The
Muslims are celebrating
Hari Raya Aidilfitri. It is the day that marks
the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month.
Hari Raya is the
longest holiday in Malaysia especially for the Muslims. They return to their
family home (
balik kampong). Even school children and non-Muslims too
are enjoying their holidays for a couple of days.
During
Hari Raya, the Muslims meet up with their families and friends, seeking
forgiveness from one another, visit graves of their departed loved ones,
praying at the mosque and visiting friends and relatives. Some of you would
have visited and greeted your neighbourhood friends, working colleagues and
schoolmates and wished them Selamat Hari Raya. You would have tasted
their delicacies like ketupat, lontong, ayam masak merah, beef rendang,
satay, lemang and kuih-muih. YUMMY!
I
remember tasting all these delicacies when I was in secondary school. I used to
hang around with my Muslim school friends almost every weekend and we cycled
almost everywhere. We played football together. We went swimming and jungle
tracking too. We paid visits to each other’s homes not only during festive
seasons but every school term holidays and public holidays. We rejoiced in the
spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood at that time. Many of you would have
experienced this personally in your lives during school days.
Over
the years we have lost this spirit of friendship and relationship between
Muslims and non-Muslims in our nation. Personally, I feel it is because of the
interest of certain politicians. They have created a lot of fractions among the
races and religions, which cause hate and intolerance. Today, we fail to see
the good will among everyone and we lose a part of who we are as people of
faith. Now, with all these extremists and ISIS and the personal interest/agenda
of politicians we are living in fearful times and also fear for the future of
the next generation.
Our
Catholic Church consistently invites the Muslims to dialogue. When will we put
aside our personal prejudice and embrace each other as one nation? Let us hope
and pray that Muslims and non-Muslims will move towards living together in
peace and harmony in Malaysia.
Last
Saturday (2nd July), 38 confirmands received their Sacrament of Confirmation.
Thirty of them were Form 5 students; four were adults from the RCIA of our own
parish and the remaining four from Church of the Risen Christ. On Sunday, 3rd
July, I invited our newly confirmed form five students to come for a one hour
class with me. During the session, they came forward one by one to share their
experiences on how they felt before and after receiving the Sacrament. They
were able to identify the movements of the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit
during the celebration. We hope and pray that they will treasure what they have
experienced and learnt during their catechism days. It was a conclusion
catechism class for them. On behalf of the Catechetical Ministry, I would like
to say a big “Thank You” to all the teachers and coordinators who have
formed them in Christ in these past years.
No comments:
Post a Comment