10-week video program to promote congregational dialogue between Catholics and Jews, the program succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations, bringing together representatives of two Venice area congregations—Epiphany Cathedral Parish and the Jewish Community Center of Venice—in a way that may prove to be the foundation for future dialogue elsewhere in the diocese.
Pat Macaulay, a parishioner at St. Martha Parish, Sarasota, became involved in the program as a member of the Bishop's Committee on Catholic/Jewish relations, responding to the invitation of the former associate director of the diocesan Ecumenism and Interfaith Office to “take it on as a summer project to make sure this dialogue initiative bore fruit instead of withering on the vine,” he said.

As a result, parishioners of the Epiphany Cathedral Parish and members of the congregation of the Jewish Community Center of Venice were invited to come together to participate in the program, which provides a series of short video clips and discussion points.

Gladys Cole, of Epiphany Cathedral, was asked to facilitate the program between the Jewish Community Center and Epiphany Cathedral.
“The film was very instructive and gave a well-balanced view, from the Christian perspective and the Jewish perspective, about how we view issues in each other's religion,” she said.

Anne Morgan, also from Epiphany Cathedral, said the greatest benefit of the program was in developing a greater understanding of present day Jewish thoughts and practices, as well as misconceptions held by both faiths.
“These discussions were very open to expressing opinions and understandings on both Jewish and Christian (Catholic) members in a very non-threatening way,” Morgan said. “Even though I have had many very good Jewish friends, we have not entered into faith sharing conversations and I did not realize that there are many misconstrued concepts on both sides.”

Iris Blankman, of the Jewish Community Center, agreed. “We have as many misconceptions and as many prejudices as everyone,” she said. “I think its time we put it all out there and talk about it…. It’s about the breaking down of myths.”

“We’re really going to break these walls down,” add Joel Kreiss, also of the Jewish Community Center. “This is the sledge hammer that could break down the walls.”

For Macaulay, the greatest benefit of this program was the affirmation that people of all religions have been graced by God and have the same core beliefs of family and community values. “Although we are different in the way we worship God, we are the same in that we do worship the same God and try to do right by the tenets of our respective ‘paths’ God has given us to ‘walk,’” he said. “Those tenets require us to love God and serve one another and they are derived from the Ten Commandments.”

Cole said she found that the main message in both Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament is simple—love. “Yet we know how complex it becomes to apply this message. If we can start person to person we can perhaps open the door to greater understanding,” she said. “With our group, we were willing to learn and dialogue about our differences and not feel threatened. Being open-minded is the key to better understanding and we were able to accomplish this and that is why our group bonded so well.”

Because the group enjoyed the fellowship so much, they agreed to continue meeting although they have completed the “Walking God’s Paths” program.
“We are pretty well ‘hooked’ as a group,” Macaulay said. “I think that all of us feel that we have made some really close friends. The fellowship is wonderful. There is a synergy there that doesn’t always exist when exploring faith issues with members of one’s own faith. The equal mix (Catholic/Jewish) demands that we examine our own institutional faith beliefs through the eyes of worshipful people that do not share them.”

The Jewish representatives are as enthusiastic as the Catholics.
“We have this ongoing relationship and I don’t want to lose what we have,” Kreiss said. “I feel that we’ve been able to develop bonds of trust to speak to each other. I think we should really put this out there and start developing understanding.”

As part of their extended curriculum, the different faiths visited each other’s sacred spaces to learn about their worship practices. Deacon Francis Cole, Gladys Cole’s husband, led the tour of Epiphany Cathedral. Among the topics covered, Deacon Cole explained the meanings behind the stained glass windows, the different liturgical colors and the different books used in the Mass. These “field trips” gave the group even more insights into the similarities of their faiths.

The membership is next planning several events to continue the sharing of their respective faiths, including a study group of the prophets from the Old Testament, Macaulay said. “It will be interesting to see how we come together as we read the prophets,” he said.

While any parish interested in presenting “Walking God’s Paths” is more than welcome to do so, Macaulay said he believes that, for the program to work to the fullest advantage, it should be “embraced by a synagogue and a parish together.”