Madam Speaker, we approach Easter, the time of sacrifice, renewal and hope in the Christian world, I wanted to share a story.
In Fleetwood—Port Kells, we have a very large Catholic high school, Holy Cross. Last year, I was there to help it celebrate the grads, and with me was a member of my constituency office staff, a devout Muslim. Afterward, I asked him if Islam had any equivalent to the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the lessons he provided. His answer was, “Yes—Jesus.”
The Lord and Saviour to our Christian world is an important prophet in Islam, the most mentioned person in the Quran by reference, mentioned over 100 times. Christians and Muslims alike believe that He will return.
To me, this demonstrates that there can be more in faith that unites us than divides us and that perhaps our thoughts of sacrifice, renewal and hope at Easter can be shared with more people of goodwill than we realize.