June 7, 2026.

Dear Friends,

We will gather together remotely for our Badaliya and Peace Islands Institute faith sharing on Sunday, June 7, 2026 from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Please join us on Zoom, or in spirit, as we encourage Inter-faith relations and pray together that the hearts and minds of those perpetrators of violence be transformed from revenge-seekers into peace-seekers. Let us pray that the root causes of the many humanitarian crises in our world leading to so much trauma and human suffering be addressed. As peace negotiations fail and cease fires continue to be violated in the Middle East, we pray for the continued courage and resilience of the people in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Lebanon. Let us pray for a compassionate response throughout the world to the continued spread of the Ebola virus in countries plagued by poverty due to civil wars and lack of resources. At the same time, let us continue to support one another as a diverse faith sharing community faced with unprecedented challenges that threaten our many immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and the legal, educational and health systems here in the United States and in many countries throughout the world. May we turn our prayers into action to the best of our abilities and address the most pressing issue of our time; the human induced climate change that has increased natural disasters all over the world and is destroying too many lives, along with the earth we are privileged to share with them.

This final gathering before our summer break happens to fall on the Feast of Corpus Christi in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. It provides us an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the layers of meaning of "the Body of Christ". It is both a reminder of the central ritual at every celebration of the Catholic Mass called "communion", and a reminder of the larger community of believers, called the "Body of Christ".

Can we imagine the Last Supper, the final Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples on Holy Thursday, and envision how he lovingly washed the feet of his disciples? This is what we are to do for one another. The metaphor is clear; we are to take great care of the needs of those around us. At every celebration of the Catholic Mass when we are invited to receive the Eucharist, called Holy Communion, are we there hearing the Master teacher offering his very life's body and blood to each one of us that we may become more and more like Christ in our daily lives? This ritual has become the center of the Catholic Christian liturgical celebration. Do we remember that moment when Jesus transformed the Passover meal into an offering of his very life for all the disciples, including the one who would betray him? That one detail in this story contains a vital message for all of us. Judas, the one who would betray him, was not excluded from that life-giving offering. The message is clear. The One who is the manifestation of unconditional Divine Love has no limits. No strangers, asylum seekers, refugees from war and violence, or even perpetrators of that violence, are excluded from the Divine lover of Humanity's transforming potential. The power of that Love can bring about a conversion of hearts and minds both as individuals and as a community of believers. It remains at the heart of the feast of Corpus Christi. And it is a reminder that all Christians have been baptized into that Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ, in a ritual cleansing from death to new life in Christ.

The verse attributed to Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians speaks volumes to those who have ears to hear: "For in the Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews, Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of the one Spirit" (1 Co 12:13)

The approximately two billion Muslim believers that make up the community of Islam are called the Umma. The sayings of the Prophet are called the Hadith. In one of the Hadith quoted by Sahih al-Bukhari (6011) and Sahih Muslim (2586) states: Prophet Muhammad said: "the believers, in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever." The community of believers are seen as one body who are called to compassion and empathy for one another. This year Muslim believers who were able attended the annual Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia from May 24th to May 29th. The images of thousands of believers from countries all over the world, all dressed in white and moving slowly together around the Kaaba is a beautiful example of spiritual unity; a reminder of the unity that all human beings are called to by the Divine creator of the Universe. Islam teaches that human beings were created in all their diversity in order that we should come to know one another.

May we fulfill that Divine vision during the summer months as we pray and strive for Peace with Justice in our world.

Have a safe, healthy and blessed summer.

Peace to you,
Dorothy

See www.dcbuck.com for all past letters to the Badaliya and Peace Islands