Article by Phoenix writer Brooke Oldenborg ’26:
On Monday, October 30th, the One Heart, One Mind, Many Cultures club held a prayer service in the Millennium room in collaboration with Project Understanding.
Project Understanding’s main mission is to transform the lives of those who are most at risk in our community by providing them with resources. Attendance at this service ranged from members of the Latin School all the way to our high school students, and even faculty. The service was carried out by Father Daniel Griffin with special guest speaker, Rabbi Tom, from Temple Judaea in Manhasset. Numerous students read prayers while everyone who attended participated in this wonderful service.
The service focused on the theme of one’s own importance and the importance of our neighbors. In one of Father Dan’s orations, the audience reflected on the quotes, “You are the light of the world, let your light shine upon others” and “Enable to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother and sister”. These quotations directly portray the main message of the service to take a step back and reflect on the similarities of all people and to treat everyone with grace and kindness.
Father Dan concluded the service by blessing everyone in the audience with water from the Jordan River, which is the site of Jesus Christ’s baptism. Overall, this was a beautiful prayer service with an outstanding attendance and participation from our One Heart, One Mind, Many Cultures club.
