“Through this common season of Ramadan and Lent, may our inner transformation become a catalyst for a renewed world, in which the weapons of war give way to the courage of peace.” It is a strong and hopeful appeal contained in the Message for the month of Ramadan and Id al-Fitr of Dicastery for interreligious dialogue, dated February 17 and signed by the prefect, the cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, and by the secretary Monsignor Indunil JK Kodithuwakku.
The text opens with a wish that is both a prayer and a life plan: «Peace: this is my fervent wish – writes the cardinal – for each of you, for your families and for the nations in which you live». A peace which, as the Pope recalls, is born from the “disarmament of the heart, mind and life”, a gift from God which is nourished through dialogue, justice and the love of forgiveness.
Don’t give in to violence and desperation
The Message underlines the “providential coincidence of calendars” which sees Christians and Muslims experiencing Lent and Ramadan respectively in the same period. These are moments of “intense spirituality”, in which believers of different faiths are called to recognize themselves as fragile, in need of conversion and mercy. In a time “overloaded with information, narratives and conflicting points of view”, the text warns, one may be tempted to give in to desperation or violence. But these are unacceptable paths for those who believe in God and the dignity of man. Faith, on the contrary, pushes us to build bridges, to cherish hope, to choose the demanding path of peace.
A renewed life
“We Christians and Muslims, together with all people of good will, are called to imagine and open new ways through which life can be renewed.” Inner renewal, the Message reminds us, comes through prayer, the “fasting that purifies our interior vision and concrete acts of charity”. They are gestures that transform the heart and make a more just and fraternal society possible. Cardinal Koovakad therefore expresses the Church’s closeness to Muslim brothers and sisters, “especially those among you who struggle or suffer in body or spirit because of your thirst for justice, equality, dignity and freedom”. Words that resonate with particular intensity in a time marked by conflicts and tensions.
The courage of peace
“We are united not only by our shared experience of trial, but also by the sacred task of bringing peace to our wounded world.” This is the heart of the Message: a shared responsibility that challenges believers and men and women of good will.
The final wish returns to the central theme: that in the time of Ramadan and Lent, personal conversion becomes a ferment of collective change. May indeed “the weapons of war give way to the courage of peace”. An invitation that is also a delivery: let yourself be transformed by God to transform the world.
