Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim people talk about most important attribute of God
The B.C. Catholic
Catholics, Jews, and Muslims agree that mercy is one of God’s most important attributes.
About 150 local leaders and members of all three religions gathered at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre Nov. 8 and were surprised to discover their similarities.
“All of us together have a common shared mission: to proclaim a merciful God in a world that is so full of violence and hate,” said Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB.
He told the interfaith gathering that mercy has been top of mind for Catholics since they began celebrating a Jubilee Year of Mercy in December.
When Pope Francis announced the jubilee, “He noted the implication of this theme of mercy for all religions, and he singled out especially Islam and Judaism, both of which, as we know, consider mercy to be one of God’s most significant attributes.”
Rabbi Jonathan Infeld of Congregation Beth Israel in Vancouver agreed.
“There are two ways of seeing mercy in Jewish tradition.” One is “human beings share mercy with others,” and the other “is the mercy that God shares with us.”
He said one of the most powerful stories of mercy in his life comes from his late father, who spent one year in a ghetto and four years in a concentration camp.
The rabbi’s father gave a three-hour interview about surviving those experiences. “Throughout 95 per cent of the interview, he says: ‘I survived for the sake of revenge,'” Rabbi Infeld recalled.
Then, in the last 10 minutes, his father spoke about the end of the Holocaust. He escaped a bombed train and fled with three other people and a little food. They were living in the woods when an unarmed Nazi soldier who had been separated from his group met them in the forest.
“Instead of revenge, they take mercy. Instead of revenge, instead of killing this man, they give him some of their last food.”
Imam Mohammad Shujaath Ali Nadwi said mercy is mentioned 68 times in the daily prayers of Muslims.
“We believe that all the other attributes of God that Islam reveals to us, there is one central that takes over the rest, which is mercy,” the imam said. “God is the God of justice and fairness and even punishment, but all of those things are lower than the quality of mercy.”
Sister John Mary Sullivan, FSE, shared a Christian view of mercy.
“Jesus of Nazareth, by His words and His actions and His entire person, reveals the mercy of God,” she said. “Just as Christ is a reflection of the Father, we must take that upon ourselves and be a reflection of Christ.”
Catholics recognize seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy. Maureen Donegan, the head of Catholic Charities Justice Services, took the microphone to talk about one of them: visiting the imprisoned.
“Where I was sure I would find hatred and despair, I found hope,” she said. “God’s love is more powerful than sinfulness.”
