Join in fasting for Ramadan

While I am a member of the Secular Franciscan Order and of St. John the Baptist parish in Schenectady, once again this year, I will fast at least one day during the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic lunar calendar. (This year, Ramadan lasts from Oct. 15 through Nov. 14.)

From early dawn until dusk turns to dark, nothing will pass my lips, neither food nor drink, neither medicine nor toothpaste. While fasting, I will pray. I will remember, in my hunger and with the bad taste of "fasting breath" in my mouth, those who go hungry involuntarily and whose breath may be foul for reasons beyond their control. I will be mindful of generosity and compassion.

I will not be the only Christian uniting my fast with that of Muslim brothers and sisters. This project of interfaith solidarity began last year when Pax Christi USA, the Roman Catholic peace movement, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation USA, an interfaith peace organization, initiated a call for Christians to join with Muslims.

Emmaus House in Albany and Rosa House in Troy, both Catholic Worker communities, once again will coordinate the project with Mohamad Mafi, a teacher at RPI in Troy and member of the Al-Fatemah (Shia) Islamic Center in Colonie.

Last year, Christian participants were invited to the evening prayers at Al-Fatemah to mark the end of one day's fast and to the abundant feast that followed, called "iftar," beginning with the traditional breakfast food of dates.

Why would Catholics engage in such an interfaith exercise? Pope John Paul II, in keeping with vision of the Second Vatican Council, has encouraged ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. He has led the way with his interfaith gatherings in Assisi, Italy. The roots of such practices can also be traced in part to the work of people like Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk who died while at a conference on Eastern and Western monasticism in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1968.

In an essay in "Contemplation and Dialogue," he argues that really fruitful dialogue has to go beyond "a polite diplomatic interest in other religions and their beliefs."

Dialogue must also be experiential, reaching for that level where religious traditions "bear witness to a higher and more personal knowledge of God than that which is contained in exterior worship and formulated doctrines." He concludes: "All religions, then, seek a 'summit' of holiness, of experience, of inner transformation."

Those of us who fast with our Muslim brothers and sisters do so as a gesture of compassion and solidarity with those who suffer from discrimination and even harassment in a social climate where bigotry is too often the response to fear of terrorism.

Perhaps this spiritual discipline, practiced in solidarity with people of another faith tradition, can transform our own attitudes and lead us to reclaim a spiritual discipline practiced by Jesus Himself.

(For more information, contact Emmaus House at 482-4966.)

(10/7/04)