Nov 21, 2008 7:45 pm US/Eastern
Houses Of Worship Bear Brunt Of Economic Crisis
Tri-State Area Residents Flock To Their Respective Religious Sanctuaries For Piece Of Mind, Someone To Listen
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
With so many people losing their jobs and homes in this economic crisis many are turning to religion and spiritual guidance for help.
At St. Athanasius in Bensonhurst, Monsignor David Cassato said his church is packed on Sundays with more than 2,500 parishioners. Some need financial help with paying their food and medical bills, while others need someone to listen.
"People just need to vent. People need to be with somebody people, need to say 'I'm understood,' and I think that helps a lot," Cassato said.
Cassato said some people are getting desperate. The church had to change its wooden candle boxes to metal plated when thieves started breaking into them on a weekly basis.
In Crown Heights, thousands of rabbis from around the world are attending the Chabad Lubavitch conference, where much of the focus is now on learning how to help families in financial crisis, especially with attendance at many synagogues way up.
"The economy started falling apart around the time during the Jewish holidays, Roshashana and Yom Kippur. We had about 800 this year, normally we have 400," said Rabbi Hirsch Minkowicz of Chabad of Alpharbtch.
At the Chakrasanbara Buddhist center in Chelsea, Morten Clausen teaches his students that happiness should not hinge on the stock market or your job status and sees the economic crisis as an opportunity to train your mind to be happy no matter what happens.
"When you're confronted with a crisis, you're sort of forced to go a bit deeper into your heart and work at cultivating peace from within," Clausen said.
Clausen said when that happens, challenges and difficulties in life can actually be a good thing.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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