Glorious Feast of Resurrection … glorious Labour Day
Happy Resurrection Feast! Christ is Risen, His Resurrection embodying the most venerable and sublime of values worth grasping and celebrating. With His resurrection He triumphed over death, redeemed humankind, forgave those who crucified Him, and brought to completion the Divine love which would not hand humans over to the death warranted by their fall into sin. God sent His incarnated son Jesus Christ to teach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand; to work miracles and wonders among the oppressed and marginalised; and to endure rejection, blame, treachery, torture, and death by crucifixion. Jesus then descended onto Hades ) hell(, to reclaim the souls of the humans trapped there beginning with Adam, and to take them with Him into His kingdom, triumphing over death and granting them eternal life.
As we today celebrate these Divine blessings, let us not forget Christ’s teaching that we should be His faithful witnesses, carrying love to all humanity. Incidentally, this brings me to an interesting recent incident that amused me; I say it amused me because I am focused on the good intentions behind it.
On 23 April, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly issued decision 1354 which decreed that Sunday 5 May 2024 would be an official holiday marking Labour Day instead of the original holiday that would have been on Wednesday 1 May. Some two years ago, Egypt’s government had decided that if a holiday marking a national event came on a weekday, that holiday would be shifted to the following Thursday, in order to give Egyptians an uninterrupted work week and a long weekend— weekend in Egypt is Friday and Saturday. This time, the Premier could have very well assigned Thursday 2 May as the official holiday for Labour Day, but he chose to postpone the holiday to Sunday 5 May. It was self-evident that the official holiday would thus coincide with the greatest Christian feast of all, the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection which is a holiday for Christians alone in Egypt and is not among the official national holidays. It looked obvious that the decision to shift the Labour Day holiday to the Christian holiday was made as a courtesy gesture to Egypt’s Christians. It is fitting for us then to appreciate this initiative and the good intentions behind it.
The Premier’s decision, however, sparked wide response on social media, for the obvious reason that it was a courteous nod to Christians but without making any mention whatsoever of their Feast of the Resurrection. Only a small portion of the response expressed anger, but the majority of comments expressed typical Egyptian time-honoured humour and sarcasm.
The predicament reminds me of what my friend, the writer and journalist Hamdy Rizk wrote under title “The absent national obligation... the official Easter holiday”. Mr Rizk wrote of an incident recounted by diplomat and politician Dr Mostafa El Fiky, that went back to 2003 when President Hosny Mubarak [Egypt President in 1981 - 2011] decreed Christmas as a national holiday [Copts celebrate Christmas on 7 January]. President Mubarak, Dr Fiky said, had told Pope Shenouda III [Coptic Patriarch from 1971 to 2012] of his intention to make the Feast of the Nativity and the Feast of the Resurrection official holidays in Egypt, Dr Rizk writes. “But with his legendary wisdom and wit, Pope Shenouda rejected the offer to make the Resurrection Feast a national holiday, arguing that both Muslims and Christians believe in the nativity of Christ so it would work well to have it as a national holiday, but they are not in agreement regarding His Resurrection. ‘I would not like for controversy or strife to rise on that issue among members of the same nation’, Pope Shenouda told President Mubarak.” Dr Rizk applauded the Pope’s astuteness and patriotism that led to peace throughout Egypt. He goes on to write: “The time is now historically ripe, however, for a smart goodwill move that would consolidate citizenship rights, to announce the Resurrection Feast a national holiday. This would effectively place Egypt as a country where citizenship rights and fellowship reign.”
On a more recent note, a message circulated on social media regarding the Resurrection Feast/ Labour Day incident. It read: “When Christians in Egypt meet the holiday predicament between Easter and Labour Day with good humour, wit, and tolerance, you know that they are a most psychologically and mentally balanced people. None of them said: ‘O enemies of Christianity’, and none considered others apostates, nor did anyone declare hatred for the country or rebellion against its rules. Quite the contrary, they are the most patriotic, tolerant, and loving people of Egypt. Their collective attitude reflects that they do not harbour inferiority or persecution complexes.”
So, as we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, I extend my heartfelt wishes to the shepherd of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II, and to all metropolitans, bishops and priests of the Church, and to the Coptic congregation. I also extend my best wishes to our beloved reverend heads of the various Churches in Egypt, and to their clergy and congregations. And I pray for the Lord to bless His people and Church, and to guard our nation against all harm.
And as we celebrate Easter, I cannot overlook our fellow Palestinians who live in crisis. I pray that the Heavenly Father extends His mercy on them and spare them the suffering, pain and oppression they daily undergo.