The Abraham's Family Reunion

This year, being on the committee for the UWA Catholic Society, I had the wonderful opportunity to be involved in planning the events for Faith Week at UWA. It all started off with a big idea by our Vice-President, Dawn.

Typically, we would plan a smaller, simple event. But Dawn suggested inviting everyone from all religions. This would be good to build friendships and stronger relationships, to remove the stigma of uneasy conversations and grudges, and make conversations with other clubs a norm. Although I was filled with a little pessimism on the success of this idea, I was pushed by his enthusiasm and positive thinking. As a team, we decided to go with the plan.

It was a great experience, though a struggle. We had met with the leaders from the Bahai, Jewish, Islamic and Protestant clubs; and they all came up with many ideas for events that filled up the week. We personally planned a sports day to cap off the week with soccer, volleyball and fun. Bringing that idea to life was difficult and tiring for me, involving a lot of emails, finances, and planning.

My favourite event was the “Inter-faith Q&A,” where anyone could ask any questions they have for representatives from the five religions. Initially I expected the questions to be simple and boring such as “how do you pray?” but was surprised to be met with many thought provoking questions and challenges. I was tempted to make this blog about all the objections that people from other faiths have for Catholics. But there’s just so many (though none prevail of course). Sometimes I think that half of all ecumenical conversations will be about misconceptions and misinterpretations of the Bible and Catholic teachings. I was also very tempted to make this blog solely on the hundreds of Bible verses that teach faith and works (ahem Matthew 25: 31-46).

But no, I wanted to make this to praise God for this opportunity. I enjoyed the words from the Jewish speakers the most, as it was like listening to the history, traditions and roots of our faith being alive. Steve Ray describes the Old Testament as the roots and branches of the Catholic Church; with the New Testament sprouting its leaves and flowers, fulfilling its message.

Although the turnout of the sports day wasn’t what we hoped for, it was a beautiful week, and a wonderful time. I pray that God will continue to bring fruits where there is little, and for those that still doubt the love and mercy of Jesus.