Faith Night: Exploring Cultures
Author: Fr. Cody Williams
Faith Night: Exploring Cultures
Fr. Cody Williams
Did you know that in Australia Santa wears a swimsuit and has a surfboard? Do you know why?
Did you know that on the African continent over 3000 languages are spoken? How and why do you think that happened?
Each culture has its own practices that make it unique. In some cultures, eating snails, holding week-long wedding celebrations, taking your shoes off before entering a house, and carrying loads on your head are normal. The amount of food you eat could tell the host whether you liked or disliked the food whereas in other cultures you are expected to eat everything. These differences show the incredible differences and similarities across the people of the world and the joy of experiencing the human family in a new way.
The various cultures of the world are one of the incredible gifts of humanity. Each culture with its traditions, languages, and views of the world and ways of doing things adds color and depth to the human experience. The joy of experiencing another culture or learning another language is to see the world from a different perspective broadening our understanding of the world. We can experience a new way of doing the same thing or find a greater appreciation for our own culture. Regardless, culture helps us understand who we are, guides us to find family and fellowship, aids us in understanding the world around us, and gives us a sense of our origins and family.
This month for Faith Night we will be exploring the topic of culture by exploring cultures throughout the world. Judiann McNulty will give a presentation on her cross-cultural experiences from her many trips living and working in various countries.
Judiann’s interest in other places and cultures was stimulated by her history and geography teachers at Broadwater County High School. She started her overseas career with a 4-H exchange trip to Poland and then went to Guatemala where she spent ten years, most of that time at the Diocese of Helena mission. This led to work with international organizations promoting better health and nutrition for women and children in 30 countries.
The night begins at 6 pm on Monday, November 18th with a free dinner. Then Judiann will give her presentation about her travels and work with other countries and cultures. We will end the night with an activity to explore and appreciate different cultures.
