May 15, 2009
Indiana faith leaders pray for the nation
Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger and Dr. Mohammad Hussain, secretary of the Evansville Islamic Society, spend time in conversation after the interfaith prayer ceremony on May 7. (Message photo by Paul R. Leingang) Click for a larger version.
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
“I am here not as a Muslim or a Christian or a Jew,” said Dr. Mohammad Hussain of Evansville. “I am here as a citizen of this great country.”
Dr. Hussain was one of the faith leaders who offered a prayer at the Four Freedoms Monument on the riverfront in Evansville May 7, at an interfaith observance of the National Day of Prayer.
Dr. Hussain prayed for the United States and its citizens, as did other faith leaders, including Jewish, Catholic, Methodist, Unitarian and Bahá’í representatives who joined Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger
The National Day of Prayer is a day designated by the United States Congress as a day when people are asked to come together and pray, especially for their country. It was created as a floating holiday in 1952 and fixed on the first Thursday in May by President Ronald Reagan.
The notion, however, goes back to 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln did “designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.”
Participants at the 2009 service in Evansville included Dr. Hussain, secretary of the Evansville Islamic Society; Rabbi Helen Bar-Yaacov from Temple Adath B’nai Israel; Rev. Claudene F. Oliva from the Unitarian Uni-versalist Church in Evansville; Rev. Joseph Easley from Central United Methodist Church, Evansville; Rev. Brian Erickson, chaplain at the University of Evansville; Father Stephen Lintzenich, pastor of St. Mary Church, Evansville, and Beth Meyer, who described herself as “the last Bahá’í in Evansville.”
Several other faith leaders declined to participate in the service.
Two seniors from Mater Dei High School, Lindsey Mann and Alex Martin, sang the Na-tional Anthem at the beginning of the ceremony, and “America” (“My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”) at the conclusion of the ceremony.
Deanna Ruston, Bishop Gettelfinger’s secretary, read the proclamation issued and signed by Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel. Fol-lowing the ceremony, faith leaders and all particpants were invited to sign the proclamation as a sign of affirming the importance of prayer for the nation. About 60 people were present for the noon hour event.
Several other ceremonies marking the day were held, including an evening service at St. John the Baptist Church in Newburgh.