BEHOLD THIS RAMADAN!
Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua
It is Ramadan again! A holy
season! Muslims believe that the gate of heaven is wide open, while the gate of
hell is firmly locked. Let us cry out to Allah in this season of mercy and
compassion to change the heart of everybody from evil to good so that our world
will once again enjoy love and peaceful coexistence. Any bomb blast at this
sacred season of penance and fasting will contradict the spirit of Ramadan and
the faith of Islam: “In the name of Allah, most gracious, most
merciful; praise be to Allah, the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds; most
gracious, most merciful; master of the day of judgement. Thee do we worship,
and thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, the way of those on whom thou
hast bestowed thy grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath and who go not
astray.”[1]
At every season of lent, the
Christians call on the God of mercy and compassion to look with pity upon us.
Every Christian sings the song of the prodigal son: “Yes I shall arise and
return to my father “. We believe that no matter what our past must have been,
we can begin anew. God listened to the contrite heart of David when he
committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband Hurriah, the Hittite.
David cried to the God of mercy and compassion: Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion, blot out
my offence. Oh, wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin
(Psalm 50:1)!
These prayers are so touching
that I tremble and fret at those who say these prayers daily and still have the
courage to do evil like killing themselves in order to kill a multitude. Does
mercy and compassion mean the same thing for Christians, Muslims and traditional
worshippers? What are we doing to ourselves in the name of religion or in the
name of politics or in the name of ethnicity? Do we actually realize that those
who attack places of worship are attacking God directly? What has God done to
deserve this insult?
Oh God of mercy and compassion,
come down and save your people who are languishing in the hell of their hearts,
ignorance and wickedness. Deliver your holy name that has been profaned for
whatever reason. Do not depart from our land. Do not turn your back at us
because what is happening in our land is beyond our comprehension, yet you Oh
God of mercy and compassion know everything but your patience to react in
justice has been taken for granted. Come and intervene with your mighty hand at
this season of fasting and penance. Help all who observe this holy season to be
sincere in the true spirit of fasting and not just presume that anything is
allowed because the gate of hell is closed and the golden door of heaven is
wide open. Teach your people oh Almighty Allah that the human person must
cooperate in the economy of salvation. Teach your people what it actually takes
to be saved.
Oh Almighty God you have always
willed that every human being should be saved. But no one can be saved without
true repentance and reconciliation. Teach every person and race the correct
principle of reconciliation that gives rise to the creation of social spaces.
Reconciliation creates space for offering and receiving graciousness. It
creates space for discovery and building a new relationship. Help us to be
aware that reconciliation includes healing of memory, being at peace with self,
God and neighbour. Grant that we may never reduce ourselves to the level of
causing violence. Forgive all who have wasted life either out of ignorance or
wickedness. Renew your spirit in the heart of all men and women for a stone
thrown into the market does not differentiate between a Muslim and a Christian.
The ashes often return with the person who throws the ashes.
The psalmist says: Let the enemy whet his sword, draw his bow
and make ready; but he is making ready instruments of death for himself and
tipping his arrows with fire. Look at
him, pregnant with malice, conceiving spite, he gives birth to treachery. He
digs a trap, scoops it out, but he falls into the snare he made himself. His
spite recoils on his own head; his brutality falls back on his own skull. I
thank Yahweh for his saving justice. I sing to the name of the Most High (Psalm
7, 12-13).
Deliver us from planning evil and
wickedness so that we may be saved from the temptation of joining the devil’s
party. Help us to know that the devil has no free and lasting gift for he
always demand life in payment for his empty gifts of vanity. Give us courage in
the words of Jesus Christ: Peace I
bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give,
this is my gift to you (John 14, 27). Help us to appreciate the value of
self offering that is only acceptable in a context of peace and reconciliation
as taught by Jesus Christ: “So then, if
you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your
brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar,
go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your
offering (Matthew 5: 23-25).
Fill us with the ingredients of
reconciliation which are: truth, mercy, justice and peace. Mercy demands nothing. It is unconditional. It diffuses tension and
prevents an eye for an eye syndrome. Mercy invites forgiveness, humility and
graciousness. Help us to open a space for others, to open their heart to
receive your peace. Oh God of Mercy and Compassion. Bless all our Muslim brethren
who at this time seek your mercy and compassion as we wish them a happy
Ramadan. Grant eternal rest to all who have been killed in the various places
of worship. Remember Oh God that these people were killed without fault of
theirs. They were killed in the process of worshipping you the true and holy
God.
Fasting is a form of revolution
and jihad on the self with the aim to reproduce a renewed personality that is
pure, holy and acceptable to God. It is a revolution not to inflict pains on
the society but to inflict pains on the self in order to see with the eye of
faith the beauty of creation and the dignity of the human person. In ascetic
theology and spirituality, it is on record that great Saints and Martyrs have
sufficiently used fasting and the attended suffering and lack of basic
amenities to achieve salvation of the soul. Others have taken to violence on
their own bodies to address the materialism and injustice of the world. When
pain, hunger and all forms of suffering are endured, the result can be very
wonderful. Thus, many world religions like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism,
Buddhism etc recommends fasting and penance for their followers. This penance
is to give rise to more love, more generosity and more desire to live in peace
and harmony. We pray therefore to you,
God of mercy and compassion, to use this Ramadan to usher more peace, love and
coexistence of all forms into the world in general and Nigeria in particular.
Oh Almighty Allah, Yahweh, Ubangiji, thank you for listening to our humble
supplications. Amen!
Fr. Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and
Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja; and Consultor of the
Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims (C.R.R.M), Vatican City
(comonokhua@hotmail.com).
[1] Al Fǎtihah
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