Saturday 9th February 2013
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Main couse being served
Ruth Neal, Chairman, Churches Together in Hale writes :-
Living the blessing of friendship was the theme of Sister Theresa Brittain’s talk at this years Interfaith Dinner. The 150 or so participants, including many families and children, were drawn from all the major faiths practised in our community. After a splendid first course provided by Hindu, Jewish and Muslim ladies and before the dessert made by the Christian cooks, Sister Theresa stimulated us with her talk. She spoke of the need to enlarge our mission and to form real friendships with those from other faiths, to speak of the difficult issues dividing us and to understand the rights and customs of others. She said, “people of another faith invite us to a deeper place in our own, so we enrich each other.”
Chief Superintendent Jim Liggett and his wife Jane, The Mayor of Trafford Councillor Mrs Patricia Young and Councillor Michael Young, Dr Poonam Kakkar (Chair of AIG), Sr Teresa Brittain, Canon John Rafferty (Vice-chair of AIG)
In the Christian tradition we are in the period of Lent, a time of penance before Easter which falls this year on March 31st. We prepare ourselves to remember the time when God brought his son, Jesus Christ, to life again after the cruel death Christ endured when he was crucified on the cross on Good Friday, crucified because of the wrong-doing of others.
During the six weeks leading up to Easter, Christians traditionally have fasted in preparation for the great Easter Feast. Not so many people in Altrincham actually fast now but many will subscribe to the Lenten discipline of giving up some luxury like chocolate, biscuits or strong drink. Other Christians prefer to mark Lent by doing something positive, like reading a spiritual book or attending a study group in order to share insights. Maybe another way to mark this Lent would be consciously to speak with somebody we do not yet know, someone whose traditions are different from our own. They could be a new neighbour, a colleague we meet at work, a fellow-shopper in the supermarket queue or traveller on public transport. This would indeed be”living the blessing of friendship.”