Today is the Feast of St. George, also known as Al-Khidr in Arabic. He is revered in both Christian and Muslim spirituality and brings our two communities together in beautiful ways, esp in the Middle East.
The above photo is from a shrine to St. George in Mahis, Jordan. On May 6th each year, Christians and Muslims visit the shrine and an Orthodox Mass is held. Here a Muslim woman and my Catholic friend, Elham, are speaking to the local bishop.
These are the ruins of a church dedicated to St. George in Amman in Jabal al-Weibdeh. This is where I happened to meet Osama, a young Muslim man who became a friend and dialogue partner while I lived in Amman.
When my parents and now-husband Chris traveled with me to Palestine, I told my Muslim cab driver Muhammad that I wanted to take them to the St. George Church in the West Bank town of Khidr, bc St. George is Chris' patron. ...
Muhammad told me the church would be closed that day, but he knew the Muslim family who held the keys to the church. We stopped by their house, got the keys from the family, and Muhammad (and their little kids) showed us around and told us the legends and miracles of the church.
(That day, Muhammad also quickly got us out of an area in Bethlehem where the Israel military was starting to tear-gas Palestinian protestors, who were marching against the murder of a Jordanian-Palestinian man who was killed at the border the day before.)
There is so much more I could say about St. George/al-Khidr in our respective traditions, but I'll leave that for another time. Pray for us, St. George the Green One!

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More from @jordandenari

23 Apr
Georgetown undergrads #onhere, I'll be teaching an Intro to Islam course in the fall. If you're interested, sign up for THEO 050-01, which will meet MW 3:30-4:45. Spread the word!
Description: "Twenty years after September 11, 2001 and a rise in Islamophobia, Islam remains a deeply misunderstood religion. This course introduces students to the diversity and depth of the Islamic religious tradition, and how it is lived by 1.8 billion Muslims globally..."
"The course will look at the Qur’an, Islamic prayer, the place of the Prophet Muhammad in Muslim spirituality, art and architecture, Islamic law, interreligious relations between Muslims and other groups, and more..."
Read 6 tweets
8 Mar
This report contains what, to me, are some of Francis' most profound and theologically rich reflections on Muslim-Christian dialogue to date. Reported by @gerryorome. #CatholicMuslimBridge americamagazine.org/faith/2021/03/…
"Many times one has to risk to take this step forward [in the dialogue]...There are some critics who say the pope is not courageous; he is mindless [incosciente], that he does things that are contrary to the Catholic doctrine, that it is a heretical step, that there are risks.”
The pope emphasized that Christians must understand that with Muslims, “we are brothers, and we must continue forward [in the dialogue] with the other religions.”
Read 7 tweets
7 Mar
Excerpts from Pope Francis' amazing, tear-jerking address at the interreligious meeting in Ur, birthplace of Abraham. #PopeFrancisInIraq #CatholicMuslimBridge vatican.va/content/france…
"In those stars, Abraham saw the promise of his descendants; he saw us. Today we, Jews, Christians and Muslims, together with our brothers and sisters of other religions, honour our father Abraham by doing as he did: we look up to heaven and we journey on earth."
"Those same stars...illumine the darkest nights because they shine *together.* ...The Almighty above invites us never to separate ourselves from our neighbours. The otherness of God points us towards others, towards our brothers & sisters."
Read 13 tweets
6 Jan
We’re just a few months away from publication of my new book, #Islamophobia_WhatChristiansShouldKnow.
Here’s a thread to give you a chapter-by-chapter preview.
Full title: ‘Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination.’ Will be published with @OrbisBooks in May 2021.
Intro: Why Christians are called to care about Islamophobia and why I have written this book. I address hesitancies and skepticism that some readers may have, and explain why this isn't an Islam 101 book.
Read 23 tweets
22 Oct 19
For his feast day, a thread on Pope Saint John Paul II and Islam. He was instrumental in putting the Catholic Church’s teaching on Muslims into practice. #CatholicMuslimBridge 1/ JPII meeting King Hassan II of Morocco.
He constantly reiterated the Church's teaching that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. This teaching was originally declared in Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, from Vatican II. You can also find it in the catechism (841). 2/
The passage reads: “the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place among these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, together with us adore the one and merciful God…” (16) 3/ vatican.va/archive/hist_c…
Read 16 tweets
2 Mar 18
I reviewed Gary Wills' book, What the Quran Means, for @americamag. Wills is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Catholic author.

In this thread, I summarize the book and outline some pros and cons I saw:
americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2…
Wills' writes about his experience reading the Quran. He encountered familiar characters he knew from the Bible — Adam, Moses, Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist.

"The overall tenor [of the Quran] is one of mercy and forgiveness, which are evoked everywhere, almost obsessively."
Wills writes a lot about the Quran's content, but spends little time discussing its significance in Muslims' lives.

He could have explained how in Islam the Quran plays a role similar to that of Jesus in Christianity: the 'Word made flesh.'
Read 13 tweets

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