Rabbi Guttman and Father Frank

I was suprised and pleased to see Rabbi Fred Guttman from Greensboro's Temple Emmanuel Emanuel standing at the lectern as we arrived (late!) for mass at Our Lady of Grace this morning. He was there to honor the late Pope John Paul II.

As we walked in, Rabbi Guttman had just begun talking about the Pope's contributions to better relations between Catholics and Jews, and he spoke so movingly about John Paul's visit to Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall, and of the Pope's expressions of sorrow and contrition for the sins of Catholics against Jews throughout Christian history, that he actually made my spine tingle.

When he was finished, our pastor Fr. Frank O'Rourke hugged him, and the congregation broke out into spontaneous applause.

That was a truly magnanimous and beautiful thing that Rabbi Guttman did.