Lent and Ramadan 2026: A season of reflection

This year has been quite phenomenal for Christian and Muslim faithful, seeing that the season of charity, self-reflection, fasting and almsgiving across both religions has arrived on the same day. An interesting dynamic that should awaken us all to religious tolerance and the power of unity. With the world getting more and more complex and technology morphing at the speed of light, it is worth stopping for a bit and giving deep thought to this religious calendar falling on the same day.

This alignment of Lent and Ramadan has not happened since 1943.  That was eighty years ago. Wow!  That is something and makes this particular year’s season of Lent and Ramadan very special indeed.

As a good Catholic girl, I was encouraged to give something up for Lent. As far as I can remember, I have always loved ice cream. I used to splurge on it, and when I travel, savour it in the harshest winter. I could not walk past an ice cream shop without wanting some, even if I had just had a cone at another shop. It was becoming an addiction, so I decided one Lenten season many years ago to give up ice cream as one of my Lenten sacrifices. For forty days, I bravely walked past an ice cream shop without wanting to buy some. Mind you, for the first couple of days, walking past an ice cream shop was torture. The cravings were enormous, but after a while, I felt nothing. Then wait for it; after doing without it for a month and some, my cravings and my need to feed my ice cream addiction began to diminish. Today, I probably have ice cream once a quarter, and I don’t actively go looking for it. Maybe at a restaurant as part of the menu or when I visit a friend who offers. Today, I can walk past an ice cream bar and feel nothing. They can be selling toothpicks for all I care. If you stay away from something for too long, psychologists tell you, you can, in fact, give it up completely. This is the sense in giving up a vice during Lent or Ramadan and hopefully being done with it forever.

For all Muslims, fasting is mandatory, a full fast, except if you are ill or for reasons of age. You are also expected to do charity, almsgiving, self-reflection and pray deeper.  For us Catholics, you are required to have a full fast, a half-day fast or thereabouts if you can, but more importantly, to give up sin, reflect and work on self-cleansing while giving alms and praying more fervently.

But food-fasting, while considered pretty important and mandatory for some, does not replace kindness, good behaviour, almsgiving and charity. I know people who fast on both sides of the aisle who continue to be mean to friends, family and total strangers. Your food fast certainly has not positively affected your behaviour. And this is exactly the point. If you lied all the time, then Lent and Ramadan give you an excellent opportunity to fast from backbiting, deceit, corruption, lies, cheating and other such related vices. Are you a talebearer? Between two people, you are creating a problem. Are you destroying a family by hobnobbing with someone’s husband or wife? Do you say horrible things that are untrue about family members and friends? Are you the problem in a family or in a friendship? What are you giving up this season? It is time to step back and take an inventory of your life and make amends.

I have read with great intent Pope Leo XIV’s Lenten message for 2026, and it is such a powerful message. Fasting from food, prayer and our hunger for justice.  The pontiff also talks about an unappreciated type of abstinence…fasting from hurtful words that affect our neighbour.

Indeed, it is time to reflect and also keep our tongues in consonance with only good thoughts and speech this season.

May our prayers be answered this season, and may our sacrifices be received by the almighty… Amen.