Wednesday, 23 September 2009, St. Padre Pio:

Transverberation & the Stigmata; Spiritual Guide;

Canonized after the miraculous cure of Colella

Dear Mr. Swei,

This afternoon, we have our third class in the course, “Toward an Abrahamic Family Reunion.” Last Wednesday, right after our second class, we paid tha tmemorable visit to the Yūsuf Mosque for the Iftar. There, we had the pleasure, straight away, of meeting you and seeing your marvelous work!

Your tour of the Mosque was well detailed and a delight. To see how an old American Legion Post had been renovated for an entirely new use was a very rare opportunity in itself; but to see how well you had preserved the historic exterior of the John F. Kennedy Post was a study in cross-cultural respect!

From what I heard, at least three things struck our group.

First was the way in which the Mosque “worked” within the tight confines of the building: space was very well used! And well appointed. You could make a career, not just out of renovating buildings — which is demanding enough work — but also out of converting them, while respecting their history and their structure. Now that’s an art!

Second, the devotion of the attendees was heart-warming to witness. So was their ability to reach out to one another, over all of their own national and cultural differences. Just coming to our table alone, there were folks from Algeria, your very own Libya, Montenegro, Sudan, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Trinidad & Tobago! Truly, as Islām preaches the equality of all believers in the eyes of Allāh, when it comes to the Yūsuf Mosque, it eminently practices what it preaches!

And third, as those multifaceted conversations at our table indicated, the welcome we were accorded at the Mosque was the most marvelous part of all. For while the renovation of the building was highly praiseworthy, and the cooperation among the attendees was a sure sign of a community that will last, it was the outreach to perfect strangers that was the most marvelous of all — for this is the sign of a community that will make a marvelous mark in society at large, like leaven in the yeast!

For the arduous work you’ve done and its craftsmanship, for the cohesion of your community and its great cordiality, we are all of us in your debt.

Shukran!

Jerome Dwight Maryon, Esq.

President, the RFPS Committee

President, the CSPC Committee

President@Saint-Paul-CSPC.org