MARCH 8 ― 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 about it, I found it quite meaningful.

The Catholic fasting period is relatively special. For 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 46 days for one who drinks regularly. Of course, a Catholic could also choose to refrain from sex, gambling or sweet desserts, among others.

In short, you can choose what to refrain from, but it must be something you find it really tough to break 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 between a person and other people.

I’ve come to realise that almost every religion has some forms of traditions or regulations regarding fasting although this is carried out in a great number of ways. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism 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.

This brought my mind to what happened outside the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya on that very day.

Inside the Palace of Justice, the “Allah” issue appeal application was heard by a seven-man panel as lawyers representing the government and the Church presented their respective statements.

Outside the Palace of Justice, over a thousand people gathered, praying or chanting, getting excessively emotional at times,

The phenomenon was quite unusual in this country. In the past, many cases involving religion were handled by the court but often these interested only those directly involved, not the public. No large crowds of people demonstrating outside the court.

But the “Allah” incident has now snowballed into something both Muslims and non-Muslims in the country are highly concerned about as they hold two completely opposite views on this matter.

Over 1,500 Muslims gathered outside the Palace of Justice in a rare show of solidarity. To them, this could have been a manifestation of their love for their religion.

But to the many Christians and Catholics in the country, although they did not show up outside the court, they were very much concerned about the court verdict and would defend their belief in every way possible.

Right at that moment, the fissure that has appeared in the Malaysian society appeared particularly prominent outside the Palace of Justice.

In the end, the court announced to reserve the judgment for another day.

If the court passed down the verdict right then, and the verdict did not meet the aspirations of the faithful outside, I wonder what would happen next and whether the aftermath could spread to the entire society.

If the verdict was unfavourable 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 get?

Whatever it is, the court still has to come up with a verdict sooner or later, and the verdict will definitely be unfavourable to either of the two sides. How then are we going to deal with the massive emotional backlash from the enraged party?

Back to the fasting spirit, is it ever possible that we could learn to understand and forgive?

I could only keep my fingers crossed.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.