Transformative Dialogue

I recently read the book Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh: Engaged Spirituality in an Age of Globalization by Robert King. The book focused on Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh’s vision and lived engaged spirituality and interreligious dialogue. Although I read the book for a class it spoke to me personally. Through my internship this semester with interfaith ministry I have been working on interreligious dialogue and developing my own place in interreligious dialogue. It was extremely helpful for me to learn about Merton’s experience with interreligious dialogue. Through my personal experience with interreligious dialogue I have found, like Merton, that our similarities and common desire for prayer brings us together. However, I have been struggling to find a balance between engaging in dialogue and incorporating other religions, particularly Buddhism, into my own spirituality. I have been asking myself: Where do I draw the line between what I can integrate into my spirituality as a Catholic? Merton and the author of this book helped me answer that question by expressing that engaging Buddhism does not mean losing my Catholicism. The author of the book writes that, “without ceasing to be a Christian, I found myself looking at the world more and more through Buddhist eyes. I was for the first time experiencing Buddhism as a living religion” (141). It is comforting to know that even when I’m doing Buddhist meditation or chanting mantras written by Thich Nhat Hanh I am not ceasing to be Catholic. It is freeing to hear that men like Merton, Nhat Hanh, and King all deepened and enhanced their spirituality by their experience of other religions. This semester my work with interfaith has been educational, prayerful, and transformative and I can’t wait to continue my growth through interfaith next semester.

-Elaina Jo

Interfaith Trivia

Last night the interfaith companions hosted an interfaith trivia night. One of the best parts of the event was the preparation that went into it. About a month ago I started doing research to create the questions. It was fun to research and learn about the food, clothes, holidays, important people, sacred cities, and texts of different faith traditions. It is probably the religious studies major in me that ended up spending so much time reading about all these different topics to come up with the trivia questions. I think it really speaks to why I am interning in interfaith ministry, because I am genuinely interested in other religions and want to teach others about them too. It was wonderful to see my work come to life as the students worked through the five rounds of trivia questions I had created. I was proud of the work I had done and excited to be sharing my knowledge of diverse faith traditions with other students. There was a positive atmosphere during the whole event. It was fun and also brought interfaith dialogue alive as students talked about the answers or questions that they learned new things from. It reminded me that I am blessed to go to a university where interfaith programming is valued, and how extremely blessed I am to be a part of it.

-Elaina Jo 

Better Together

This week Interfaith Ministry hosted an awesome event! It was called the Better Together Photo Booth Event and focused around getting students on campus to think about how as people of diverse faith and cultural backgrounds we are better together. We set up a photo booth in the middle of the student union and had students write on piece of paper why they think we are better together then take their picture holding the paper they wrote on. The event turned out incredibly! We had tons of students come through the union and enthusiastically write why they think we are better together and take their picture. The students got to keep one strip of photos and the other one we attached to their paper and hung up on giant banners we had made. Now all the inspirational thoughts of Loyola students and staff our hanging up outside the interfaith ministry office. It was fantastic to see so many different groups of students coming together to put on such a great event!

I was inspired and encouraged that our work in interfaith ministry can inspire students to be better together because…

We learn from each other

We don’t judge each other

We’re all made to love each other

And so many more incredible reasons.

-Elaina Jo

Hunger & Hope

This week was Hunger Week at Loyola and Interfaith Ministry helped with two of the events. On Tuesday we had a beautiful interfaith prayer service where students from different faith traditions prayed to end hunger. On Thursday the Muslim Student Association hosted a fast-a-thon that Interfaith Ministry took part in. I pledged with over 300 other students to abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. Since I knew that I would not be able to get up at 5 am to eat something I had a late night snack before I went to bed Wednesday. I have fasted before during the Catholic season Lent, but fasting to particularly think about hunger was different. By Thursday afternoon I was feeling hungry and thirsty. I couldn’t wait to break the fast and have a delicious meal. It was challenging to think that there are so many people in the world who don’t have the luxury of breaking a fast with a delicious meal. To feel hunger and consider all those people who have no means to fill their hunger or thirst is difficult. At the dinner where Loyola students joined to break the fast and discuss hunger it was inspiring to see so many people taking about hunger and the desire to end hunger. There was a beautiful message of hope that through our committing to be hungry for a day we can help give hope to the hunger by our witness to their needs. My fasting experience was not only about experiencing hunger and gaining an awareness of world hunger issues. My fasting was a prayer to God, asking for an end to hunger and hope for the hungry, and I have hope knowing that my prayer was shared by so many students.

-Elaina Jo

Puja Prayer

This week interfaith ministry hosted a tour of sacred spaces where various faith traditions on campus gave tours of their prayer space and then invited students to stay for their prayer service. I was particularly moved by the tour of the Puja room and the Puja prayer that followed the tour. The Hindu Student Organization (HSO) had two students give a wonderful explanation of the puja room. I was struck by the similarities to Christian prayer during the explanation. One of the presenters expressed how she sees Hinduism as monotheistic, because all of the deities are different manifestations of the same spiritual being. Another Catholic student at the tour asked how you can tell all the gods apart. The presenter responded that they all have a particular attribute or symbol that accompanies their image. Later the student and I talked about how it reminded us of icons of saints. The HSO presenter also explained the offering of food at the puja by comparing it to the bread and wine in Christian Eucharist. I think it is beautiful that across multiple religions there is an element of offering and receiving the blessings offered. There is something powerful about physically consuming a blessing. In taking in blessings we are connected to the divine and also the spiritual community that takes part in that blessing with us. Going to puja was a beautiful prayer experience, and I’m so glad that at Loyola we can offer that opportunity. 

-Elaina Jo

Learning through Literature

I am currently taking a class on Dorothy Day (founder of the Catholic Worker Movement) and Thomas Merton (a Trappist monk) and we have been discussing how literature had a large impact on them. Literature, both religious and fictional, played roles in the development of their vocation. This made me think about the first book that made me interested in world religions and interfaith, Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Reading the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel was an important moment in my spiritual formation. It is a fiction book about a young Indian Hindu boy who discovers Christianity and Islam and begins to practice all three religious traditions. Although it was a work of fiction the thought that one person could practice three different faith traditions captured my attention and imagination. I began to think about what my faith life could look like if I integrated other faiths beyond my own Catholic beliefs and practices. It was this curiosity that drove me to begin to learn about other religions, and eventually made me decide to major in religious studies. The book made me broaden my understanding of religion, and strive to create within myself an understanding of the interconnectedness and commonality of religions. This exposure to the concept of integrating and practicing multiple faith traditions dramatically changed the way I thought about religion, and over time impacted my personal spirituality. In searching to discover where my eagerness to experience other religious practices and integrate them into my personal spirituality came from I remember my first encounter with interfaith was reading Life of Pi.

-Elaina Jo

Falling in Love

Nothing is more practical than finding God,

that is, than falling in love

in a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

what seizes your imagination,

will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you

out of bed in the morning,

what you will do with your evenings,

how you will spend your weekends

what you read, who you know,

what breaks your heart,

and what amazes you

with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love,

and it will decide everything.

-Pedro Arrupe, SJ

In the past couple weeks I have heard this prayer several times, and I have begun to think deeply about what I am falling in love with right now. Having my internship in interfaith ministry I have begun to see that I am in love with religion. I find myself always thinking about new events we could have, movies to watch, conversations to have about religion. I think back to my freshman year when I took my first religious studies course and feel in love with it. I have never doubted that I should be a religious studies major, but now more than ever in working with people to promote interfaith I see how it is truly something I am called to do. As Pedro Arrupe says it gets me out of bed in the morning, I spend my time at religious events, and I read about religion. When I see religious misunderstanding and religious hatred it breaks my heart, and when I see people unite in prayer it amazes me and fills me with great joy. I agree with Pedro Arrupe that nothing could be more practical than spending my time doing what I am continually falling in love with.

-Elaina Jo

Closer to God

 Last week one of the staff members in Interfaith Ministry sent me a link to a discussion between a theologist and the Dalai Lama. The theologist asked the Dalai Lama “what is the best religion?” The Dalai Lama replied. “The best religion is the one that gets you closest to God. It is the one that makes you a better person.” This comment really spoke to me and I took some time to ponder what it means to me. As someone who works in interfaith ministry I see the amazing good that religion and prayer do for all the students of faith at Loyola. Each of us speaks to God in our own way, and one way is not better than another. Sometimes it is difficult to think that other religions might be just as good as yours in that they also bring people to God and make them better people. I believe it is important to respect all these diverse traditions that can lead people closer to God and make them better people. As an interfaith community it is good to step back and let the words of the Dalai Lama sink in and reflect on why we are working on interfaith: to bring understanding and see the goodness in all the religions that bring people closer to God.

Here is a link to the story of the conversation with the Dalai Lama: http://inthefootstepsofthebuddha.com/your-religion-is-not-important/

- Elaina Jo

Being Present

Today I was struck by the absolute beauty of Lake Michigan. I was on my way to our weekly interfaith meeting, but just had to stop and stand for a minute and watch the waves crash against the rocks along the lakeshore. The fierce wind caused the waves to collide with the rocks so that the water rushed up in giant swells so that the mist almost reached the walkway I stood on. As I started thinking about the meeting I was reminded of how much I truly love learning prayers from other faith traditions. I thought about a book by Thich Nat Hanh I had read and how he reminds us to stop and be present to the moment. I took a movement to simply breath in the fresh air and thought, “I am breathing in. I am breathing out. I am present to this moment. Thank you God for this moment.” Being caught up in the beauty of the lake I said a simple prayer, and was able to center myself before the meeting. I think that we can all learn from other traditions, and love when I remember to let other traditions prayers help me to take time to experience the present and thank God for the wonderful world he created.  


- Elaina Jo

Prayers for Peace

Yay Interfaith! This past Wednesday Loyola University Chicago Interfaith Ministry had its first event. It was the International Day of Peace, which made it the perfect day to show the unity of interfaith ministry. Although everything was planned no one can plan for mother nature, and for the first half of our event I felt like she was fighting us. We set up a table in front of the Information Commons and had a grand plan to have interfaith trivia and a game show wheel to spin, but all too quickly it became clear that the wind whipping from the lake was not going to allow that to happen. We had to abandon the game, but we still got to spread our message. We decided to devote our attention to the international day of peace. We had a poster with a giant peace sign on it, and had students write prayers for peace on ribbons and tape them to the sign. It was really beautiful to see the sign fill up as the afternoon went on. It became increasingly colorful, and knowing that each one of those ribbons represented a person praying for peace made it worth all the struggles we had with the wind. It was also encouraging to see how many people stopped at our table and were willing to write a prayer and listen to us talk about interfaith ministry. I think that it was a fantastic way to start of our events at Loyola, and I’m so glad that we made our presence known through a call for peace and prayer. 

- Elaina Jo

9/11 & Our Prayer for Peace

This past Sunday Loyola had a beautiful 9/11 Vigil that highlighted the interfaith nature of our campus. I was a member of the choir for the event so I knew what was going to happen, but that knowledge did not prepare me for the real experience of the vigil. I was surprised that as the event unfolded I became moved by the speakers, prayers, and the glowing candles stretching from the from the west end of the quad to the IC. It was beautiful to see all the candles lighting up the quad, each light representing a person unified in our prayer for peace. There were prayers said by Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim students. It made me proud to go to a university where our commemoration of 9/11 was not marked not just by dramatic patriotism but also with prayer. Our prayer for peace, spoken by diverse faith traditions, makes us stronger by seeing our common desire for peace. In the days since the vigil I have reflected on how to continue that prayer for peace, personally and as a community. I hope that other people will not only pray for peace, but remember the interfaith nature of the prayer. It is always hard to start a program from the ground up, but I know that it is worth the struggle. So if you’re reading this please like us on facebook (Loyola University Chicago Intefaith Ministry) and follow us on twitter @lucinterfaith – we need other people to keep the prayer for peace alive and interfaith programming flourishing!

- Elaina Jo

Our Interfaith Blog Begins!

Hi! My name is Elaina Jo and this year I am interning for Loyola University Chicago Interfaith Ministry. I want to share my work, discoveries, and personal story so that other people might be inspired learn more about interfaith initiatives. Although I am Catholic, I have been drawn to other faith traditions through out my life. I am a religious studies major and through my classes I began to learn about other faith traditions, but also began to integrate new beliefs from these traditions into my own spirituality. Things from Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism all spoke to my heart and inspired me to delve deeper into my personal understanding of religion and my experience of it. Hopefully this year I can work on letting more people experience faith traditions outside their own, and further develop an interfaith community on our campus. I'm excited to share my work through this blog and hopefully bring other voices to our blog too!