ROSLYN HEIGHTS — The almost 50 Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim teens who met at Temple Sinai here on their day off from school Jan. 16 came to not only bridge the religious gap, by talking to each other about their different faiths, but also the age gap, by teaching seniors how to use social media and technology.
The interfaith day of service was sponsored by Long Island Congregations Associations and Neighborhoods (LI-CAN), an organization of religious and non-religious institutions from around Long Island committed to developing and training local leaders and addressing community issues. The teens represented six different places of worship, including two Catholic parishes — St. Martha’s Church in Uniondale and Corpus Christi Church in Mineola.
The day-long event included a chance for the teens to ask each other questions about their faith as well as share their own beliefs, learn about the different holidays each faith celebrates, and participate in a Torah service. While some of the teenagers traveled to a nearby nursing home to visit with the elderly, others stayed at the temple to share their knowledge of social media and technology with senior citizens who wanted to learn how to set up e-mail, operate their iPhones and iPads, or communicate through Facebook.
“We live in this world where constantly you hear, like when you watch the news, ‘Follow me on Twitter, follow me on Facebook, or click on this link and you can see more on the website,’” noted Veronica Ticas-Ludewig, the youth minister at Corpus Christi. “Google and Facebook have become verbs now. Seniors feel a little isolated because they’re not familiar with the language.”
In addition to the service opportunity for the teens, “I really felt it was something important, just bridging communities and having the kids exposed to other faiths,” she said. It was also a chance “to have them appreciate their own faith and ask themselves what their faith is teaching them, and then ask how can we have a dialogue with other faiths? I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what different faiths teach and having young people kind of air that out and talk about it gives us a better hope for the future.”
Jasmine Mathieu, 14, from St. Martha’s, explained she decided to come to the event because “I thought it would be a good experience to learn about other faiths. My favorite part was when we were talking in groups. I learned about how the Muslims have to go to Saudi Arabia once in their lifetime and I learned how some Muslims don’t pray five times a day and that means they’re not as religious.”
She noted that a lot of the teens had questions for her about Catholicism, “like what’s the difference between confirmation and a bat mitzvah, and why do we pray to Jesus if he was Jewish.”
During the service portion of the day, she and a few other teens helped a woman learn how to use her iPad. “She wanted to know how to download Facebook and how to update her status and how to do things quicker.”
She noted that even though she had off from school, she wanted to come because “it’s a good thing to help out and learn new things. I’m having a good time.”
Mary Goeller, a parishioner at St. Brigid’s Church in Wesbury, works at Corpus Christi, where she learned about the event. A group of teens helped her set up a Google e-mail account and they made a video together using an iPad. “Anything to do with technology is good,” she said. “I’m old, but all these young people grew up with it. I like to learn new things. I’m open to new ideas. (The teens) were wonderful teachers.”
Catholics in the Public Square:
Newly-installed Cardinal Dolan to speak at diocesan Public Policy Convocation
Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan will be the keynote speaker at the diocesan Public Policy Convocation on March 3 at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School, Hicksville.
The Cardinal’s theme will be “On the HHS Mandate: How Catholics Can Make an Impact.” Bishop William Murphy will be the principal celebrant and homilist of the event’s opening Mass. Beginning with registration at 8:45 a.m. and running through 1 p.m., the convocation will include a panel discussion on the New York State bishops’ 2012 legislative agenda which counts respect for life, Catholic education and protection for the poor and vulnerable among its priorities.
The event is free. Registration is required. Online registration is available on the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s website www.catholiccharities.cc/ or by calling 516-733-7078.
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