Interfaith prayer breakfast at Bryant stresses service to poor

SMITHFIELD - Bishop Thomas J. Tobin was the main speaker at the 11th Annual Interfaith Prayer Breakfast held Feb. 23 at Bryant University. The ecumenical event was attended by local religious leaders and members of their congregations, civic leaders, university staff and students. The breakfast is modeled after the National Prayer Breakfast which is held every year in Washington during February. (continued below)

Guests were welcomed by Kati Machtley, wife of university president Ronald K. Machtley, who later introduced Bishop Tobin. The service included two uplifting selections sung by The Bryant Singers. University faculty member Hakan Saraoghu offered a reading from the Koran, and Rabbi Sol Goodman read from the Book of Psalms. The event concluded with intercessions, offered by Rev. Philip Devens, Protestant chaplain at the university. Father Joseph Pescatello, Catholic chaplain, delivered the benediction, followed by congregational singing of "Let There Be Peace On Earth."

In his talk, Bishop Tobin spoke on the theme "Prayer begets faith, faith begets love, and love begets service to the poor." He attributed the powerful message to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, whom the bishop noted spoke at the national prayer breakfast in 1994.

"It all begins with prayer," Bishop Tobin said. "Prayer is a lifting up of the our hearts and minds to God.

"We are taught that there different kinds of prayer, public prayer and personal prayer," the bishop added, as well as formal prayer with memorized words and informal prayer, where we express our deepest aspirations to the Lord.

"Prayer unites our spirit to the Spirit of God," the bishop remarked.

Bishop Tobin stated that as radio listeners often have to fine tune their sets to make a far-off station sound become clearer, prayer makes us more attuned to God's voice in our lives.

The bishop said that often times, people treat God like a fire extinguisher, placing the Lord back in the corner when they no longer need his intercession. Bishop Tobin cited the examples of Sept. 11, when people immediately flocked to churches in the aftermath of the downing of the World Trade Center and other related events, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, when people sought absolution in fear that they would die if the Russians attacked the United States.

"God is not a fire extinguisher," Bishop Tobin said, adding that faith must be constant and that God cannot just be called upon just in times of need.

"If faith is authentic, faith begets love," the bishop emphasized.

He cited Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Deus Caritas Est ("God is Love") which speaks of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others.

"The Bible tells us that love is patient, not rude; that love is not jealous, and that love rejoices with the truth," the bishop told those in attendance. "Love moves us to solidarity with others," Bishop Tobin reflected. "Love begets service to the poor." In closing, the bishop told the audience that while many people throughout the world suffer from material poverty, others experience spiritual poverty in their lives. Bishop Tobin urged those gathered to continue to pray for these people and to take the action necessary to improve their brothers' and sisters' lives and to bring them closer to God.

Cynthia Cambio, a parishioner at St. Anthony Church, North Providence, and a member of the Gregorian Concert Choir, said that Bishop Tobin's talk was very inspirational.

"It (the talk) was very moving and touching," she said, adding that the bishop's words and thoughts were full of love.

"I have never been to an interfaith prayer breakfast before," Cambio said. "The event was very inspiring." Episcopal minister Rev. Fred Jellison, retired pastor of St. James Church, Woonsocket, was moved by the diversity represented at the ecumenical event and reminded of the importance to reach out to those in need.

"I thought that it was wonderful to hear all types of prayer," he said. "It (the bishop's talk) was very timely. It reminds us of our responsibility to the less fortunate."

(This article originally published in The Providence Visitor)