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This year again, God wants us to enter together, Muslims and Christians, into “this favorable time” (2 Corinthians 6,2) where God tells us “I am near in truth” (Quran 2,186); in this time when the revelation of the Holy Quran is commemorated (Quran 2.185) and where we remember the forty days spent by Jesus in the desert, where he was tempted before beginning his public life and his preaching (Mark 1.12-13). During these weeks, we will pray, fast and give alms together, according to our traditions, under the gaze of God “who sees in secret” (Matthew 6:4), “worshiping God as if we saw Him, (knowing that) if you do not see Him, He sees you” (Sahîh of Muslim).
This year again, this holy month joins humanity in a period of unrest, violence, wars and geopolitical uncertainties, which sow fear, hatred and doubt in the hearts of many believers. No more holy truce, no perceptible light of hope for so many displaced, chased or humiliated peoples... Pope Francis, in this uncertain and painful context, decided to place the 2025 Jubilee of the Church under the sign of hope. This tradition of Jubilee Years is very old: for the Hebrew people, it gave rise, every fifty years, to the restitution of lands as well as the release of prisoners and slaves. Placing today this year under the sign of a pilgrimage of hope is to call believers to apply the balm of hope to the wounds of our suffering world.
However, our two traditions give a special place to hope. In Islam, hope (الرجاء) is above all hope in the mercy of God: “O son of Adam! Certainly if you come to Me with the equivalent of the earth filled with sins but you meet Me without having associated anything with Me then I will meet you with as much forgiveness” (Hadîth charîf). This hope invites us to submit to God's plan in faith. For Christians, hope is based on the victory already acquired by Christ through his Resurrection (“Take courage! I have indeed overcome the world!” John 16:33). God then asks us “to take an ever more active part in the work of God” (1 Corinthians 15:58), already victorious but in the process of being accomplished and revealed. Between welcome in faith and commitment to charity, our traditions respond to and encourage each other. They stimulate each other and encourage us “to surpass one another in good deeds” (Quran 5.48).
So let us pray for each other so that we may stand firm in hope in the midst of a world in crisis. And let us receive from each other the grace of this difference in the way of understanding and living the hope which will help us to stand better before God and before humankind.
If we do so, we will be able to enter this path that Saint Francis of Assisi opened to us eight hundred years ago by proclaiming his “Canticle of the Creatures”.
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honour, and all blessings.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no man is worthy to mention Your name. (…)
Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned. (…)
Praise and bless my Lord, and give Him thanks,
and serve Him with great humility.
Amen.
The man who sings his God and the beauty of His creation is almost blind and his body is broken by fatigue and illness. He lives in a violent world in deep crisis. However, he knows how to open his eyes to the eternal plan of God, which makes of all His creatures reconciled brothers and sisters. May this grace of hope and definitive reconciliation, already palpable and perceptible in Francis, be given to us all during these holy months.
Happy and holy Ramadan and Lent to everyone!
The General Commission of the Order of Friars Minor for the service of Dialogue
