It is the season when humanity trumps all
Christian community prays for harmony under cloud of threat.
PHOTO: AFP
LAHORE:
On Christmas Eve at the church in Makkah Colony, Rida Fatima holds up her hands and prays for peace. She hopes her message spreads across the globe – one day. “If you do not believe in humanity, you are neither a Christian nor a Muslim,” she says.
A Christmas tree, fairy lights, a fake snowman and Santa Claus caps dot the background as the woman along with her husband and three children prepares to enter the main hall to attend the midnight service.
“Our Christian brothers and sisters are celebrating Christmas amid constant threat of terrorism that must be ended by spreading the true teachings of Islam as well as Christianity,” she believes as she recalls Jesus’ famous saying that faith, hope and love will last forever in the universe and the greatest among them is love.
Rida, a post-marriage Muslim convert, frequently attends the church near Cavalry Ground with her family, which celebrates all Christian occasions with religious zeal.
“I never stop my children from celebrating Christmas and we celebrate Jashn-e-Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) also,” she says. “We must propagate the true meaning of loving others and bearing each other with patience and tolerance.”
Soon activities at the church hit the peak. A large number of women and children wearing colourful dresses flock inside as the midnight mass service begins.
The whole residential colony has been decorated with fairy lights made into stars. Bells, pine cones, apples, candies, tinsels and balloons adorn the trees, streets, houses and churches.
Advocate Nadeem Anthony, who also celebrates Christmas with religious zeal, points out that without spreading education, the goal of peace cannot be attained. “Forces of evil and darkness cannot extinguish the light that Jesus Christ has lit in the world through his life and teachings” he says. “We pray for solidarity and peace in Pakistan.”
Outside the church and away from the glittering celebrations, a group of young men stand tense, keeping an eye on the people coming to the place, worrying about the safety and security of their community members. Despite donning colourful dress, they are not going to attend any service.
“We all know, most of Pakistan’s people do not hate each other,” says Brian James, a volunteer at the church.
“What can we do if some people continue to spew out hatred but the state does nothing against them?
“Until then, we will have to sacrifice our church services and religious activities in order to save the lives of innocent people,” he adds while standing guard at the church’s front door.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2016.
On Christmas Eve at the church in Makkah Colony, Rida Fatima holds up her hands and prays for peace. She hopes her message spreads across the globe – one day. “If you do not believe in humanity, you are neither a Christian nor a Muslim,” she says.
A Christmas tree, fairy lights, a fake snowman and Santa Claus caps dot the background as the woman along with her husband and three children prepares to enter the main hall to attend the midnight service.
“Our Christian brothers and sisters are celebrating Christmas amid constant threat of terrorism that must be ended by spreading the true teachings of Islam as well as Christianity,” she believes as she recalls Jesus’ famous saying that faith, hope and love will last forever in the universe and the greatest among them is love.
Rida, a post-marriage Muslim convert, frequently attends the church near Cavalry Ground with her family, which celebrates all Christian occasions with religious zeal.
“I never stop my children from celebrating Christmas and we celebrate Jashn-e-Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) also,” she says. “We must propagate the true meaning of loving others and bearing each other with patience and tolerance.”
Soon activities at the church hit the peak. A large number of women and children wearing colourful dresses flock inside as the midnight mass service begins.
The whole residential colony has been decorated with fairy lights made into stars. Bells, pine cones, apples, candies, tinsels and balloons adorn the trees, streets, houses and churches.
Advocate Nadeem Anthony, who also celebrates Christmas with religious zeal, points out that without spreading education, the goal of peace cannot be attained. “Forces of evil and darkness cannot extinguish the light that Jesus Christ has lit in the world through his life and teachings” he says. “We pray for solidarity and peace in Pakistan.”
Outside the church and away from the glittering celebrations, a group of young men stand tense, keeping an eye on the people coming to the place, worrying about the safety and security of their community members. Despite donning colourful dress, they are not going to attend any service.
“We all know, most of Pakistan’s people do not hate each other,” says Brian James, a volunteer at the church.
“What can we do if some people continue to spew out hatred but the state does nothing against them?
“Until then, we will have to sacrifice our church services and religious activities in order to save the lives of innocent people,” he adds while standing guard at the church’s front door.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2016.