Lahore: May 29, 2012. (Pervez Yousaf) “National Council for Interfaith Dialogue organized First Ecumenical ‘Alleluia Conference’ on the occasion of Easter 2012, based upon the vision of Bishop Sebastian Francis Shaw OFM Cap, Apostolic Administrator of Archdiocese of Lahore”, Fr. Inayat Bernard Director NCIFD, while welcoming the participants of the conference, said that it was the initiative of the NCIFD to invite pastors and faithful of different authentic denominations to reflect on the Resurrected Christ. He said that next year during the Easter season such programs will also be organized. This spiritual gathering was attended by more than 500 people in the Peace Hall of St. Joseph’s Church, Lahore Cantt. Fr. Francis Nadeem OFM Cap coordinator of NCIFD was the chief organizer of this conference along with Fr. Francis Sabir OFM Cap and Mr. Pervez Yousaf. Bishop Sebastian Francis Shaw, Apostolic Administrator of Archdiocese of Lahore was the chief guest, while vicar general archdiocese of Lahore Fr. Andrew Nisari, Director Catholic TV & acting vice provincial of Capuchins Fr. Morris Jalal, vicar general (Lahore) Church of Pakistan Rev. Shahid Meraj, vicar Presbyterian Church (Lahore) Rev. Shahazada Khurram, Rev. Riaz Malik (Church of Pakistan), Fr. Pascal Paulus and Rev. Samuel Saleem were the guests of honor on this occasion. The council also invited choirs of different churches of Lahore including Anarkali parish, Christ Church, St. Francis youth choir and St. Joseph’s Church Lahore Cantt. The conference began with the prayer by Rev. Riaz Malik followed by the recitation of a passage from the 1st Epistle of St. Paul to the Church of Corinth by Ms. Catherine. Recitation from the Holy Gospel was presented by Fr. Henry Paul OFM Cap. Renowned scholar Fr. Emmanuel Asi addressing the participants of the conference said, “Organizing this Alleluia conference is an appreciable step taken by NCIFD which was envisaged by Bishop Sebastian Francis Shaw. All deserve commendable greetings on this magnificent occasion.” He continued saying, “It is astonishing and regretful that instead of focusing on importance and theme of Easter we are focusing on the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It means that following the other traditions we have become accustomed of celebrating “Sham-e-Calvary” during the entire pre-Easter season and consider Calvary as a site and symbol of great tragedy. We recall the death of Jesus Christ instead of His conquest over the grave. On the contrary we celebrate Easter just for one day, which is the day of his redemption and gift of eternal life for all of us. Easter is not the feast of one day but goes on till the Pentecost.” “Death, grave and dust are not meant to be the end of life. These are the parts of the theology of other civilizations. We have to prefer and preach the true spirit of Easter, which is life and not the death. “One, who understands mystery of the 11th chapter of the Gospel of St. John, understands the spirit of Easter. We die in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For us every Sunday is an Easter and every Saturday evening is an Easter vigil. Ash Wednesday, Ascension of Jesus Christ and descent of Holy Spirit on the Disciples of Jesus Christ are the parts of festivities of Easter.” He further said, “The word Alleluia is an expression of praise to God. It was also used as a code word by the early Christians when they were being persecuted by the Roman Empire.” Luke Chapter 24: 44-49 is the summary of Easter. It describes four points i.e. the time and the locations where Jesus Christ appeared in the presence of His disciples after the resurrection. Old Testament of the Holy Bible is declaration of Easter while the New Testament is meant to be its accomplishment. Easter is the new theology of Jesus Christ. Try to understand the Easter with the help of is locations, try to understand Jesus Christ. There are two Easters; one is linked with the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the second is linked with the revival of His disciples after the descent of Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost”. “Easter teaches us harmony, sharing and unity; unity among the different churches as we see here today in the ecumenical ‘Alleluia Conference’; unity among the families, among the individuals, among the different groups, organizations and among the different civilizations. Easter invites all of us to gather as one unit. Easter tells us not to consider anybody a stranger. Considering somebody a stranger is quite a non-Biblical term. Easter gives us power in faith and courage to talking in the name of Jesus Christ”. “The book of Revelation is based on three things which are hope, loyalty and life. It teaches us to remain firm in faith and loyal to Jesus until our death/martyrdom. Resurrection of Jesus gives a lesson of martyrdom to all the faithful people. “There is a binding and strong relationship between the renaissance and the minority. Minority is the cause of evangelism; minority spread the Good News (Holy Gospel) within the minority. According to St. Augustine, minority is the message of Easter and Alleluia is meant to be its song. Indisputably, minority means belief in resurrection and all of us has to focus on this fact. Through Easter we spread the news of eternal life.” Easter is the heart of the evangelism of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. In the book of the Acts of Apostles we read in chapters 3, 4 and 5 about the preaching of the Apostles. When they started to preach the Gospel they had to face a number of difficulties and a lot of obstacles were raised on their way in order to stop them in doing so. The Roman authorities put them in prison and tortured them mercilessly. But, the Spirit of the resurrected Jesus was with them and they were released from the prison and allowed to preach the Holy Gospel. “There are two main pillars of our faith; first is the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and second is His Resurrection. We believe in life, in the abundance of life. Easter is the preaching of life, Easter starts from the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Easter should be the core objective of our preaching among the congregation, conferences and seminars. Rev. Samuel Saleem guided all the participants to offer prayer of the thanksgiving for the Word of God. Afterwards, vicar of Presbyterian Church (Lahore) invited on the stage to share his views with the participants of the conference. Rev. Shahzada Khurram moderator of Presbyterian Church, Lahore said, “First of all I would like to extend my heartfelt greetings to all the organizers of this Alleluia Conference and highly appreciate Fr. Emmanuel Asi for such a beautiful and faith filled talk about the significance of Easter. Easter is such a belief that shook the entire world in the first century. Risen Christ was the theme of the preaching of apostles of Jesus. According to the book of Acts of the Apostles the focus of the first sermon of St. Peter was Resurrection of Jesus Christ.” “Rev. Fr. Morris Jalal OFM Cap said, “I would like to extend my greetings to Fr. Francis Nadeem OFM Cap, Fr. Inayat Bernard, Fr. Francis Sabir OFM Cap. Fr. Frans OFM Cap, Fr. Henry Paul OFM Cap and all the other groups, choirs and individuals in organizing such a meaningful conference. Fr. Pascal Paulus OP vice Provincial of Dominican Order cherished the vision of Bishop Sebastian F. Shaw and encouraged all the organizers of the conference. Rev. Shahid Meraj Vicar General Church of Pakistan, Lahore expressed, “I am highly thankful to all the organizers of the conference and especially to Fr. Francis Nadeem OFM Cap for organizing this ecumenical Easter Conference. Fr. Emmanuel Asi has refreshed our faith. We should all extend this message to all which is the message of life.” Rev. Fr. Andrew Nisari Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Lahore commented, “This evening is to vibrate and to awake all the faithful who are present in this auditorium because it is the first time that such a conference has been organized. Prior to this we have been focusing only on the crucifixion of the Jesus Christ on the Mount Calvary as a great tragedy, whereas it is the day of our redemption. Today’s conference has given us a new thought and we have to spread this message all around.” He appreciated NCIFD for organizing that meaningful event. In the end Bishop Sebastian Francis Shaw OFM thanked entire team of the NCIFD and especially Fr. Francis Nadeem OFM Cap for considering his proposal and organizing this glorious and meaningful conference. He further said, “I would also like to thank Fr. Emmanuel Asi who has explained the true spirit of Easter in the light of Holy Bible, with the blessings of Jesus Christ and revealed its mystery to all the faithful people. We have celebrated Easter in our Churches and homes just for one day, but today we have learnt that it is a continued feast and today we are celebrating the real Easter, the feast of the Risen Christ. Earlier, Good Friday was our focal point and we have been talking only about the agony and sufferings of Jesus Christ. We have been celebrating the Evenings of Calvary as gatherings of mourning, death and grave of the Jesus Christ. But, today we have learnt that Christianity talks about life, the abundance of life that begins with the empty sepulcher of Jesus Christ, who is living and with us till the end of the world. During the conference all the participants have been chanting spiritually filled slogans of Alleluia from time to time. All the choirs sang the songs of Alleluia under the guidance of Fr. Francis Sabir OFM Cap and kept on warming the hearts of all the people gathered in the Peace Hall. At the end of the conference, Fr. Francis Nadeem OFM Cap while thanking the guests and participants invited all to witness Risen Lord throughout their day to day living and asked the audience to be brave like Apostles to preach the Good News of our Risen Lord.