Students representing three Abrahamic faith traditions joined together to lead a prayer service to lift up those in Türkiye and Syria impacted by the deadly February earthquake.
Aaminah Afzal ‘25, Carter Gooley ’24 and Michael Schneider ’26 brought words of healing from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths to those gathered for the March 15 service in the Chapel.
When Afzal first heard news of the quake, she reached out to fellow board members of Siena’s Muslim Student Association to discuss how they could raise awareness of the tragedy.
“Encouraged by Siena’s Franciscan values, we wanted to make sure we represented properly in this time of hardship,” she said.
The original idea to partner with a local charitable organization evolved into the campus interfaith prayer service.
“I am really proud of the work that we have done to bring awareness to the reality of the situation, and I am also encouraged about what this new team consisting of student leaders representing the three Abrahamic faiths will do in the future!”
In Arabic, English and Hebrew, each student shared a prayer and scripture reading from their respective tradition, speaking to solidarity, the need to help others, and to maintain faith during trying times.
Before reading from the Gospel of Matthew, Gooley noted that Jesus spent his time on earth helping those in need, “trying to help them get themselves back and be able to live a meaningful, happy, and healthy life.”
“He showed his disciples and everyone he came in contact with that this is how we need to go through our lives,” he said, “to help out everyone that we come in contact with who needs us even if we think no one is watching.”
Schneider concluded the service by reminding those gathered to look to what binds us together.
“Unfortunately, it is very easy nowadays to get caught up in differences, and nowhere is this more relevant than when it comes to religion,” he said. “But it is essential that we remember we are all a lot more similar than we are different. Maybe the prayers have different words and are spoken in a different language, but the meanings behind them are often the same. We may have different beliefs, but the central beliefs of being a good person and supporting others are seen in all faiths.”
Those wishing to aid quake relief efforts can reach out to the Franciscan Relief Fund.
WAMC covered the service and interviewed the student organizers afterwards.