By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, June 30, 2020: Many faith leaders in the national capital have come together online in solidarity for to pray soldiers who died on the border and victims of the Coronavirus pandemic.
John Dayal, a prominent lay leader, in his introduction to the June 29 Zoom interfaith prayer meet, noted that only humans among all God’s creatures mourn the loss of their loved ones,
“The human race has evolved a cultural, religious, civilization expression which helps them come to terms with their own mortality, and their own hope of a resurrection, a re-birth, or a final peace,” he to the meet organized by the Delhi archdiocese’s Commission for interreligious Dialogue.
Prayer, he added, “has always been the balm for the soul, seeking God’s benediction for strength, to come to terms with our loss, and a thanksgiving for what the persons meant to us in the years given them by God to be with us on earth.”
The participants prayed for the 20 soldiers, who were killed on June 16 at Galwan Valley in the disputed Asai Chin-Ladakh, thousands of people who died of Covid-19 and doctors, nurses and paramedics who died while treating them.
The Delhi program also remembered migrant laborers, and their children, who could not make it home during the nationwide lockdown, and the victims of Amphan cyclone in the eastern Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha.
During the prayer meeting Catholic Archbishop Anil J T Couto of Delhi said, “We came from God and we will return to him. We must learn to serve with love and humility.”
Venerable Geshe Dorji Damdul of Tibet House said, “Prayer has tremendous power. It also depends on our good heart and purity of intention, spirit of oneness, brother/sisterhood, and our positive intention to bring about a compassionate world.”
A representative of Sikh religion, Singh Sahib Giani Ranjit Singh of Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, prayed for the unity and integrity of the country, as did Vivek Muni Ji Maharaj Singh from Jainism.
Tehmina Arora of the Indian unit theAlliance Defending Freedom (ADF) noted violence existed not only at the borders but also within the territory. “Life created in the image of God is destroyed frequently. Caring for the poor is the will of God,” the lawyer activist bemoaned,
Swami Shantatmananda of Ramakrishna Ashram said, “The whole world is in the grip of a crisis. Leaders of the world should understand the need for harmony and peace and must work for it. We are starring at a great calamity. In this hour of crisis spiritual leaders must reiterate that prayer can help us to mitigate suffering.”
Brahmakumari Sister Sadhna led everyone in deep prayer and meditation.
Goswami Sushil Maharaj Ji of Maharishi Bhrigu Foundation reminded everyone death and life are part of God’s plan. Some have to leave this world and “some are still around because God has more plans for us. We must be ready for it.”
Warris Hussain said “Through all this Allah is calling us to return to Him.”
A. K. Merchant of Bahai Community mourned the loss of lives. “When all of us have been brought to our knees, we must learn the reality of interconnectedness. We must trust in the Divine, power of prayer and meditation. For every time of reckoning, there is redemption,” he said.
Rabbi Ezekiel prayed for the soldiers killed, doctors, nurses, paramedics and migrants and their children. “May the Spirit of God grant them eternal peace, show them love and compassion and repose in their resting place”.
Divine Word Father Jones, the secretary of the commission, said that the prayer meeting was organised to pray for each other, gaining strength in human solidarity.