By Father Michael Lynch
I am a native NY’er. Born in Manhattan, living and working in Brooklyn and Queens, I have a pretty good sense of the richness and diversity of the people and communities here in our beloved metropolis. I’ve had the opportunity to live in Washington DC, San Francisco, and Rome (Italy). It was here in NYC that I first was introduced to the treasured mosaic that I am — that you are — a part of right here on the Good Earth.
As a member of the faculty at Saint Joseph’s College (Brooklyn Campus), I’ve been teaching The Introduction to World Religions to our students in the Nursing Program. These women and men are EMT’s, volunteer firefighters, NPAs, athletes, mom’s, clerks, baristas, second-career folk, students all! For the first class this semester, I showed them a celebrated teaching video:
Because of this brilliant production — a collaboration of the NYPD and ICNY — these students are able to ‘identify in’ with people all over the city, each of us neighbors to one another. We’ve been able to use this educational tool as a springboard for conversations about cultural competency, religious awareness, self-awareness and bias, and needed community development. I already know that it will help to form and inform answers to questions on the final exam!
I am so pleased and proud to be a member of the Board of Directors of ICNY; I’ve been invited to be a part of this brain-trust of community builders and religious leaders. We have a wonderful, yet challenging, time ahead of us; we need to seek out and seize each opportunity to call forth the best from our citizens, our partners in dialogue, our fellow pray-ers and travelers on the way to that which gives us hope.
This is a time of year when all of us can recall the inspiring people we have encountered who have come with us along the journey in life. Here’s a perfect opportunity to help further the important steps along that journey in Interfaith Dialogue and community activism. Won’t you join me in supporting the Interfaith Center of New York as we near a Quarter-Century of service to the neighborhoods, the houses of worship, the people of our city?
The exceptional programs and projects of ICNY are funded in-part by individual donations and the personal support of generous NY’ers (and some from farther away) who are committed to these many moments of teaching and building a better world together. To help continue the important mission of ICNY, visit us here: https://interfaithcenter.org/donation.
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Father Michael Lynch is Associate Vicar for Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. He is also a local Pastor in Richmond Hill and a Board Member of The Interfaith Center of New York.
