by: Alison Bodor
The smell of incense made me breath in more fully. On this evening at St. Eugene's Catholic Church in Derry, North Ireland, it was welcoming. The sensation was quickly followed by the sound of hurried visitors finding the right pew, and the low hum and mumbling of voices aspiring for the opening hymn.
We, my classmates and professor and I, sat quietly in the stiff golden wood pews observing and present. Maybe we were curious about mass in a foreign country, or about mass in general. For me, I wanted to know, what does a priest share with his parishioners in a country recovering from violence and war? I waited as the readings, prayers, and gospels rang out. My ears reached to hear the message from the priests' quiet words in the homily: "When we know more, we love more". A challenging opening statement for the Peace-Building Through Dialog course.
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