Message from Philippine Province of the OMIs for the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr

Salaam!

For over 75 years, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate or OMI, for short, have toiled shoulder to shoulder with Muslims in Southern Philippines, specifically in the then Empire Archipelago of Sulu and the then Empire Province of Cotabato.

Through the years, the collaboration between Muslims and Christians, as can be gleaned in the building of Notre Dame Schools, clinics and other social action projects, has engendered a legacy of friendship and partnership between Christians and Muslims notwithstanding the vagaries of war and conflict.

The festival of Eid-ul-Fitr provides the occasion to renew this bond of friendship between our two faiths communities. It is precisely in the remembrance of this friendship that we are hopeful for a better future not only for Mindanao but also for all its inhabitants.

Our presence and work in Southern Philippines is not only a witness to friendship but also a living testimony of that famous passage in the Qur’an that says: “Thou wilt surely find the nearest of them in love to the believers are those who say ‘We are Christians’; that, because some of them are priests and monks, and they wax not proud . . .” (Sura 5: 82-83)

The OMI Philippine Province joins all the Muslim communities, particularly in the ARMM, in the celebration of the Feast of Eid-ul Fitr as we continue to pray and work together for peace and progress of our peoples and land.

A greeting of Eid Mubarak to one and all!