Like interfaith prayer in prominent downtown congregations of other major towns and metropolitan areas, the city-wide Thanksgiving service at San Fernando includes religious traditions from varied groups. The intermingling of a Muslim call to prayer, Buddhist chant, Christian recitation of the beatitudes, Native American ritual dance with song and drums, Psalms from the Hebrew Scriptures, and Mariachi and African American gospel music offer a rare occasion for prayer in the diverse tongues and traditions of San Antonio.

One relatively distinctive element of San Fernando enhances these interfaith efforts. As a predominantly working class ethnic Mexican congregation whose members have often felt shut out of influential sectors of municipal life, parish leaders have a strong determination to make their church a sanctuary where no one feels excluded and an array of city residents and visitors find a home in which they can express their own sense of the sacred. When I lived in San Antonio during the 1990s the mayor was a devout Baptist who participated in Thanksgiving and other worship services at the cathedral. He told me he liked San Fernando because “I can feel as comfortable there in silk tie and dark suit as the homeless person sitting next to me. We would both be asked to participate. San Fernando is holy because it is the place in this city where we can all come together as equals, as fellow San Antonians. I like coming to pray here because I leave with renewed desire to do my job as mayor and make the rest of this city more like San Fernando.”

The challenge presented in San Fernando’s Thanksgiving services and vision of inclusive pluralism is to form communities and interfaith prayer events which are blessed not just because all are tolerated, nor solely because all are welcome, but because all are valued, respected, and have a sense of belonging. San Fernando models Thanksgiving as a time when people can unite to express in their own ways a common gratitude for all that is in creation, in life, and in the human spirit. That’s a good reason for believers and non-believers alike to be grateful.