Pax Christi International’s co-presidents marked the rare shared beginning of Lent and Ramadan on Feb. 18 with a joint appeal urging Christians and Muslims to transform prayer and fasting into concrete acts of peace, justice, and ecological responsibility.
In separate reflections released for Ash Wednesday and the start of Ramadan, Sister Wamũyũ Wachira and Bishop Jose Colin M. Bagaforo emphasized interfaith fraternity and solidarity with the poor in a world marked by conflict and environmental crisis.
Wachira opened her Lenten message by recalling God’s enduring love despite human frailty, quoting Scripture: “I have loved you with an everlasting love;…I am constant in my affection for you” (Jeremiah;31:3).
She described Lent as a season of renewal and trust, even when efforts appear fruitless, citing the Gospel account in which Peter says, “..We have worked all night long, but we have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets..” (Luke; 5:5).
Wachira called on believers to allow God to reshape their lives so that faith leads to mercy and peace. She expressed hope that, by the end of Lent, “‘Alleluia’ will not only be our song but also, that our lives will be so transformed that we will walk in the path of the one who was ‘unarmed’ and ‘disarming’ (Pope Leo XIV).”
Bagaforo, who also chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Commission on Inter-Religious Dialogue, highlighted the unusual convergence of the two sacred seasons.
“This shared beginning is a grace. It invites us to slow down, to return to God, and to walk together in faith,” he said.
He noted that both Ramadan and Lent center on prayer, fasting, repentance and generosity, grounding the call to peace in the sacred texts of Christianity and Islam: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), and God “invites all to the Home of Peace” (Qur’an 10:25).
“In a world marked by violence and division, this moment calls us not only to pray for peace, but to live it and work for it,” Bagaforo said.
He stressed that peace involves right relationships with God, neighbor, and creation, warning that “When forests are destroyed, waters poisoned, and land abused, peace is broken.” He also cited Pope Francis’ teaching that “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are one.”
Bagaforo urged Christian and Muslim communities, interreligious dialogue groups and civil society partners to deepen collaboration.
“Let us care for the poor. Let us protect creation. Let us educate for peace. Let us respond together to the wounds of our world. These are sacred tasks. These are works of peace,” he said.
He invited believers to make the overlapping observance a shared witness: “May this shared observance of Ramadan and Lent become a living prayer. A prayer spoken through fasting and generosity. A prayer lived through fraternity, compassion, and care for our common home.”
