Respect for Our Jewish Brethren Have you felt slighted for your beliefs or race? My interfaith marriage became a bridge for me to learn and respect the Jewish faith and customs. My late Jewish wife ( Marcia) mentioned to me on a few occasions during our marriage about her childhood incident. She and her parents felt the sting of prejudice when someone put a swastika image on their front lawn. I understood why Jewish people stayed together as a community and why our engagement to be married as an interfaith couple met with resistance from all of our parents. Movies like Schindler’s List helped to keep alive the memory of the extermination camps of WWII (The Holocaust) to succeeding generations. This intro leads me to a reflection of a TV program that I watched recently. I’m learning to pray before starting certain tasks for better results. For example, yesterday I asked the Lord to guide me to an uplifting TV program. After scanning a few channels, I found an interesting nature program on a PBS station followed by my changing channels to a program called The Journey Home. Converts to Catholicism share their stories weekly on EWTN's The Journey Home program hosted by Marcus Grodi. I enjoy watching some of these faith sharing programs. This program included a young married Jewish woman named Melissa Presser who was his guest as a Christian convert. I was intrigued by her testimony because of my marriage to my late Jewish wife Marcia who experienced a somewhat similar conversion experience. Both Melissa and Marcia attended Hebrew school and they observed the Jewish holidays as Conservative Jews. (See footnote.) Melissa described her search for meaning in her faith but was left unfulfilled. Members of her family were not practicing Jews although Melissa knew her Hebrew as a teenager and she was the only family member able to say the Hebrew prayers for the dead when her grandmother died. Her death had a strong impact on Melissa who wondered what happens after death. Her search for answers continued while in college where she met some Christian students who invited her to their non-denominational church where she accepted Christ in her life. This was really just a steppingstone for Melissa because she continued to search the Scriptures to deepen her faith. She devoured the New Testament and found a familiarity with the Jewish Jesus and her Hebrew background. While on campus as a college student, she had a sudden urge to find a place to pray. She met a campus chaplain who said that the nearby Catholic Church was open for her to find a quiet place. Once inside, she felt the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in a way that was not there for her in the nondenominational church setting. As a result of her conversion, Melissa experienced the loss of friends twice. Once when she converted to Judaism and again when she converted to Catholicism two years later. Because the Holocaust was a reminder to Jews of the extermination of their relatives by Gentiles, they did not understand how she could change her faith. Moreover, the friends that she made in the nondenominational church were lost when she converted to Catholicism within a two years period. Following Jesus involves a price to pay especially with relatives and former friends. Also Melissa’s Hebrew husband from Israel was initially an atheist who opened his heart to Christ shortly after his wife’s conversion. Melissa smiled as she explained her husband’s conversion. He obviously witnessed the changes and peace in her life. When Marcia converted after seven years of our marriage, she lost contact with her relatives. Since Marcia was an only child and her relatives were elderly, I could understand her lack of communication with some of them. Also her parents both died before her conversion. Consequently, Marcia lost contact with her cousins and other relatives after her conversion and through the years my children experienced only my side of the family during our holiday and other special gatherings. Although I do remember going with my Jewish father-in-law to a “brotherhood breakfast” held at his place of worship. As an observer I attended a Jewish High Holiday service and a few Jewish funerals for Marcia’s relatives. Early in our marriage I recall going to the local Jewish butcher who provided koshered meats for our meals. Our newly formed family included frequent trips to the historic Weintraub's Jewish Delicatessen and Widoff’s Bakery on the old Water St. here in Worcester. Marcia enjoyed eating Jewish delicacies like chicken livers, salmon, white fish along with Chinese food. My Italian tastes in food were different although I enjoyed the rolls, bagels and Chinese food that seemed to be a favorite amongst Jewish people. In summary, my love for my Jewish wife was a catalyst for my deepening love for Jewish people and a respect for their traditions. Praise God!