Three important religious holidays will be observed within the next two weeks all over the world.
The holidays will be observed by followers of three major religions – Islam, Buddhism and Christianity.
Between Tuesday, June 27, and Wednesday, June 28, the Muslim world will celebrate Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice. The observance is considered the largest among the Islam holidays, along with Eid al-Fitr, which is marked to end the holy month of Ramadan.
Eid al-Adha celebrates the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, in response to God’s command. Ibrahim, however, was provided by God with a lamb to sacrifice in the place of his son.
To commemorate the historic account, animals are being sacrificed as part of the ritual, with a portion of meat consumed by the family and the rest shared with the poor and needy.
The day also serves as an occasion for followers of the faith to visit, fellowship, feast and exchange gifts with relatives and friends.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in Proclamation No. 258, has declared Wednesday as a regular holiday all over the country.
The holiday also marks the end of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
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Theravada Buddhists will mark the Asalha Puja festival on July 3. The celebration takes place on the full moon day of the month of Asalha.
The day also marks the beginning of the mandatory three-month retreat for monks. On this day, followers visit temple to pray, meditate, listen to sermons and give offerings.
For Buddhists, Asalha Puja, or Dharma, is time for “new beginnings, renewal and recommitment to the Buddhist faith.”
The holiday celebrates Buddha’s first sermon that served as the foundation of the doctrine that he received after he had reached the state of enlightenment.
The occasion recalls the doctrine of dharma, or truth, that preaches four noble ideas:
• That suffering exists in the world;
• That suffering is actually caused by craving;
• That there is a state beyond suffering or cravings; and
• That the way to Nirvana, transcendent state, is through the eight-fold path (understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration).
The holiday is celebrated mostly in Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Sri Lanka as well as in areas with Theravada Buddhist communities.
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For Christian groups observing Feast Days, July 3 is the Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle.
Because he initially doubted the resurrection of Jesus, he has been known as the “Doubting Thomas”.
Accounts show that he was martyred for his beliefs by jealous Hindu priests in what is now known as St. Thomas Mount in the outskirts of the southern city of Chennai in India.
Syrian Christian tradition recounts that he was killed with a spear on July 3, 72 AD although Latin church tradition considers Dec. 21 as the death of his date.
St. Thomas is the patron of Christians in India as well as of architects.
Records show that he traveled outside the Roman Empire to preach the gospel and went as far as south India, where he was killed.
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The three observances personally touch me because of my previous activities and travels, thereby expanding my world view of cultural diversity and religious pluralism, that is, the acceptance of the idea that “religiously diverse society has the rights, freedoms, and safety to worship, or not, according to their conscience.”
I had been involved with Muslim community members in the city for about a decade through my school-based Service-Learning activities, the reason I have become familiar with their beliefs and rites.
Consequently, my exposure to the local Muslim community led me to do a documentation in progress of the history and development of the group in Bacolod City. My study received a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
A visiting lecturer’s opportunity courtesy of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia took me to two universities in Myanmar, where I had an ‘immersion’ on the Buddhist way of life, something which enriched my earlier experiences in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
A little more than a decade ago, I had an opportunity to travel to Chennai in India, where I had the privilege to step on the hillock grounds of St. Thomas Mount, where the apostle was believed to have been killed, and got a first-hand grasp of his response to the Great Commission, Jesus’ call for disciples to preach His word to the far corners of the earth.
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Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20) – NWI
