Rather than the usual Catholic mass, the Benilde-St. Margaret community will take part in a unique multi-denominational Thanksgiving prayer service on Tuesday, November 20. “Thanksgiving isn’t a designated Catholic holy day, so the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops encourages people to pray with people of other religious backgrounds since it is not a holy day of obligation,” Campus Minister Mrs. Jeannie Judge said.

Not only will BSM’s regular chaplain, Father Tim Wozniak, be presiding for this event, but Rabbi Olitzky, Reverend Elaine Barber, and BSM senior Jonathan Sutton will be respectively representing the Jewish, Presbyterian, and Foursquare Gospel faiths. “We are looking at what Thanksgiving means to all these different denominations,” Mrs. Judge said.

Several things remain similar to the regular masses, though. The choir will be singing and a common basket will be passed around. This month’s common basket is held to raise money for Catholic Charities raising money for the relief of Hurricane Sandy victims. “We are going to our homes or to family member’s houses for Thanksgiving, and some of [the victims] don’t have this home to go to. It is a way of being in solidarity with them,” Mrs. Judge said.