You Are My Hands
This Easter season message of peace for all people is from a profoundly diverse common ground. The message is, “You are my hands.”
My wife and I heard the message in Turkey with about 35 others on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Paul. Our spiritual leader was the Very Reverend Canon Marianne Wells Borg from the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon and Director of the Center for Spiritual Development.
She briefly diverted us from Paul’s footsteps to a shrine for Christians and Muslims called Mary’s House near Ephesus. Many people believe Mary, mother of Jesus, lived there in her last home, although others believe her final home was near Jerusalem.
Mary’s House is a shrine for Christians because in 1896 Roman Catholic Pope Leo XIII made a pilgrimage to the site and Pope John XXIII subsequently elevated it to its current status as a Permanently Privileged Holy Place.
Mary’s House is a shrine for Muslims because she is a symbol for piety and submission for Islamic women. Islam in Arabic means submission, derived from the word meaning peace, and refers to a life based on peace, mercy and forgiveness. Muslims Adnan and Cindy Abouammo from East Wenatchee told me that Mary is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur’an, where an entire chapter is devoted to her. Adnan said our faiths have much more in common than most of us imagine.
Turkey is a secular republic that guarantees freedom of religion even though approximately 98 percent of the people are Muslims. When Mary’s House became a permanent Holy Place, Turkey established the site as a national park.
Surrounding Mary’s restored house and a Catholic Church is a sanctuary of gardens and shade trees. Statutes and icons of Mary are focal points of places for Muslims and visitors to reflect and pray. The Roman Catholic priest assigned by the church is also the curator for the national park.
Rev. Borg hoped to provide communion for our group in the church. She had written the priest asking permission but he had not responded. He not only opened the chapel for our service, he placed his shawl around her neck.
She administered bread and wine she had brought from Oregon to our diverse group of many faiths as well as agnostics and non-believers. From my view in the back row, all of us walked forward to share the Eucharist.
Afterward the priest greeted us and answered questions. Our inquisitive group asked if he believed it was Mary’s House. He said, “Mary has been here.”
We discussed Muslim women praying in front of figurines when their faith forbids icons in their mosques. He said many Muslim women pray here. Someone asked whether Mary answers them. “Yes,” he said. “Mary tells them, ‘You are my hands.’”
Consider the bureaucratic machinery that might have mangled that message. The message arose in an improbably peaceful Catholic Holy Place in a religiously tolerant nation that is 98 percent Muslim. Mary was worshipped and communion shared on common grounds because Popes, priests, politicians and pilgrims penetrated barriers that usually separate people of different ethnicities, faiths and genders. Muslim women passed the message to a Catholic priest who passed it to us.
When conflicts push me toward despair, this story reminds me our hands create peace, mercy and forgiveness.
My wife and I heard the message in Turkey with about 35 others on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Paul. Our spiritual leader was the Very Reverend Canon Marianne Wells Borg from the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon and Director of the Center for Spiritual Development.
She briefly diverted us from Paul’s footsteps to a shrine for Christians and Muslims called Mary’s House near Ephesus. Many people believe Mary, mother of Jesus, lived there in her last home, although others believe her final home was near Jerusalem.
Mary’s House is a shrine for Christians because in 1896 Roman Catholic Pope Leo XIII made a pilgrimage to the site and Pope John XXIII subsequently elevated it to its current status as a Permanently Privileged Holy Place.
Mary’s House is a shrine for Muslims because she is a symbol for piety and submission for Islamic women. Islam in Arabic means submission, derived from the word meaning peace, and refers to a life based on peace, mercy and forgiveness. Muslims Adnan and Cindy Abouammo from East Wenatchee told me that Mary is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur’an, where an entire chapter is devoted to her. Adnan said our faiths have much more in common than most of us imagine.
Turkey is a secular republic that guarantees freedom of religion even though approximately 98 percent of the people are Muslims. When Mary’s House became a permanent Holy Place, Turkey established the site as a national park.
Surrounding Mary’s restored house and a Catholic Church is a sanctuary of gardens and shade trees. Statutes and icons of Mary are focal points of places for Muslims and visitors to reflect and pray. The Roman Catholic priest assigned by the church is also the curator for the national park.
Rev. Borg hoped to provide communion for our group in the church. She had written the priest asking permission but he had not responded. He not only opened the chapel for our service, he placed his shawl around her neck.
She administered bread and wine she had brought from Oregon to our diverse group of many faiths as well as agnostics and non-believers. From my view in the back row, all of us walked forward to share the Eucharist.
Afterward the priest greeted us and answered questions. Our inquisitive group asked if he believed it was Mary’s House. He said, “Mary has been here.”
We discussed Muslim women praying in front of figurines when their faith forbids icons in their mosques. He said many Muslim women pray here. Someone asked whether Mary answers them. “Yes,” he said. “Mary tells them, ‘You are my hands.’”
Consider the bureaucratic machinery that might have mangled that message. The message arose in an improbably peaceful Catholic Holy Place in a religiously tolerant nation that is 98 percent Muslim. Mary was worshipped and communion shared on common grounds because Popes, priests, politicians and pilgrims penetrated barriers that usually separate people of different ethnicities, faiths and genders. Muslim women passed the message to a Catholic priest who passed it to us.
When conflicts push me toward despair, this story reminds me our hands create peace, mercy and forgiveness.
Posted by JSR at 4/5/2010 7:54 AM 
Categories: Serving Others, Dashes of compassion, Community Building
Tags: Mary MarianneBorg Muslim christian Islam turkey RomanCatholicChurch motherofJesus
Categories: Serving Others, Dashes of compassion, Community Building
Tags: Mary MarianneBorg Muslim christian Islam turkey RomanCatholicChurch motherofJesus
This was a beautiful, hope filled article. Perfect for Easter. Thanks
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Valuable information! Looking forward to seeing your notes posted.
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What a beautiful message during Easter! I was really touched reading the absolute unity of the Muslims and Christians of Turkey who are able to live in peace and harmony in spite of belonging to different religions and creed!! We should emulate the example by these brothers and sisters that it is possible and even then share and respect the religion of another! Let us remember that God sees all of us as his no matter to which religion we may belong to!!
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This is my very first time here, really good looking blog. I found a lot of fascinating things in your blog especially its discussion. Keep up the good work.
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