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Different Religions, Places Of Worship Seem Similar Upon Second Look
By Desiree' Beckett
there is something going on at least once every day at 2222 23rd Ave. This is St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, a place of worship in Greeley. There are daily mass services, weekly confessionals, and several other activities depending on the day. There are even three mass services on Sundays. Down the block at 1625 Reservoir Road is Beth Israel Congregation, tucked away and easy to miss. The synagogue does not have as many events throughout the week as St. Mary’s does, but that doesn’t mean that it is not as busy; one day at Beth Israel can be as busy as a few days at the Catholic Church. St. Mary’s and Beth Israel are obviously different, but even still, similarities between the two abound.
This particular Sunday morning, there are two women preparing food in the Jewish place of worship.
“We’re preparing for Purim. It’s a celebration for us so that includes a dinner before the service,” Jessie said.
Her sister Arri explains that Purim is based on the book of Esther in their holy book, the Torah. She shares the importance of the holiday as one of the little girls with them holds up an illustrated book about Purim and points to several pages.
“We dress as Esther or the bad guy [Haman] in all black and a triangle [hat]. But you can wear any costume; if you want to come as Wonder Woman, feel free,” Arri said.
Early the day before, the sanctuary of St. Mary’s is very quiet before the daily Mass starts. There are about two dozen people scattered throughout the vast sea of pews. The Very Reverend Reinhold Weissbeck, or Father Ron as he’s known to the congregation, comes out in a red robe and starts the service. There is not much speaking from the parishioners, but there is plenty of habitual sitting, standing, kneeling and reciting. It turns out that today’s small turnout isn’t indicative of the normal congregation at the church.
“There are 2,200 families at St. Mary’s. It’s a great church and really this is a great church town,” said Bill, an older member of the Church, after Mass.
There is a dairy potluck dinner at Beth Israel early Sunday evening. Rabbi Sara Gilbert explains to those in attendance that in ancient times Haman tried to kill the Jews but was stopped by Queen Esther and her cousin, Mordecai. True to Arri’s word, most everyone is in costume, and the Rabbi herself is dressed as Mordecai. There are several conversations going on during the dinner. Everyone is in a festive mood.
“This is a very subdued party,” Naomi said sarcastically as she pulled out a guitar and started leading everyone in song before everyone begins to eat.
On the same Sunday, people are pouring into the early morning mass at St. Mary’s. There are almost 200 people this morning, even after “springing forward” an hour the night before. The large crowd is quiet except for a cooing little boy. After the reading of a Bible verse by an older gentleman, another older man leads one of the many hymns that will be sung during the service. The sermon is not delivered by Father Ron but by Deacon Andrew Sanchez. He speaks of the Lent season, voicing concerns of some believers.
“Why do I have to give anything up?” Sanchez said.
He gives an encouraging speech on maintaining during the season of fasting and praying, and after Communion the crowd is dismissed before the next Mass.
After the prizes are handed out for the costume contest, everyone settles into the sanctuary for the reading of the Megilla, or the book of Esther. Gilbert explains that while it’s normally recited in Hebrew, today it would be read in English so that everyone could follow the story. The reading is like that of a melodrama, with the booing and rattling of graggers, or noisemakers, at the mention of Haman and the cheering for the heroes, Esther and Mordecai. After the lengthy reading of the story, Naomi leads the crowd in song again before everyone is dismissed to partake of pastries and go home.
The parishioners of St. Mary’s and Beth Israel may be of different religions and even worship differently, but they share quite a bit in common. The most obvious similarity is that they both worship God and their holidays can overlap, as Purim occurs during the Lent season. They both have elements of their services in another language: Latin for the Catholics and Hebrew for the Jews. Along with this, both places of worships have caring parishioners who are willing to talk and share the aspects of their churches and religion with people who may not know anything about it. As different as they may be, those who attend St. Mary’s and Beth Israel share a world of similarities.
More Information
St. Mary’s Catholic Church: 2222 23rd Ave.: The religious leader of the church is the Very Reverend Reinhold Weissbeck, or Father Ron to his parishioners. The church, large in size and congregation, is attached to St. Mary’s Catholic School. There are daily Mass services, including three on Sundays.
Beth Israel Congregation: 1625 Reservoir Road: The religious leader of Greeley’s synagogue is Rabbi Sara Gilbert. The small but close-knit congregation observes Friday night as the Sabbath. Purim actually occurred on March 10 this year, but according to Gilbert worshipers were allowed to celebrate it the Sunday before. Parishioners said that they chose Sunday in order to increase attendance.
Sources: Various parishioners, handouts, and Interfaithcalendar.org
