On Saturday, April 28, 2012, Catholic and Muslim women come together for an interfaith dialogue and to build bridges to each others world.

St. Andrew's Abbey in Valyermo, California played host to this courageous event.

The early morning started off with introductions and an explanation of Islam from Maria Khani. She answered the Catholics questions, such as what does Sharia Law mean and what is jihad? Khani explained that Sharia actual means rules or law, so it's like saying law-law and jihad means struggle with soul and money.

Afterwards, the women attended mass and then served lunch by the monks. It's tradition for the monks to first serve a dish personally to you and in this case it was a delicious lentil soup.

Dr. Victoria Dendinger explained what Catholics mean when they say "The Son" when they speak of Jesus. She explains that it is not in a biological sense like many think, but he is the image of the invisible God because no one has seen God, so if you experience Jesus that is the closest you come.

Diana J. Janas spoke about the monks and their traditions.

The day was a blessed event and St. Andrew's Abbey was the place to retreat.

Many women from both sides had many questions, but in the end found out that they had more in common than differences.

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