Mrs. Jaya Subba 

On the joyful occasion of Christmas, an Inter-Faith Prayer Gathering was organized by St. Mary’s School, Jawalakhel on 23^rd of December, 2022. The very first of its kind, the main aims of the gathering were to re-understand and re - live the true notion of peace and to remind us all, the importance of unity and togetherness. Peace, often described as having multiple meanings when explored through the lens of various religions, was found to be indeed a singular entity, thus narrowing its meaning down to one simple belief; peace is a way of life. 

The forum was blessed with dignitaries representing various religions congregating to discuss a singular ideology. The discussions initiated with Right Reverend Bishop Paul Simick reciting the verses of the Holy Bible, informing the audience that it is not that the Christian ideal has been tried and found wanting, but that it has been found difficult and left untried. Reverend Imammuddin Khan then disclosed a message of the Quran, which states peace is one of the names of Allah himself and a greeting as simple as “Salam Walekum” means “peace be upon you”. The third discussion was led by Mrs. Pushpa Thapa Magar, a teacher of St. Mary’s School, who shared some words of wisdom regarding the concept of peace in Hinduism.  This was followed by a talk from Reverend Gobind Pasman, who enlightened the audience of the oneness of God and his desire to explore the wonder of the earth in communion with all people according to the Sikh scripture. The final discussion of the day was by Reverend Bhikshu Kondanya, a Buddhist scholar who explained the evolving nature of people and religion, all the while making us aware of the fact that the more sophisticated we are, the more complicated we become.

Having had the blissful privilege of listening to the several noble religious Gurus deciphering texts from their scriptures, a realization dawned upon all that there was mutual connection amongst all religions. The shared agreement amongst all experts and dignitaries was that peace comes from oneself and is not something one can attain through perfunctory activism.  It was indeed an honour for the school family and all guests present to re-live PEACE through different insights, thus making this event a resounding success.

This Inter-Faith Prayer Gathering has not just created history but has made us all add further meaning to our celebrations and to always be the beacon of goodwill and amity.