This past Ash Wednesday

A Catholic friend told me the past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday marking the start of the
six-week Lent.
I never knew such a Catholic festivity and found it interesting, and after my friend told me
more aout it, I found it !uite meaningful.
"he Catholic fasting period is relatively special. #or instance, a Catholic could choose to fast
only during a specific period of time in a day for one who loves to eat, or stay away from
alcohol throughout these $% days for one who drinks regularly. &f course, a Catholic could
also choose to refrain from sex, gamling or sweet desserts, among others.
In short, you can choose what to refrain from, ut it must e something you find it really
tough to reak away from, and through resistance to temptation cleanse your soul.
Catholics will also conduct introspection throughout the Lent into their past deeds and seek
forgiveness while striving to dissolve any ill-feeling that stands the way etween a person and
other people.
I've come to reali(e that almost every religion has some forms of traditions or regulations
regarding fasting although this is carried out in a great numer of ways. Islam, )uddhism,
*induism and even Catholicism, they all have some sorts of fasting periods.
While fasting is practiced in different manners for different religions, the spiritual
significance is largely similar, namely for purging of the soul, introspection, seeking
forgiveness and loving one another.
"his rought my mind to what happened outside the +alace of ,ustice in +utra-aya on that
very day.
Inside the +alace of ,ustice, the .Allah. issue appeal application was heard y a seven-man
panel as lawyers representing the government and the Church presented their respective
statements.
&utside the +alace of ,ustice, over a thousand people gathered, praying or chanting, getting
excessively emotional at times,
"he phenomenon was !uite unusual in this country. In the past, many cases involving religion
were handled y the court ut often these interested only those directly involved, not the
pulic. /o large crowds of people demonstrating outside the court.
)ut the .Allah. incident has now snowalled into something oth 0uslims and non-0uslims
in the country are highly concerned aout as they hold two completely opposite views on this
matter.
&ver 1,233 0uslims gathered outside the +alace of ,ustice in a rare show of solidarity. "o
them, this could have een a manifestation of their love for their religion.
)ut to the many Christians and Catholics in the country, although they did not show up
outside the court, they were very much concerned aout the court verdict and would defend
their elief in every way possile.
4ight at that moment, the fissure that has appeared in the 0alaysian society appeared
particularly prominent outside the +alace of ,ustice.
In the end, the court announced to reserve the -udgment for another day.
If the court passed down the verdict right then, and the verdict did not meet the aspirations of
the faithfuls outside, I wonder what would happen next and whether the aftermath could
spread to the entire society.
If the verdict was unfavorale to the appealing party, the Church would have lost its last legal
avenue, and if this were to happen, how agitated and frustrated could the Catholics get5
Whatever it is, the court still have to come up with a verdict sooner or later, and the verdict
will definitely e unfavorale to either of the two sides. *ow then are we going to deal with
the massive emotional acklash from the enraged party5
)ack to the fasting spirit, is it ever possile that we could learn to understand and forgive5
I could only keep my fingers crossed.